Best Pillows for Shoulder Pain (Sep. 2026) - Rated by CherryPicks' Experts

Best Pillows for Shoulder Pain: Choose Your Comfort

How to Sleep with Shoulder Pain

In most of our articles, we include an early “best roundup” of the winners in each category. However, understanding how to sleep so that your shoulder can heal is so important and not as simple as changing the pillow you rest your head on so we’re going to ask that you spend more time to understand the recommendations from experts. After that, we provide recommendations for each category.

If you don’t do anything else, watch this video. Although researchers haven’t studied sleep posture much, physical therapists work with patients who experience pain every day. Physical therapists have learned through experience how to help relieve pain by adjusting sleeping posture. I’d read all the research that’s been published about how to position yourself in bed to ease shoulder pain when I began looking at videos to try to find one that showed the recommended positions and use of pillows to provide support and ease pain.

This video is completely in line with the recommendations from researchers. It shows you how to position yourself on your side or back and where to use pillows and why they are important.

The ability to sleep well long enough for your body to heal is important for your overall health. Plus, research repeatedly shows that sleep deprived individuals experience more pain than the same people experience when they are well rested. The increase in experienced pain when someone is sleep deprived can affect their quality of life and ability to function. Additionally, chronic sleep deprivation often contributes to chronic musculoskeletal pain. Put simply, it is a vicious circle:

Lack of sleep increases pain.

Pain interferes with the ability to sleep well.

The right support for your muscles helps you sleep deeper and wake up pain free. Since our bodies vary considerably in size, dimensions, and what each of us finds comfortable, there isn’t one pillow that is best for everyone. The best way to know if a pillow works well for you is the same way you know if a mattress works well for you – track how well you sleep with it. There are two easy ways to track the quality of your sleep.

One is a sleep journal. You should track your sleep for two weeks with a new pillow or mattress to have a good idea how well you sleep on it. We created a free sleep journal you can use to track the quality of your sleep. Of course, if the pillow is causing pain or making it impossible to sleep, stop using it. Several days of sleep deprivation puts you at risk of a serious accident.

The other way to track your sleep is to use actigraphy which means using a sleep tracker. Many watches including the Apple Watch and FitBit as well as less expensive models have built-in sleep trackers that can let you know how much REM sleep you obtained, how often you woke up, and how much overall sleep you achieved. In research studies, actigraphy and a sleep journal were equally accurate ways to measure the quality of sleep.

Since testing a bunch of pillows can be an expensive proposition, we highly recommend only trying pillows that are returnable, especially for the pillow(s) you use for your head and neck. Trying them in the store won’t work because support depends on the combination of your mattress and the pillow; not just the pillow.

In both the back and side sleeping positions in the video, the sleeper with shoulder pain has six pillows supporting his muscles and skeleton to provide the support required for him to sleep well enough for his body to heal and not further aggravate the painful shoulder. Watch the video to see the physical therapist explain the positioning of each pillow and why it is needed to provide the necessary support.

Don’t sleep with your head laying on your arm or with your arm under the pillow where your head is resting as both positions can aggravate your injury.

Pillow Research

Many individuals experience sleep disturbances that interfere with their ability to get the sleep they need to maintain their health and well-being. Researchers who had test subjects sleep with five different types of pillows with one week breaks in between during which they used their own pillows found that sleep disruptions due to a poor pillow match to the sleeper’s needs were common as was disturbed sleep from other causes.

A pillow should support the neck and spine in a neutral position which means the muscles are able to fully relax. In this study:

• The feather pillow performed the worse
• Contoured foam didn’t perform better than shredded foam pillows
• Latex pillows performed the best

The test subjects were able to drop out of any of the pillow trials where the pillow wasn’t comfortable. The number of dropouts with each trial was

• Polyester pillow – 5%
• Contour foam pillow – 11%
• Latex pillow – 3%
• Regular foam pillow – 5.5%
• Feather pillow – 31%

The percentage reporting no shoulder or arm pain:

• With their own pillow – 82.1%
• Polyester pillow – 76.1%
• Shredded foam pillow – 81.6%
• Contoured foam pillow – 77.2%
• Feather – 63.6%
• Latex – 88.3%

Researchers who evaluated the support provided by various types of pillows concluded that the spinal support alters significantly when people change between a foam, latex or polyester pillow to a feather pillow and vice versa. However, the shape of a foam pillow (contoured vs. shredded foam) does not alter the spinal position significantly.

Importance of Sleep

Sleep is critical to your health. Inadequate sleep increases the risk of developing debilitating and life-threatening illnesses including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, decreased immune function, mental illnesses, dementia, and significantly increases the risk of accidents and relationship difficulties. If you are unable to get a good night’s sleep consistently and adjusting your bedding and mattress doesn’t bring relief, consult a physician for help. You may want to consult a doctor before you change your mattress or pillow, depending on how severe the sleep loss you’re experiencing is. If you are sleep deprived, have someone drive you to the doctor. Driving while sleep deprived is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.

Best Pillows to Consider for Shoulder Pain

The advice we received from experts strongly suggests that simply changing your pillow won’t do enough to heal an existing injury.

Changing your pillow isn’t enough to heal an existing injury.

You must sleep in a way that supports your body.

The body must be fully supported while you sleep so it can heal properly. That means the proper pillow for your head and neck but also support for your arms, lumbar area, torso, shoulder, and knees. The support you need depends on your sleeping position. If you haven’t already taken the 8 minutes to watch the video earlier in this article, do so now. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a moving picture is worth a million. The video helps you understand how your body needs to be supported while you sleep.

