REVIEW – If you wake up with aches and pains, your sleeping posture might be an issue! The Elegear Cervical Pillow is designed to help by getting your neck and head into proper alignment while you snooze. How does it work? To the review!!
What is it?
The Elegear Cervical Pillow is a contoured adjustable cervical pillow built from memory foam.
Hardware specs
- 24.4″ wide, 15″ deep
- Adjustable height from 3.1″ to 5.5″ (see below)
- 3.6 pounds
- 55D high density memory foam
Design and features
Disclaimer before we begin: I am not a doctor, nor do I pretend to be. I’ll fill you in on my experiences below, and discuss some of the product claims… but if you’re having issues with pain you should always consult a physician!
The Elegear Cervical Pillow is designed to provide contoured support for your head and neck, theoretically reducing a variety of aches and pains that result from poor sleeping positions. This is accomplished by a two-tiered design: the raised area cradles your head, while the wings act as armrests so you don’t pin your arms under the pillow while sleeping.
The build is memory foam, wrapped in a quilted & removable cover. There’s a hole that runs through the center of the pillow which, when combined with the breathable materials, is intended to promote airflow and reduce sweat.
There are a whole bunch of ergonomic memory foam pillows on the market that are variations on this particular design, but the Elegear Cervical Pillow adds an additional twist with customizations. Take a gaze at the pillow’s profile and you’ll see one side is taller than the other. This is to designed better accommodate side sleeping vs. back sleeping and/or different body types.
The cover is a sturdy quilted material, with a zipper on the backside that includes an extra flap of fabric so you don’t scratch yourself. A button in the middle of the cover connects the top and bottom through that center hole as shown below.
Pull the cover off, and you’ll find that your pillow comes with a series of extra bits that hep you customize the experience.
Two 1 cm deep removable foam pads you can use to adjust the overall height of the pillow. These pads conform to the shape of the pillow and lock in place when the cover is buttoned and zipped.
There’s also a dense foam support bar that you can use to increase the hardness of the pillow on one side. This bar slides into its pre-cut slot on the underside of the base. That extra layer of fabric you see below is an additional sub-layer under the cover that’s very flexible, so you can stretch it to sneak that bar into place.
By my count, this gives you 8 different positions/customizations to work with to find the right level of comfort for your needs. You can also flip the Elegear Cervical Pillow over if you are a stomach sleeper.
From a build perspective, the Elegear Cervical Pillow is very well assembled. The memory foam is dense and firm, rebounding clearly when not in use. The quilted slip cover feels substantial and tear resistant. When you first get the pillow it will be vacuum sealed for shipping and requires a day or so to decompress. I noticed no weird smells or off-gassing during this process. It’s a quality package overall, and better than some other pillows of this type that I have worked with.
I should note here that the pillow is pretty tall compared to standard pillowcases and will require a Queen or King size pillowcase. We use King sized pillowcases on my bad, but I am showing the pics in the Performance section below without the case so you can see how it works.
Performance
I’ve tried a variety of contoured pillows to battle neck pain and snoring, including some I’ve reviewed for The Gadgeteer. Right off the bat, I’ll tell you that it takes a little getting used to the Elegear Cervical Pillow. The height is pretty aggressive and firm out of the gate, so you should expect a break-in period of a few days to get used to it.
I actually used this pillow for a day or two and gave it up for a week. It was too tall and too firm for my comfort. Then I started playing with the different options until a found a setup that I liked (basically pulling out all the additions) and took to sleeping with it a couple of hours a night until I got used to it. That’s when it really started to work for me.
Here’s an example of a side sleeping (posed) shot. Note that the drop on the wings gives your arm somewhere to go without getting tucked under the pillow, which is great to avoid your arm falling asleep.
If you’re a belly sleeper you can flip it over and tuck your arms under the wings. While I was able to find a comfortable spot for back and side sleeping, the height of the Elegear Cervical Pillow was too much for belly sleeping. It lifted my upper shoulders and head at such an aggressive angle that I found it very uncomfortable.
I found the same issue when attempting stomach sleeping with the pillow flipped upright as well.
For back and side sleeping, it worked very well once I got over the adjustment period. I was able to play with the height and firmness bar to get a good, comfortable position that reduced stiffness and soreness the next morning. I could feel the additional support taking stress off of my neck and shoulders. It is firm, even with that bar removed, but it does a good job.
I did notice some heat buildup when using this particular pillow where my noggin came in contact with the pillow, contrary to the claims in the product literature. It’s not terrible, but it is noticeable
I can’t say that it worked for my snoring. Reports from my snoring app (and my wife) tell me that it really didn’t help in that area.
What I like
- Well built & feels solid
- Lots of options to find the right height/firmness
What I’d change
- Would love to see the firmness insert work on both sides
- Requires an adjustment curve to get used to it
- I noticed a little bit of heat buildup where my head contacted the pillow when in use
Final thoughts
As far as memory-foam contoured pillows go, the Elegear Cervical Pillow is pretty great compared to other similar models I have owned or tested. The ability to adjust the height and firmness is a nice bonus. It’s also very reasonably priced at under $50. Just be aware that it is very firm and very tall, which may or may not work for you.
Price: $45.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Elegear.
