How to Avoid These Common
Pitfalls When Selecting
A Memory Foam Pillow

A memory foam pillow comes in many varying densities, sizes and shapes. The whole process can be confusing at best, unless you have some sort of guideline to follow.

In general, if you seek out a chart, you'll only find suggestions based on your height and sex. I think you should just go by height and build type for beginners, but while that's a good way to begin, you also need to consider the following:

• Do you suffer from neck pain?
• What kind of pillow are you used to sleeping on?
• Do you prefer a small, medium or large pillow now?
• Is it firm, medium or soft?
• Do you sleep on your side, back, stomach or a combination of all three?

Knowing the answer to these questions will help you in selecting the right memory foam pillow, or may suggest that you would prefer a different pillow altogether.

I've tried to list all the pillows into categories to make it easier for you to learn about each shape and density. This should help with your selection of "just the right" one.

Standard Memory Foam Pillows are shaped like a normal pillow but made with memory foam or latex.

Neck Pillows are the "S" shaped pillows like you see on TV a lot these days.

Contoured Pillows are like the neck pillows but usually have some kind of hollowed out section for the base of your neck.

Memory Foam Body Pillows can be used for a vast variety of pain, pressure and stress relieving functions.

Memory Foam Travel Pillows are designed to be easy to take along on plane, train, bus or automobile trips.

Contour Travel Pillows are very similar to neck pillows but have a "cut out" for the base of your neck.

Other Memory Foam Pillows - U-Shaped Pillows, Leg Spacer Pillows and Lumbar Support Pillows are specifically designed for the neck, legs and back.

The following chart should be helpful. Remember to consider the way you sleep and then modify the chart's answer to account for differences.

For instance, if you sleep on your stomach, a neck pillow might not work at all. The best bet would be to choose a size that's at least one step smaller than the chart recommends for your height and build.