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Many people who want to improve their sleep quality but find their current pillow uncomfortable or wish to adjust it to the perfect height for their body may have tried a "bath towel pillow."
This article explains bath towel pillows, including their benefits, drawbacks, effects, and how to make them.
What is a bath towel pillow?
A "bath towel pillow," as the name suggests, is a pillow made by folding a bath towel. Unlike a pillow with a fixed shape, you can fold it however you like, allowing you to customize it to your preference.
Are bath towel pillows dangerous?
While bath towel pillows can be adjusted to the perfect height for you, they have both advantages and disadvantages. Understand the pros and cons to decide if a bath towel pillow is right for you.
Advantages
1: Easy to make and adjustable to your preferred height
Unlike commercially available pillows with a fixed shape, you can adjust the height and shape to perfectly suit your body type and neck curve, much like a custom-made pillow.
Additionally, since it can be made with bath towels you already own, it's cost-effective and easy to create. Furthermore, it can be washed at any time, ensuring cleanliness. It's useful not only for daily use but also when pillows are uncomfortable during business trips or travel, as long as you have a bath towel.
2: Relieves neck and shoulder stiffness
If your pillow's height or softness is not suitable, a gap can form between the pillow and your neck, putting excessive strain on your neck and shoulders. This can lead to inadequate pressure distribution, causing neck and shoulder stiffness, headaches, and a decrease in sleep quality.
A bath towel pillow not only allows for free height adjustment but also lets you adjust its firmness by how it's rolled, reducing strain on your neck and shoulders and helping to alleviate stiffness.
3: Improvement of straight neck
Straight neck is a condition where the cervical spine, which normally has a gentle curve, becomes straight due to using a pillow of unsuitable height, prolonged smartphone use or desk work, or poor posture.
A person's head is said to weigh about one-tenth of their body weight. With a straight neck, this weight bears directly on the neck and shoulders, causing pain and stiffness.
Furthermore, when the muscles around the neck and shoulders become stiff, blood vessels are compressed, reducing blood flow to the brain, which can lead to symptoms like headaches and dizziness.
Recent research has also shown that stiff neck muscles can adversely affect the balance of the autonomic nervous system.
Straight neck carries various health risks, but it can be improved by recreating the correct neck shape during sleep. Therefore, it is very important to sleep on a pillow that matches the curve of your neck.
4: Snoring prevention
Sleeping on a pillow that is too high can compress the throat, narrowing the airway and leading to snoring and sleep apnea. Using a pillow of the correct height reduces pressure on the throat, which can prevent snoring.
Furthermore, easier breathing leads to deeper sleep, improving daytime performance.
Disadvantages
1: Easily collapses during sleep
Since bath towel pillows do not maintain their shape very well, they can sometimes lose their form during sleep. The towel might shift when you turn over, or the rolling of the towel might loosen over time. If you toss and turn a lot and find it easily collapses, use a headband or hair tie to secure it from shifting.
2: Lacks elasticity and may feel too firm
Pillows usually have elasticity and cushioning, but bath towel pillows have little give or rebound, which may make them feel firmer than usual. Using a towel made of softer material might help somewhat, but the range of adjustment is limited.
3: Requires trial and error initially
Although bath towel pillows are easy to make, creating one that perfectly fits your body shape and neck curve requires some trial and error. The ability to adjust height and firmness is an advantage, but it takes effort to repeatedly adjust until you find the optimal height and firmness.
4: If not suitable, it can cause neck and shoulder stiffness and headaches
This is not limited to bath towel pillows, but using a pillow with an unsuitable height or firmness can strain the neck and shoulders, causing stiffness. Since towels are not originally designed to be used as pillows and lack elasticity, using a bath towel pillow might even worsen neck and shoulder stiffness.
5: Must be made daily
Bath towel pillows are difficult to maintain their shape from the previous night and require daily readjustment, which can be troublesome.
How to make a bath towel pillow
After learning the pros and cons of bath towel pillows, if you want to give them a try, here's how to make one, with tips for different sleeping positions.Here's what you'll need. Soft, comfortable towels are recommended:
- 3-4 thick bath towels (or 4-7 thin ones)
- 1 face towel
STEP 1
Spread out one bath towel (or two if thin), fold it in half lengthwise, and then fold it in half again to make a quarter fold.STEP 2
Fold back one of the short edges by 8-10 cm to create a section that fits the neck. If you have a round head, increase the number of folds to adjust the thickness for a better fit to your neck.STEP 3
Fold the long side in half so that the folded-back part from "STEP 2" is on the inside. Lie on your back, placing your neck on the raised, folded part. Check if your neck feels straight and breathing is easy. If it's too low, fold another bath towel in quarters as in "STEP 1," then fold it in half lengthwise and place it underneath to adjust the height.
STEP 4
Take two bath towels, fold each into quarters as in "STEP 1," then roll them into cylinders. Place them on either side of the pillow completed in "STEP 3." By making the sides higher than the central part where your head rests, your head will be supported even when you turn onto your side, reducing pressure on your shoulders.
If the height is insufficient, stack two bath towels and roll them. If rolling all towels makes it too high, adjust the number of rolls.
STEP 5
Cover the entire pillow with a face towel to prevent it from shifting.
If you often sleep on your back
It is said that the ideal sleeping posture maintains the same neck curve as when you are sitting up, with an incline of about 10-15 degrees from the shoulders to the head, and the face tilted about 5 degrees.If you often sleep on your back, adjust the pillow so that when you rest your head on it, your gaze is directed slightly towards your feet, not straight up. At this time, check if there is any discomfort in your neck or shoulders, or if breathing is difficult.
If you often sleep on your side
The ideal side-sleeping posture is when your head, neck, and spine are parallel to the bed, which means a higher pillow is needed than for back sleeping. If you often sleep on your side, set rolled bath towels on either side of the pillow, adjusted to a height suitable for side sleeping, as described in "How to make a bath towel pillow - STEP 4" above.
Furthermore, it is important that your head does not tilt diagonally when side-sleeping. Check if your head remains straight and does not drop or rise when you turn over.
By the way, prolonged stomach sleeping is not recommended as it can twist your body and cause misalignment, as well as compress your chest and shallow your breathing, which is unhealthy.
Other pillows can also provide relief
We've introduced the pros, cons, and how to make a bath towel pillow, but given its many drawbacks, it's recommended to get a proper pillow. As one option, we introduce "BRAIN SLEEP PILLOW," which allows you to choose from three heights, and if it doesn't suit you after trying it at home, it can be exchanged.
Bath towel pillows are one option
A bath towel pillow, with its adjustable height, is one means to achieve comfortable sleep. Consider its pros and cons before incorporating it.
Of course, there are other options besides bath towel pillows. If you want to achieve quality sleep but find making your own pillow every time bothersome, why not consider the "BRAIN SLEEP PILLOW," which offers height choices and a custom-fit feel?
