British Invention of the Year<\/em> way back in 2012. It has been keeping heads and necks in great condition ever since!<\/p>\n\n\n\nBuyer’s Guide<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhat is a Travel Pillow?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Frequent travellers use them all the time – horseshoe-shaped pillows that fit around the neck and stop your head from lolling too far when you fall asleep while seated upright, for example, in a plane seat. This prevents you waking up with a stiff, painful neck, and can also stop you from snoring embarrassingly as can happen if your neck is constrained in an unusual position!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How They Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When we fall asleep, our bodies relax completely. While this is fine when we are in bed or otherwise lying down, when we are sitting upright \u2013 as so often on public transport, be it a train or a plane \u2013 it can be uncomfortable and even injurious. Our necks are our weakest points and when our neck muscles relax, our heads tilt to one side or another, or even fall back, which can result in issues ranging from the embarrassing (uncontrolled dribbling, loud snores) to the painful (cramp, sore and stiff necks, back pain and headaches).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Travel pillows work by fitting around the neck and shoulders, providing support that holds our heads up for us, while still allowing for that complete relaxation. In this way, our heads remain upright and comfortable, so we remain dignified and comfortable when we sleep, and wake up without any pain or stiffness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some travel pillows are tweaks on the basic horse-shoe design, having extra padding by the back of the neck, raised ‘arms’ or ‘wings’ on which you can rest the side of your head, or extra height for those with especially long necks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Materials are Travel Pillows Made From?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Early models and cheaper alternatives are inflatable, with a valve on them similar to those seen on beach balls. The valve pulls out a little, so the user can blow up the cushions with their mouths and use them as needed. The benefit of this is that the cushion takes up very little space in your hand luggage, and that they are ready to use in a few seconds when you are ready for a nap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The downside of these types of travel pillow is that they tend to be made from plastic, albeit plastic coated with a velvety outside to make it more comfortable to touch. The plastic can heat up under contact with your skin, and can make you quite hot and sweaty. The travel pillows also tend to deflate over time, especially if your head is resting heavily upon it, which means that after a long sleep, you might still wake up with a sore, stiff neck, despite using the pillow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most new travel pillows are made from memory foam which is highly compressible. Folding up to one-third of so of their full size, these cushions usually come in sturdy carry-bags that hold the compression. Because they are memory foam, they readily return to their full shape and size once removed from the carry-bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are occasional niche travel pillows that do things differently, with firm plastic inserts inside padded fleece covers (see the TRTL review below) and there are some variations on the shape, but for the most part the horse-shoe design wins out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are There Extras Included with Travel Pillows?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Yes, there are a number of extras that can come with a travel pillow although none are standard except for, perhaps, the carry-bag into which the memory foam pillows fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carry bag<\/strong> \u2013 handy sturdy bags, with draw-strings, these bags compress the memory foam to one third of its usual size, and then fit handily into your carry on luggage, or fasten onto a handbag or backpack, so the pillow is handy when you need a nap.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEye masks<\/strong> \u2013 it is no good being comfortable enough to sleep if glaring lights are going to keep you awake. A sleep mask slips over your eyes and ensures that your brain thinks that it is full dark, and therefore, time to sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEar plugs<\/strong> \u2013 much like the eye-masks, ear plugs ensure that your surroundings are not preventing you from getting off to sleep as desired, cutting out unnecessary noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPhone pocket<\/strong> \u2013 if you like to nod off while listening to podcasts or music, these cushions allow you to do just that without disturbing your fellow passengers. Your phone will slide fully into the pocket, and be held in place securely until you wake up and want to check your messages or social media feeds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This review will look at travel pillows from a number of manufacturers (Fylina, J-Pillow, TRTL Pillow, DYD, Newdora, Life Hall and Raha). Some manufacturers have more than one pillow on the market, others just the one. An impartial run-down of all the contenders follows, and then our best travel pillow recommendation, chosen from those reviewed, … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reviewers.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}