An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

This article will help you to choose an ideal pillow by supplying you with essential information on different sizes and what they are best for.
By
Romeo Vitelli
Romeo Vitelli
Expert Writer
Received his doctorate in Psychology in 1987, spent fifteen years as a staff psychologist in Millbrook Correctional Centre. In 2003 went into full-time private practice. read more
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Reviewed By
Medical Advisory Team
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Includes well-known professionals, who together provide decades of sleep medicine experience that enables Talk About Sleep to fulfill its mission of creating access to high- read more
Last updated: August 23, 2023
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After a long and tiring day, there are very few things that we look forward to more than a good night of sleep. Think about it – you just got home, and you’ve had your dinner followed by a nice warm bath. Do you have let go of all of your burdens for that day, and you were looking forward to doing it all over again the following day.

Obviously, you’re going to have to muster all of your energy. What better way to do it than to just surrender yourself to your bed, let your body sing to the familiar crevices of your mattress, and let your head lay down on the comforting cool side of your pillow.

Even though you do not really think about it, the size of your pillow can really make or break your sleep session. Do you want to find out what the best possible way to optimize your sleeping experience is but using the right pillow? Well, this guy is exactly what you need.

Bed pillow sizes guide

Having a guide like this is actually very important because the size of the pillow is a very important consideration because they can give you different experiences as far as sleep goes — the same way your mattress provides you with different types of experiences.

As a matter of fact, pillows actually generally have the same name as mattresses, such as king-sized or queen-sized. This is, of course, determined largely by how much stuffing is in the pillow, how thick the pillow is, and what kind of fabric the pillows are made out of.

Standard pillow

An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

The most common type of pillow that you will see is the standard pillow type. This is the type of pillow that goes well with basically any type of mattress. You can use this pillow not just for your head but for your back, your sides, or even your stomach. If you live in a dormitory and do have a twin mattress, a standard pillow would be ideal because it would fit the mattress very well. If you have a queen-size mattress, you will be able to fit two of these pillows easily.

Queen pillow

An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

What makes a queen pillow different is that it is usually 4 inches longer than your standard pillow. This is a really good option if you are the type of sleeper that likes to change positions often. Because these pillows are very long, it may be a little bit more difficult to find pillowcases because usually, A more custom fit would have to be required to purchase a pillowcase for a queen-size pillow.

If you have a queen or king-size bed, having a queen pillow can all but make sure that your head can move around freely at the snug comfort of the fabric of these pillows, and he will be able to enjoy a deeper and more relaxed slumber.

King pillow

An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

Probably the most extravagant type of pillow there is — the king-size pillow is 6 inches longer than the queen pillow and a whopping 10 inches longer than the standard pillow. This type of pillow will really make sure that no matter what position you sleep in, and no matter how much you like to change positions when you go to bed, your head will never have to fall off if it’s not comfortable. This pillow is not just good for laying your head on but will also help you with back support when you set up, have breakfast in bed, or answer your emails before you even get out of bed.

If you have two king pillows, you can even substitute these for a body pillow. If you have a king or queen size bed, you will find that the king pillow will be more than just a good fit. The only Drawback with only pillows this big is that just like the queen pillow — it is slightly more difficult to find a pillowcase that would fit naturally.

Body pillow

An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

Just as the name suggests — body pillows are not really meant for your head to rest on but for you to practically cuddle with because these are the immense pillows that you can possibly find. They are far taller than any other pillow and can go up to 4 feet in length with a girth that is practically comparable to a human body.

These pillows are ideal if you like to sleep on your side because you will be able to rest your arms and your legs on them. They are meant to be placed vertically up on your mattress instead of horizontally because you want these pillows to run parallel with your body. These pillows are particularly useful for people who need extra support to sleep well, such as people with orthopedic issues or pregnant women.

Euro pillow

An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

Do you see those square-shaped pillows that are on your bed and on your couch? You probably do not know what those are even called. Those are actually called euro pillows or euro squares.

Even though they retain their trademark square shape, these pillows actually come in a very good variety of sizes called having uniform dimensions for length and width. Even though these pillows can provide added comfort to your sleeping experience – they are mostly for decoration. Even though these pillows can provide added comfort to your sleeping experience – they are mostly for decoration.

Orthopedic pillow

An Ultimate Guide to Pillow Sizes

Orthopedic pillows Trusted Source Orthopedic pillow - Wikipedia An orthopedic pillow is a pillow designed to correct body positioning in bed or while lying on any other surface. Its design conforms to orthopedic guidelines to ensure the right placement and support of one or more specific parts of the body to provide safe and healthy rest to the sleeper. en.wikipedia.org are more specialized types of pillows that are designed for people that have problems with their neck and their spine. When people suffer from certain degenerative spine diseases, sleeping on a pillow that is not conducive to maintaining the optimal shape of the spine could be very detrimental for that person because it would cause his or her spine to be in pain more frequently.

The orthopedic pillow is the ideal solution for this because its primary function is to support the natural shape of the spine when the person lays on his or her back. Having a memory foam pillow will also really complement orthopedic pillows.

Final Thoughts

Now that you are aware of the different types of pillows that are actually available for you to try depending on the type of sleep or you are the type of comfort that you want to achieve during your slumber, you are just about ready to go to your nearest bed and bath store and try to look for the ideal pillow for yourself.

Remember that pillows are not to be taken for granted because, in a way, they are the gateway to your dreams and your everlasting companions when it comes to laying down your burdens for the day and getting a good night’s sleep. Because your pillow is such an important companion, you want to find one that absolutely suits your needs.

Whether you are a very dynamic sleeper, you are the type of person who likes sleeping on your side, you cannot sleep without cuddling something soft, or if you have a variety of orthopedic issues – if you follow this short guide, you can be sure that the right pillow is out there waiting for you to take it home.

References

1.
Orthopedic pillow - Wikipedia
An orthopedic pillow is a pillow designed to correct body positioning in bed or while lying on any other surface. Its design conforms to orthopedic guidelines to ensure the right placement and support of one or more specific parts of the body to provide safe and healthy rest to the sleeper.
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