These high-tech head rests promise to help your condition. So what do our ...

Pillows with health benefits? Whether they claim to ease tinnitus or stop you from snoring, Adrian Monti asked experts to look at a selection. We then rated them. 

Snoring PosiForm Anti-Snoring Pillow

£79.95, somnishop.co.uk

Claim: The ‘innovative design’ has a central ridge and ear recess to encourage the sleeper to keep their head turned to one side and so, the maker says, end snoring caused by sleeping on your back.

Expert verdict: Dr Ari Manuel, a respiratory, sleep and ventilation consultant at Spire Liverpool Hospital, says: ‘When you sleep on your back, your tongue can fall back, narrowing the airway and triggering a snoring sound.

‘A study at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London is looking into how wearing a vibrating device on the back of the neck will stop people with obstructive sleep apnoea [where breathing stops momentarily while asleep] from lying on their backs.

‘This pillow tries to achieve the same and might work for some.

‘I usually advise something much cheaper: sleep with a tennis ball behind the back, so if you roll on to it, you will return to your side. If sleeping on your side isn’t helping, do see a doctor because sleep apnoea can be life-threatening.’

6/10 Acid reflux Anti-slip Zero Gravity Acid Reflux Bed Wedge

£188.17, putnams.co.uk

Claim: This is made up of three adjustable foam wedges (attached by Velcro). They support the back, knees and provide foot support. The maker says it can help with a range of conditions including acid reflux, back pain or recovery after surgery.

Expert verdict: Peter Whorwell, a professor of medicine and gastroenterology at the University Hospital of South Manchester, says: ‘Acid reflux occurs when acid from the stomach is not stopped by the sphincter valve and instead moves up the oesophagus, causing a burning sensation in the middle of the chest.

‘Heartburn can feel worse when lying down, and so I tell my patients to use pillows to prop themselves up.

‘This wedge would be more effective and could also mean you need less medication, which can help avoid side-effects. Another, cheaper, solution is to tilt the bed using blocks.’

Tim Allardyce, a physiotherapist at Surrey Physio, adds: ‘Some people with back pain do benefit from sleeping on their back with their knees bent but most find sleeping on their side better.’

7/10 Ageing

Sleep & Glow Omnia Pillow, £129, sleepandglow.co.uk

Claim: This memory foam pillow has indented sections designed to prevent your cheeks from touching it when sleeping on your side and so helps ‘fight sleep wrinkles’ by minimising ‘skin creasing and compression’.

Expert verdict: Dr Derrick Phillips, a consultant dermatologist at the Cadogan Clinic, London, says: ‘Wrinkles are a major sign of ageing and, while mostly genetic, they can also be caused by distortion from resting your cheek on a pillow at night.

‘Young people’s skin is more elastic, so any creases will disappear in the morning. But in older people the skin is stiffer and the creases do not fade as easily and eventually become permanent wrinkles.

‘In theory, this pillow could work because it reduces the surface area of skin touching the pillow, but there is no data comparing it with a normal one.

‘Also, the creases caused by pillows are only one small factor behind wrinkles. Sun exposure is far more important.’

5/10 Sports injuries

Kally Sports Recovery Pillow

£54.99, kallysleep.com

Claim: A ‘full-length orthopaedic sport pillow’ designed to ‘align your head, neck and spine’. By encouraging side-sleeping, it ‘reduces pressure on key joints to reduce pain or discomfort, while speeding up muscle recovery’, says the maker.

Expert verdict: Tim Allardyce says: ‘The top of this pillow rests under your head and neck, while your arm hugs its middle, like a teddy bear, and its lower part fits snugly between your knees.

‘It does sound comfortable but there are no direct benefits to the spine that I can see of cuddling a large pillow.

‘Some therapists believe that having support between your knees can be useful for back or hip pain, but the jury is still out on this.

‘Of course, good sleep is important

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