If you are having insufficient sleep and have tried almost everything that could offer you quality sleep but you are still suffering from stiffness or numbness, then you might be wondering about what to do next to feel the relief. You might want to know whether sleeping without a pillow proves helpful for such chronic pain or not?


In fact, sleeping position determines whether you need to sleep without a pillow or use an orthopedic pillow to sleep comfortably. The researchers have found that the wrong pillow can worsen the condition and cause severe pain to the neck and spine.

In such a situation, knowing the right pillow matching with your sleeping position is very necessary to gain a comfortable and pain-free sleeping experience. Pillow preferences and uses differ from person to person according to the sleep type and sleeping position.



Is It Better to Sleep Without a Pillow?

Stomach sleepers feels comfortable sleeping without a pillow or low loft pillow. However, sleeping without a pillow or wrong pillow can worsen the sleep quality by bending the neck in an uncomfortable alignment. The physicians usually advice to choose the right pillow matching with the sleep position. This relieves the neck pain and enhances the sleep quality by allowing the neck to position in a natural alignment.

Using the wrong pillow while sleeping can lead to an incorrect posture while sleeping. This happens because your head lifted too far from the surface of the mattress, bend the neck in painful position and head stick out upwards. This leads with a sleepless night and causes sleep issues like numbness, insomnia, snoring, stiffness, back pain, cervical pain etc.

Beneficial to Sleep With or Without a pillow: Side sleepers

Though side sleepers are said as the healthiest sleeping position, however, at times side sleepers too have to suffer through a difficult time due to the use of a wrong selection of pillow. A side sleeper needs a supportive and thick pillow that is as firm as the distance between the shoulder and neck.

Contour pillows with high-density memory foam pillows are mostly recommended for the side sleeper to alleviate neck and cervical pain. A right pillow maintains proper alignment with spine while sleeping on the side. The pillow should be neither too thick nor too thin because too thick leans the head up and neck in inappropriate alignment, and a too-thin or too-soft pillow tilts it down. Placing a knee pillow between the legs adds the comfort leave while sleeping.

Beneficial sleep with or without a pillow: Back sleepers

Sleeping without a pillow while sleeping on the back constructs an uncomfortable surface to sleep on as the head sinks down into the pillow. The back sleepers require a low loft pillow to uphold the neck alignment with the spine. A too-thick pillow generates a painfully lean head and leads to a sleepless night.

Memory foam pillow with infused gel is the best supportive and pain-relief pillow for a back sleeper. In addition, a small knee pillow below the lumbar spine or thin pillow beneath the knees can both reduce strain on the lower back.

Stomach Sleepers: Should Sleep with or without a Pillow?

There are some tummy sleepers who actually find comfortable surface to sleep on without using a pillow to lean on. However, for some stomach sleepers, a low loft or thin pillow is beneficial and reduces strain on the spine. Sleeping on the stomach, though it reduces sleep issues like snoring and sleep apnea, this position is least recommended by the physicians since it certainly dislocates the neck and head out of the alignment.

The physicians normally advise the stomach sleepers to sleep without pillow or a low loft to gain sufficient comfort. Some habitual stomach sleepers feel pain without a pillow, thus, an adjustable pillow standard memory foam pillow is highly recommended.

Clear your Queries at Sleepsia

It is usually seen that the sleeping position and incorrect pillow choice can lead to insomnia and other sleep issues like neck pain, cervical pain etc. Thus, to prevent further problems it is important to select right pillow depending on the sleeping type.

Sleepsia is a reliable brand in delivering the best and high-quality pillows for all types of sleepers. To purchase the pillow from Sleepsia, simply visit the Sleepsia official website www.sleepsia.in, identify your choice and place an order. Call at 1800-833-6688 to clear all your doubts.