Pillows

Two things decide a pillow

A pillow has one job: to keep your head level with your spine in the position you sleep in. What decides that is height and material.

Height follows position

• Side sleepers have a gap between shoulder and mattress that the pillow has to fill. Broad shoulders usually need the 14–17 cm range.
• Back sleepers need a medium height. A high pillow pushes the chin toward the chest and strains the neck.
• Front sleepers want the lowest pillow possible — or one shaped for the position.

If you are not sure, a model with an inner pillow lets you set the height yourself — two options in one product.

What the material changes

Memory foam takes shape with body heat and spreads pressure over a wide area, which makes a clear difference if you feel pain at one point. Latex recovers quickly, gives no sinking feeling and passes air. Goose down is the lightest and softest, but its support fades and it needs shaking out. Gel-layered pillows draw heat off the surface — through a Cyprus summer that stops being a comfort question and becomes a question of broken sleep.

When to replace one

Fold the pillow in half and let go. If it does not spring back, it is finished. For most pillows that means two to three years — far shorter than a mattress.