Often associated with pain relief, neck roll pillows are designed to aid neck positioning and resting posture.
A healthy resting posture keeps all the bits and pieces in your spine in their ideal “neutral” positions. Under these circumstances, preventing pain-causing agitation of your muscles, nerves, or discs allows for consistent and comfortable rest.
Neck roll pillows are called many different things: cervical pillows, bolster pillows, yoga bolsters. All are similar in shape/size and can provide the same benefits.
Neck roll pillows are functionally versatile compared to traditional rectangular pillows.
A neck roll pillow’s design can provide comfort and support in many contexts beyond neck pain relief:
- Bed Pillow — Many favor the cylindrical shape for use as a bed pillow. Its smaller dimensions relative to traditional bed pillows make it well-suited for back sleepers and those smaller in stature.
- Extra Support — You can place a cervical pillow under or on top of your existing bed pillow (inside your pillow case) to provide more loft. Reading in bed and watching movies is more comfortable and enjoyable with a thicker, more substantial pillow under your head.
- Under Arm Support for Side Sleepers – Similar to a body pillow, they can help to support the top side of your body and prevent you from rolling onto your stomach.
- Orthopedic Pillow — People often use cylindrical pillows in conjunction with other pillow types to correct uncomfortable or pain-causing body postures. They work well for head and neck support but also commonly serve to elevate knees, ankles, or other body parts.
- Travel Pillow — A neck roll pillow is considerably smaller than traditional bed pillow. Therefore, they work well in both a car and an airplane (or even boat!). Wrap it around your neck and it will help to support your resting head. They’re a better alternative to those weird u-shaped pillows sold at the airport!
- Yoga Bolster — Under your neck, knees or back, a roll pillow is great for use at the yoga studio.
- Arm Rest — Support your arm while seated as you read or use your laptop.
Neck roll pillow filling: what works best?
Manufacturers usually fill most traditional neck roll pillows with soft squishy foam or sometimes down feathers. Particularly for a neck roll pillow designed to improve resting posture, neither filling is ideal. Traditional filling has a few substantial negatives:
- Soft, compressible filling types like polyester fiberfill or down can collapse under the weight of your body. As a result, these types of pillow filling lose their loft and become too thin.
- Manufacturers produce popular foam pillow filling types with petrochemicals, posing a potential hazard to both the environment and our health.
- Traditional pillow filling (especially memory foam) builds up and retains your body heat. This can make them them uncomfortably warm.
There are many types of pillow fillings to chose from, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, we believe that buckwheat hulls are the best choice.
What are buckwheat hulls?
Popular throughout Asia for centuries, buckwheat hulls are a proven pillow filling that provides better, more comfortable rest. Filled with thousands of tiny all-natural buckwheat hulls, a buckwheat pillow will provide luxurious support for your body that simply can’t be matched by traditional pillows. Its unique malleable characteristics enable it to conform perfectly to the shape of your body, providing consistent, cool and comfortable support.
A buckwheat neck roll pillow is supportive.
Buckwheat hulls move and shift, but do not compress under pressure like soft pillow fillings. Each individual hull’s irregular edges allow it to grip its neighbors. All the hulls work together, enabling your pillow to hold a consistent shape that mimics the contour of your body. As a result, all stress and pressure points are eliminated. You’ll get support that cradles your head and neck comfortably and consistently.
(Most) Buckwheat neck roll pillows are adjustable.
All high-quality buckwheat pillows always have a zipper. A zipper enables adjustment of the amount of filling in the pillow. As a result, you’re able to change the thickness of your pillow for maximum comfort by adding or removing buckwheat hulls.
A buckwheat neck roll pillow is breathable.
The irregular and hollow shape of buckwheat hulls creates airspace within your pillow. Its breathable nature results in a cool, dry pillow, that gives you the “cool side of the pillow” effect no matter how long your head and neck rest on it.
Buckwheat is safe for you and the environment.
Many popular pillow types contain polyurethane or polyester foam that can emit toxins and carcinogens that aren’t good for you or our environment. There’s no sense in risking your health or filling our landfills with potentially toxic waste!
Buckwheat crops benefit little from chemical fertilizers. Thus, it is free of many of the contaminants that are present in other crop types and is safe for your family and the environment. The hulls are compostable, which helps to reduce unnecessary waste in our landfills and keeps our soil healthy and nutrient rich for future generations. Additionally, buckwheat pillows contain no animal products for those interested in a vegan lifestyle.
Enjoy consistently comfortable and cool support that works anywhere!
We’ve been selling traditionally sized buckwheat bed pillows for years. Don’t take my word for it—Thousands of happy customers can attest to the comfort that buckwheat hulls can provide.
