3/22/2013

Finally, a pillow that helps my poor, damaged neck!

Recently on Amazon, a customer wrote a Review for the Arc4life Linear Gravity Neck Pillow Small Size:

I love my Linear Gravity Neck Pillow, and am purchasing my 2nd one now. I've used my Linear Gravity for almost 2 years, and it is time to replace it. I'm checking Amazon to see if the price is lower; it would be if Amazon carried the medium size, and Amazon has free shipping. Dang it Amazon; where's the medium?? Before purchasing my pillow, I contacted the company that makes them; I needed help figuring out which pillow to purchase and what size pillow would be best for me. Originally I was going to purchase the Arc4life Cervical Traction pillow. The company customer service staffer asked me what kind of neck/health issues I had; when I told them I have fibromyalgia and a history of whiplash, they said I should definitely go with the Linear Gravity rather than the traction pillow because the Linear Gravity is softer and the Traction pillow is simply too much for those with fibromyalgia. The company rarely recommends the traction pillow for those with fibromyalgia.



When I asked about sizing, I was told that most people should use the medium size pillow; they recommend the small pillow for travel purposes and for children. The Amazon description mentions this: "This Small Linear Gravity neck Pillow is great for traveling and perfect for the Pediatric patient." If I remember correctly, the large pillow is for really tall men.

The pillow is soft, but sizing is very important with this pillow. I've never, ever been a soft pillow person, and I did worry about the softness issue when I ordered the pillow. While the Linear Gravity pillow is soft, if you purchase the right size of the pillow, you will likely have excellent neck support even though the pillow is soft. The different size neck rolls on each pillow can also help with the softness issue. Because of the indentation in the center of the pillow, the stuffing doesn't shift around like it would in a regularly shaped pillow.

I don't know if other reviewers experimented with the different size neck rolls on their pillows; essentially you have 4 different sized neck rolls on the pillow. I have found this to be very useful. The center of the pillow is deeper on one side and more shallow on the other side. Some nights I need the large/deep end and other nights I do better with the large shallow end. This pillow does take time to get used to and you need to experiment with the different sides of the pillow to see which of the neck-roll sides work best for you. However, the pillow is so much better than using a towel roll or cervical pillow roll with a regular pillow.

There are some videos on youtube that can help folks decide which size and which pillow is best for them. However, I recommend calling the company for help with the decision. I wasn't asked to purchase the pillow by phone, and wasn't pressured to purchase the pillow when I called.



Before purchasing the Linear Gravity, I looked at the Core brand pillows. They are very firm. My physical therapist never recommends the Core because they are so firm. Today I noticed that Core has a softer version of their pillow now; I haven't seen one in person so I can't compare it with the Linear Gravity pillow. Even though the cost is less for the Core soft version, the Linear Gravity pillow works brilliantly for me so I'm sticking with it.

I was disappointed by the side-sleeping feature of the pillow; the butterfly sides do not work for me at all. I change to a different pillow whenever I sleep on my side. I am primarily a back sleeper though, so this hasn't been a problem for me. This is probably not be the pillow for or those who sleep on both their back and side each night, unless they are ok with changing pillows to sleep on their side.

I used to wake up with a very stiff/sore neck and morning headaches and even migraines. I have many fewer morning headaches and rarely have morning migraines anymore.

While I am replacing my pillow (I've worn it out), I plan to save my current one for travel. The pillow has lasted as long as a regularly shaped, good quality pillow.

I think the pillow is worth the price and the time to adjust to it. In my opinion, this is probably the best pillow for those with fibromyalgia and those with a history of whiplash. It is probably a good pick for those with TMJ issues as well since it keeps one's head in the proper alignment.
 


Additional Reading Resources:

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