Best Wedge Pillow [Review] in 2021

Best Wedge Pillow Buyers Guide:

If you’re sick of acid reflux, neck pain, your partner waking you up with their snoring, poor circulation or any irritation provoking your quality of sleep then getting yourself a wedge pillow may be the answer to all your prayers.

Wedge pillows serve a wide range of purposes, some just simply elevate your upper body or legs to help with acid reflux while others are brilliant for recovery from surgery or even to provide support while you’re pregnant and post-birth.

You may not think that getting yourself a wedge pillow will make much difference, but it does a lot more than you may think. It allows a gradual slope for your body to gently lean on to gradually lift your upper body up for comfort.

It is much more beneficial than just stacking up the pillows and hoping for the best as these pillows are specifically designed to relieve certain pressure points and help with respiratory issues.

Let’s break down everything you need to know! 

What is a Wedge Pillow?

To start things off let’s break down what exactly is a wedge pillow? Well, wedge pillows are orthopedic pillows that can help sleepers with ailments. The most common use of a wedge pillow is to help with snoring, acid reflux, sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea. 

It helps elevate the upper body, which especially helps those who suffer from acid reflux heart burn as it helps keep the stomach from rising up the esophagus so the user can sleep with ease. 

The triangular shape keeps sleepers at an incline throughout the night, they can be used to either keep your upper body elevated or elevate your legs to help with recovery from surgery or improve circulation. Wedge pillows often range in sizes from 7-12 inches high. 

They also come in a range of shapes, some specific for your back, head and neck support while sitting up in bed, and others that can help to elevate your legs while you sleep.

Back and side sleepers have made the best use out of wedge pillows as it helps to relieve pressure points in your back, neck, and shoulders. Wedge pillows also help elevate and support your belly and legs while pregnant too. 

In terms of material, edge pillows are often constructed with foam and sometimes with a few inches of memory foam to conform to your body’s shape and size and provide you with ultimate support and comfort while sleeping upright. 

How To Use A Wedge Pillow:

Knowing how to use a wedge pillow is super important to reap all the benefits. I’m going to run through the best ways to use a wedge pillow for both improved sleep and making sitting up in bed much more comfortable. 

So let’s go through all the different ways of how to use the wedge pillow.

Upright Position:

If you love reading a good book before bed or desperately looking for a spot where you can read comfortably for hours, or even make some notes or write a journal, then using a wedge pillow is a brilliant way to do that. 

Placing the wide end of the wedge pillow flat on the mattress with the flat side resting on the headboard. By your pillow being in this position, you can recline in an upright position without putting too much pressure on your neck or upper back. 

However, while this is brilliant, it is only suggested that you sit in bed when you intend to sleep as this can cause muscle aches and pains, but in some cases, this can’t be avoided.  

When looking for a pillow for reading in bed or sitting up in bed, you should look for a wedge pillow with an incline between 43 and 45 degrees. 

The best wedge pillows for sitting up in bed have a higher incline between 43 and 45 degrees.

Sleeping With An Elevated Back:

Snoring and sleep apnea are often worse when resting on your back; this is because the ring of muscles and soft tissue in the back of your throat become soft and collapse during sleep.

So when you exhale, a loud vibrating noise can occur as the air passes through this tissue; for those with sleep apnea it can put pressure on the trachea and cause breathing to start and stop. 

By placing a wedge pillow underneath your upper body with the thinnest part of the incline resting near the middle of your back, will help open airways and make breathing much easier. 

It will make sure the tongue falls forward instead of backward to prevent obstruction and improve the quality of sleep. If you suffer from allergies, then a wedge pillow can also help sinuses drain more easily. 

If you experience acid reflux or GERD, then the stomach acid can flow back up into the esophagus when lying down; this can be quite painful and cause a burning sensation (also known as heartburn), making it difficult to sleep. 

But how to use a wedge pillow for acid reflux?

With a slight slope from the wedge pillow, this can help ensure the stomach acid flows down and does not enter the throat and cause discomfort. I would recommend an incline of around 35-45 degrees and roughly 8-10 inches in height. 

