A Body Pillow May Be the Key to Your Best Sleep Ever

Finding the right pillow for your sleep style can be life-changing. Picture it: You finally wake up without a sore neck and are well-rested and ready to take on the day. But if you've tried everything and no pillow seems to be doing the trick, the secret to your best sleep ever may not be the pillow behind your head, but a body pillow instead. Body pillows "may help to promote a neutral spinal alignment and prevent excessive pressure on certain parts of the body," says Jonathan S. Kirschner, MD, RMSK, physiatrist at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). While anyone can benefit from a body pillow, Dr. Kirschner says that "some studies show they allow patients to lay longer in a side-lying position, which may be helpful for pregnant individuals or those with sleep apnea." Finally, we can all catch some much-needed ZZZs!

The Good Housekeeping Institute Textiles Lab is comprised of pillow experts who have tested over a hundred different pillows in our Lab, including body pillows, down pillows, down alternative pillows, memory foam pillows, latex pillows and more. In the Lab, GH analysts washed each body pillow according to its care label and evaluated how easy it was to get the cover on and off. Consumer testers then tried out each body pillow in their daily lives to give feedback on comfort, support, temperature regulation and more to help us find the best body pillows.

Our top picks:

Continuing reading to learn more about our top tested picks. At the end of this article, you'll find a body pillow buying guide from GH fiber scientists and answers to your most pressing body pillow questions.