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A chiropractor swears by a pillow that you fill with water - here's why you should try it
A chiropractor swears by a pillow that you fill with water - here's why you should try it
Megan WillettMar 14, 2015, 02:02 IST
Courtesy of ChiroflowWhen asked what is the best pillow to use, Dr. Jan Lefkovitz of Body in Balance Chiropractic did not say memory foam, down, or synthetic.In fact, he said a pillow most people have never heard before - Chiroflow."You fill it up with water and it has different recommended amounts so that you can customize it for how big you are," he explained to Business Insider. "It looks like a regular foam pillow but then you fill it with water, your head displaces the water and it fills the curve of your neck perfectly."Dr. Lefkovitz insisted he wasn't trying to shill for the company - he said you can buy Chiroflow on Amazon and he gets no profits from talking about it. He just says it's that good.The Chiroflow has been around for 20 years since the inventor Maurice Bard suffered a whiplash injury. His chiropractor told him to place a "waterbag" under his pillow to give him cervical support and alignment, and Bard realized he could create a pillow with a similar structure for other neck injury sufferers.His final design features a top layer of polyester that feels like a standard pillow with a compartment that you fill with tap water. You can adjust the support level to soft, medium, or firm by adding or removing water. Once you have your optimum level, you don't need to change the water for an entire year. Courtesy of Chiroflow"The water chamber is enclosed by a therma-shield to prevent any heat transference from the your head to the water chamber and visa-versa," Nick Ortega, the sales and marketing manager for Chiroflow, explained to Business Insider. "This prevents the likelihood of mold or any other bacteria to grow within the water chamber."Dr. Lefkovitz isn't the only one backing up Chiroflow. It has become the top selling chiropractic pillow and was even peer reviewed in a clinical study in 1997 by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, which found that it reduces neck pain and improves quality of sleep.From the study, which was in the "Official Journal of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation":The water-based pillow was associated with reduced morning pain intensity, increased pain relief, and improved quality of sleep. The duration of sleep was significantly shorter for the roll pillow. Overall SIP findings showed a significant advantage for the waterbeds pillow over the roll pillow and standard pillow.Courtesy of ChiroflowAmazon reviews are also astoundingly positive, with the majority of reviewers saying it's been the only pillow to help their necks and that it helps them sleep better than any other pillow.The reason Chiroflow is beloved by chiropractors is because its design allows your head to displace the water and fill up the space between your neck and the mattress, thus keeping you spine aligned - a very important design function, according to Dr. Lefkovitz."The main idea is you have to keep your spine parallel and neutral," he told us. "From head to toe, you need to be in a straight line."Courtesy of ChiroflowThe pillow also self-adjusts throughout the night so that sleepers don't continually wake up to readjust their pillow, leading to better nights of sleep.So if you're like almost half of the American population that's not getting enough sleep, perhaps it's time to try a new pillow.