Elevated Side Sleeping:

If you’re pregnant or prefer to sleep on your side in general, then a wedge pillow can also provide relief from sleep apnea and acid reflux, and if you’re pregnant, it can also make sleeping on your side far more comfortable as your belly is supported. 

A wedge pillow will also ensure that your spine remains neutral when sleeping; this prevents tension buildup in your back muscles. If you’re pregnant, you can use two pillows, one for your head and one to lift your belly slightly for ultimate comfort. 

Memory foam pillows with a medium-firm feel are ideal for this as they will also cradle the shoulders, which help to relieve pressure points. For side sleepers, a wedge pillow with roughly 35-45 degrees incline is ideal as you can choose where it is comfiest to place your head. 

However, you should try to keep your head, shoulders, and neck aligned as this will help reduce tension and add comfort when sleeping.

Want to know more? Don’t worry I’ve broken down all the ways of how to use a wedge pillow to get the most benefits for all kinds of sleep related conditions in a full article here. You’ll be shocked by how many people can benefit from a wedge pillow.  

Benefits of using wedge pillows:

As we all know, wedge pillows help to keep us elevated while we sleep to reduce acid reflux, snoring, respiratory problems, relieve back, head and neck pain, and much more. But besides the obvious, there are some key benefits of getting yourself a wedge pillow. 

A wedge pillow will give you that extra comfort and relief while you rest and the elevated support you need that a regular pillow won’t provide. Here are all the key benefits:

Improved breathing:

The wedge pillow’s gradual slope helps to open airways and allow your body to get more oxygen while you rest; this helps reduce snoring, sleep apnea, and helps with acid reflux. 

Back sleepers out of all positions are more likely to suffer from airway obstruction because if your upper body is not elevated, your tongue will likely fall back into the soft palate and obstruct your airways. 

Those who suffer from seasonal allergies such as hayfever or seasonal asthma may benefit from wedge pillows as it helps to drain sinuses and reduce inflammation in your airways. Those that suffer from acid reflux will also benefit from the upright position as the acid in your stomach is less likely to rise up the esophagus. 

Relieving back and neck pain:

Wedge pillows made from memory foam are brilliant for relieving neck and back pain thanks to their conforming capabilities. They contour your body’s shapes and curves and align the spine with relieving pressure points, and providing you with the support you need while sleeping elevated. 

You can even use a wedge pillow under your legs for added pressure relief and support.

If you suffer from chronic back pain, you should look for a long enough pillow to support your torso without leaving a gap. Choosing the wrong pillow for chronic back pain may actually make the back pain worse. 

If you suffer from back or neck pain, I would recommend getting a wedge pillow made with memory foam such as Lunix Wedge Pillow Set, as it will ease your back and neck pain while keeping elevated. 

It helps relieve acid reflux, indigestion, and GERD 

One of the main benefits is the relief you get from digestion problems and acid reflux. By keeping your body in an elevated position, it prevents most indigestion problems from making its way back up the esophagus and causing discomfort and disrupting sleep. 

Medication may help ease the discomfort but improving your sleeping position by sleeping in an elevated position on a wedge pillow can work wonders. It works with gravity to keep your stomach acid down and allow you to sleep uninterrupted. 

Pregnancy Support:

As you come further along in your pregnancy, you may suffer from lower back pain due to your belly growing; while you’re pregnant, you should sleep on your side as it keeps your spine, hips, and pelvis neutral to relieve pain. 

While a pillow with a high loft can help with posture, it isn’t enough to alleviate acid reflux or heartburn. Wedge pillows can be used under your head or to support your belly while you sleep by lifting it gently and easing back pain.

It works wonders for supporting your stomach and relieving back pain. 

Post-Surgery support:

After surgery, you may find a wedge pillow extremely beneficial for elevating either your upper body or legs. This is because it helps improve circulation and speed up recovery. 

If you have just had knee surgery or any lower body surgery and you need to keep your legs above heart level to relieve swelling and help recover your joints and muscles then a wedge pillow will be your best friend through recovery. 

The elevation is brilliant for preventing swelling and relieving pressure points in your body. 