We’ve spent dozens of hours reading reviews, evaluating manufacturer’s claims, and reaching out to manufacturers to learn more about their pillows to identify pillows that work well for different types of sleepers and for different needs. In our round up of recommendations, we separate the pillows by the type of sleeper they are suitable for and by where they would work (under the head, under the shoulder, under the torso, between the knees, and as arm support).

Choose pillows that are returnable or low cost and adjustable. Let’s run through our selections for pillows to support each area of your body.

Side Sleepers: Use this Under Your Head

Remember what a side sleeper looks like when properly supported for shoulder pain.

After you’re in this position, have someone slide their hand under your shoulder. Their hand will slide in easily if you are positioned correctly. This tests how much pressure is on the shoulder on the side you’re lying on. Don’t lay on the arm that’s on the lower side as it can cut off circulation.

Loft is how high a pillow is. Side sleepers should have a high loft (5 inches or more). In this example there’s a firm high loft pillow against his stomach and a low loft pillow under his arm with his arm resting on it to ensure the top shoulder isn’t strained. Allowing your arm to hang down to the bed strains the shoulder muscles.

From the video, you’ll also recall that there is a pillow beneath his side that raises his torso to keep the weight off his shoulder. Your pillow should consider the width of your shoulders (middle of the back of your neck to your shoulder’s edge). If you have broad shoulders, you’ll need more loft than someone with narrower shoulders.

Now, let’s look at some good pillows for side sleepers.

• 1. Sidney Sleep Bed Pillow for Side and Back Sleepers -...
• 2. A-Pce Cooling Memory Foam Pillow for Neck&Shoulder Pain Relief, Set...
• 3. Cheer Collection Oversized V-Shaped Pillow, L-Shaped Pillow for Neck and...
• 4. btasleeep Side Sleeper Pillows for Neck & Shoulder Comfort -...
• 5. Coop Home Goods Original Crescent Adjustable Pillow, Queen Bed Pillows...
• 6. DreamyBlue Signature Pillow w/Adjustable Loft • Shredded Memory Foam Fill...
• 7. Premium Pillows Queen Size Set of 2, Fluffy and Supportive...
• 8. Nuzzle Adjustable Firm Pillow , Luxury Standard Size Bed Pillow...
• 9. KUCEY Cooling Side Sleeper Pillow for Neck and Shoulder Pain,...
• 10. Cervical Pillow for Neck and Shoulder Pain Relief - Ergonomic...

Your Mattress

We’ve talked a lot about how to arrange pillows to support your body, but your mattress must also do its job. If your mattress is sagging, it can make it nearly impossible to get your spine properly aligned while you sleep. People often blame age for their morning aches and pains until they buy a new mattress and realize it was their mattress that was old.

The right mattress for you depends on how you sleep (back, side, stomach, or combo). We’ve written a number of articles that provide information you can use to choose the right mattress:

• Best Mattresses - Our top picks
• Back Pain Help from your Mattress
• Side Sleepers
• Heavy bodies

What Causes Shoulder Pain?

Do you check your email, Facebook, or Instagram in this position? Your shoulder is bearing weight it isn’t designed to bear if you do this and you’ll eventually end up with shoulder pain. Support your body properly and you can avoid the pain.

Source: David Ingram, Fitness Coach (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Td3bIbRLA)

• Arthritis
• Bursitis
• Diabetes
• Dislocation
• Broken collarbone
• Frozen shoulder
• Hunching over your computer
• Inflammation in the muscles, tendons, or joints
• Injuries
• Ligament or soft tissue issues injuries and inflammation
• Osteoarthritis
• Poor circulation
• Pressure from sleeping on your shoulder
• Shoulder blade issues
• Sleep deprivation increases pain
• Strain from your arms not being supported while you sleep
• Stress increases pain
• Tendonitis
• Torn rotator cuff

Pain is how the body tells you that something is wrong, so be sure to see your physician about your shoulder pain. No one ever says they went to the doctor too soon, but a lot of people live in pain longer than they have to and say they wish they’d gone sooner.

7 Ways to Cope with Chronic Shoulder Pain

1. When you get in bed, pay attention to how your body feels. When your muscles relax easily, you’re supported.
2. I use this heated neck and shoulder wrap to soothe the pain when my shoulder hurts.
3. If I haven’t been in pain for a while and pain returns, I ice it.
4. My chiropractor also helps. My doctor just wanted to give me pain pills but as long as I see my chiropractor, I can get rid of the pain and don’t need the pills. My physician didn’t recommend chiropractic help. I had another issue and learned that he could help my shoulder pain.
5. In some cases, sleeping on your back and placing a pillow under the painful shoulder provides relief. Talk to your doctor or try it and see if it helps your shoulder pain. If it makes things worse, discontinue the position immediately.

1. Both my chiropractor and massage therapist recommended exercises that help. Yoga shoulder exercises can help you loosen tight muscles so that you can work on strengthening them.

1. Learn how to manage stress. Stress is the number one cause of insomnia. Pain increases when we don’t get enough sleep. When you learn how to manage stress in healthy ways, you sleep better and experience less pain.

Conclusion

We hope the information we’ve provided helps you reduce or eliminate shoulder pain and prevent reinjuries in the future. You can use these quick links to return to the specific sections where pillows you are interested in were described.

Related Pillows for Shoulder Pain Guides

For more personalized Pillows for Shoulder Pain guides, Check those pages,

Once you get your pillow(s), use our free sleep journal to track the quality of your sleep.

If you have any questions, we’ll try to answer them right away. Comments are always welcome, too.

Sleep Well.

Top 8 Pillows for Shoulder Pain Sellers: CPR Seller Rank List

CPR sellers rank is based on CherryPicks-AI bestselling ranking system that helps us analyze each seller's sales trends. The List of top seller ranks is our in-house data, essential for our product ranking to help you make the right shopping choice.