Determine the correct pillow height

The right pillow height ensures that your head is in a comfortable position while you sleep and contributes significantly to a healthy sleeping posture. We'll explain how to find the right pillow height to get a restful night's sleep and prevent painful tension the next morning.

Table of contents

1. Why is the right pillow height so important?
2. What is the ideal pillow height for me?
   
   1. Sleeping position, shoulder width & body shape
   2. The firmness of the mattress
   3. The ideal pillow height for back sleepers
   4. The ideal pillow height for side sleepers
   5. The ideal pillow height for stomach sleepers
3. How to determine the optimal pillow height
4. Personal feeling decides

Our pillow determines the position of the head while we sleep. It is responsible for ensuring that we sleep in a healthy position and that the sensitive cervical spine is well positioned and protected at night. A comfortable and natural sleeping position also allows the muscles, ligaments and tendons to relax and reduces the pressure on our bones and joints, making pain-free sleep possible and preventing the development of headaches, stiff muscles or severe tension the next morning.

1. Why is the right pillow height so important?

In addition to the size, shape or type of filling material, the height is one of the most important properties that determine the functionality, support and comfort of a pillow. The right height is therefore an important selection criterion when looking for the perfect pillow.

If our pillow is too high, the neck is bent too far and the spine is compressed, which overstretches the neck muscles and promotes vertebral blockages. If the pillow is too low, the head tilts slightly backwards and the cervical vertebrae are overstretched, which also leads to incorrect strain and tension Depending on the sleeping position, the wrong pillow height can also increase the pressure on the shoulder area, promote the occurrence of the so-called shoulder-folding effect and hinder free breathing during sleep because the chest area is compressed. An incorrect pillow height therefore not only leads to unpleasant tension, pain or blockages in the head and neck area, but also disrupts breathing and promotes snoring.

With the right pillow height, however, the head, neck and shoulder areas are stabilized and supported during sleep. The head and spine down to the pelvis should ideally form a straight line so that the natural double S shape of the spine is maintained and the vertebrae are not pushed into an unnatural shape. Back and stomach sleepers should therefore position their heads in a horizontal position. When sleeping on your side, the shoulders and cervical spine are ideally at exactly a right angle to each other.

2. What is the ideal pillow height for me?

The right pillow height depends on your personal support needs and your preferred sleeping position, the width of your shoulders and the shape of your head, shoulders and neck. But the firmness of our mattress also plays an important role, because this, in conjunction with the pillow, ultimately determines our posture while we sleep.

sleeping position, shoulder width & body shape

Our sleeping position decides how we lie on our pillow.When the head rests on its side, the width of our shoulders plays a particularly important role and determines how high the pillow needs to be so that the head and the rest of the body can be stabilized in a horizontal position. If you have broad shoulders, the pillow should be a little higher than if you have narrow shoulders. Finally, the interaction of our head shape, shoulder width and the individual curvature of the spine in the neck area also contributes to the height required to optimize the sleeping position.

The firmness of the mattress

The firmness of the mattress also determines how we lie at night. A softer mattress allows the upper body to sink a little more into the bed depending on body weight, which is why the pillow should be a little lower to maintain a natural sleeping position. When sleeping on a harder mattress, on the other hand, the pillow usually needs to be a little higher, as the rest of the body lies straight and sinks in less.

#1 The ideal pillow height for back sleepers

Back sleepers need a pillow on which their head rests as horizontally as possible and the spine is stabilized in its natural shape.

#2 The ideal pillow height for side sleepers

If you are a side sleeper, the pillow should be high enough to keep the head-shoulder triangle at a right angle and to avoid bending or incorrect strain on the neck and shoulder area.

#3 The ideal pillow height for stomach sleepers

Stomach sleepers are best advised to use a pillow that is as low as possible, otherwise the cervical spine will quickly bend backwards and neck pain is inevitable.

3. How to determine your optimal pillow height

Ultimately, the exact height of the pillow you need to lie on perfectly depends not only on the interaction between your personal support needs and your mattress, but also on your personal feelings. It is therefore difficult to measure an exact value, but you can base your decision on your personal support needs.

And this is how easy it is to determine your personal support needs: If you sleep on your back, stand upright backwards against a wall (if you sleep on your side, stand on your back) without leaning and keep your head straight. The distance between the wall and your head will then roughly correspond to your personal support needs and is best measured with a flexible tape measure and the help of another person. In general, a support requirement of less than 2.5 cm is considered low, and a support requirement of more than 7 cm is considered high.

4. Personal feeling decides

The right pillow height is crucial for a healthy sleep. And even if the search is not always easy, it is worth taking a closer look at the various product features and choosing a pillows to find the right mattress that best suits your needs and sleeping conditions. So that you can lie back relaxed night after night and wake up feeling refreshed.

5. Conclusion

• The height of the pillow determines the position of the cervical spine at night and ensures a healthy head position for a restful sleep.

• The correct pillow height depends on the mattress and our individual support needs, which result from the sleeping position, shoulder width and body shape.

• Back sleepers need a pillow on which their head rests as horizontally as possible and the spine is stabilized in its natural shape.

• If you are a side sleeper, the pillow should be high enough to keep the head-shoulder triangle at a right angle and prevent the neck and shoulder area from bending.

• Stomach sleepers are best advised to use a pillow that is as low as possible, otherwise the cervical spine will quickly bend backwards and neck pain will occur.

Best regards and see you soon!