What to Consider When Purchasing a Wedge Pillow:

Now we’ve gone through the benefits of sleepers using wedge pillows; there are still some important factors to consider when choosing a wedge pillow. Wedge Pillows come in different sizes, shapes, and inclines and help accommodate certain needs.

Make sure to consult your doctor before buying a wedge pillow for recommendations and what you should be specifically looking for in a pillow. Once you know which wedge pillow is right for you, here are some things to help narrow down your options:

Size: 

You will usually find that wedge pillows range in sizes from 20 to 24 inches in length and width; they tend to differ in height as the incline determines this. The size and shape of the pillow help keep sleepers elevated throughout the night.

You should keep the size of your mattress in mind when buying a wedge pillow, as they do tend to be much bigger than your standard pillow. If you have a twin or full mattress, I would recommend opting for a smaller wedge pillow.

For queen and king-size mattresses, you can go for the size that suits your preference best; you can select from the larger, medium, or smaller sizes.

Incline:

The average height of wedge pillows ranges between 6-12 inches and has an angle of 30-45 degrees. A lower incline is preferred by those who use it under their legs, whereas sleepers prefer a mid-level incline with heart burn or sleep apnea as it keeps your body upright in a comfortable position.

But what is the best height for a wedge pillow?

Those looking to use their pillow to sleep up in bed would benefit from a higher incline. If you’re pregnant, I would recommend a low to medium incline if you’re using it under your stomach and a medium incline if you’re using it under your head.

For those that suffer with acid reflux or GERD then a lower incline is best, many of us confuse a higher incline with being better for this kind of condition but this really isn’t the case, if anything a higher incline can make it worse. So I reccomend going for a 6-8 inch incline. 

Shape:

Now wedge pillows are commonly true to their name and come in a triangle shape with a gradual incline, from top to bottom. However, there are different types of wedge pillows which differ in size, construction, and shape.

Some wedge pillows have a contoured surface to target certain pain relief areas, such as the neck and shoulders, whereas others are completely flat on each side. Some even come with an extra mini pillow to support the gap between your neck and the pillow.

Pressure Relief:

Wedge pillows are not only designed to keep your body elevated and reduce acid reflux, but they also work to relieve pressure in certain parts of the body, the best material for pressure relief has to be memory foam as it conforms to your body for unique pressure relief.

Where you place the wedge pillow also has a huge impact on the pressure relief; placing the wedge pillow under your knees can ease pressure on your lower back. Placing the pillow underneath your upper body can relieve pressure on your neck upper back.

It is important to consider where you would place your wedge pillow to determine which wedge pillow is best for you when buying one.

Firmness Level:

Wedge pillows are usually designed with a solid block of foam, so. Usually, they have a medium-firm-to-firm feel. This is beneficial for pressure relief as one that is too soft won’t provide you with the support you need throughout the night.

It also helps to keep you elevated and prevent them from slipping throughout the night. A medium-firm wedge pillow may be more comfortable for side sleepers, while back sleepers may benefit from a firmer surface.

Material quality:

The quality of the material is often a key indicator of the life span of the pillow. If you’re planning on using this pillow on a nightly basis, I would recommend spending that little extra to ensure you’re getting high-quality materials. 

Low-quality materials will likely degrade or sag after a couple of months of daily use. I would also reccomend looking for one that comes with a removable cover, this makes machine washing much easier and makes the pillow last much longer

Price:

Along with quality, you should also consider your budget too. You should spend between $50 and $100 on a high-quality pillow. Remember, price doesn’t always determine quality, but it is a strong indication that your pillow is made with durable materials built to last you a long time.

Warranties, Returns, and Sleep Trial:

Now I know that not all pillows will fit your needs, and that’s fine; we’re all different after all. What may work for you may not work for your partner. This is why warranty, returns, and sleep trials are so important when ordering a pillow online. 

Many companies of wedge pillows allow a sleep trial, which means you can test out your pillow for 30-90 nights, and if it doesn’t suit you, you can return it with no questions asked. If the company doesn’t offer a warranty, they’ll often offer a lifetime value or satisfaction guarantee. 

Steer clear of brands that won’t offer a refund if the product is defective, don’t offer any returns or warranties as it is a key indication that they will scam you for your money, and your pillow won’t last very long.