Customer Reviews

The NeckPillow by Tempur-Pedic Medium 20" x 12" x 4"

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I purchased my pillow from Brookstone over 9 years ago. I needed it for the neck support. My pillow has held up for all these years with no problem. The material in this pillow works with the heat from your body to mold to the shape of your body. If you like to sleep on a cold pillow, this pillow is not for you. I recently purchased a new tempur-pedic thinking that the new pillow will have more support as this material over time degrades and will not bounce back into shape as quickly.

I found that the new pillows are not as firm as mine was when I first purchased it. I had to return the pillow since my 9-year-old pillow is firmer than the new ones they have out under the same name. Remember if you do not like a HOT pillow this will not work for you, as the heat from your body will make it feel very warm. I sleep with a fan on me all night anyway so this does not effect me but family members have tried to use the pillow to try it out and found the pillow got to hot for them to use.

Overall I love my pillow and panic if I happen to forget it when I go out of town. If you have neck problems (mine are from an accident) this pillow can certainly help.

One major complaint is that the pillow case covers they sell (very expensive) do NOT fit the pillow. It is not designed to fit the pillow even though they advertise that it is a custom pillow cover. A better solution is to just use a regular pillowcase or a pillow sham. Brookstone should be ashamed to sell these pillow covers as they do NOT fit - they are at least 5 inches longer than the pillow which causes you to constantly adjust the pillow case so as not to get wrinkles on your face or to prevent lumps under your head while sleeping.

This is not the first contour pillow I have used and am quite happy with the comfort and durability of this product, but there is a bit of a problem with this pillow when you first get it. The smell is awful. Really awful. It took almost a month of airing it before the pillow was useable. Once "seasoned" I have no complaints about this product and in fact think it is superior to any other pillow for retaining its shape after repeated use.

I have purchased two of these pillows over the last three years and here are my thoughts:

- It works nicely (for me) when it is new. I even take it on trips.

- It deteriorates quickly, about 12 months (the center of the pillow becomes permanently indented, thus providing little support except at the sides)

- Customer service makes you jump through hoops to honor their warranty.

I am waiting for a replacement pillow from them as I write this (having sent the damaged pillow back).

If this one does the same thing, I will try something different (like the Double Core Select Orthopedic Pillow). It is way too expensive to work well for only one year!!!

I've been sleeping on orthopedic neck pillows for about 12 years now.

I had to change my pillow and I purchased the Tempurpedic contour neck pillow. The first time I "tested" it (not slept on it) I thought it was great. Firm, great support.
Then I actually slept on it. I hated it. It squishes down to about one inch from the heat of your body. I actually need it to hold its shape.

I got rid of it and bought the Double Core Select Pillow Orthopedic Pillow. This pillow doesn't lose its shape and you can change the cores to adjust the firmness.

The tempurpedic is a waste of money.

This is a very nice pillow for sleeping on your side or your back. Be warned: It takes a few weeks to break it in!!!
After that, its an amazing pillow! (Try sitting on it while watching tv to help the break-in process)

Unfortunately this pillow was a waste of money for me. I had two issues which made it unusable:

First, the smell never entirely dissipated and caused allergy problems for my husband. They claim that these are hypo-allergenic, but this was not the case for us.

Second, this actually CAUSED me to develop neck pain. I've used cheaper foam pillows in the past with no problem, but something about this one wreaked havoc on my neck. I stopped using the pillow after about a month and the pain was gone in a week!

This was an extremely disappointing experience, made even more so by Tempur-Pedic's refusal to accept returns and lack of concern with the issues caused.

I've had this pillow for about 2 - 3 weeks so far. I have a bulging disk in my neck and I was having neck pain and stiffness on waking for some weeks. Even when I went to bed feeling ok, I woke with a painful neck and shoulder. So I bought this pillow and to my surprise I've had no neck pain at all since! It doesn't seem like much ... just a foam pillow with that rather odd shape, but it seems to work for me. Reading the other reviews, I guess it depends on how big your head is and what exactly is wrong with your neck. I'm a small woman and the foam seems quite firm but comfortable under my head and neck. Apparently it keeps my neck in a 'neutral' position so it doesn't aggravate the bulging disc problem as my old down pillows did.

I have owned two of these pillows so far in the full-size, as well as one in the travel size. Purchased my first in 1996, after having used the chiropractor recommended similar shaped pillows since my 1990 neck injury sustained when I was rearended & pushed into another stopped vehicle in front of me by a car that was still traveling 47 mph upon impact, causing me to have a horrific whiplash and as described by my many doctors at the time, my neck will never be the same and will always be extremely sensitive to stress or reinjury of any kind.
My tempurpedic pillows are simply the best.
The one I got in 1996 I used for more than 5 yrs with no noticible reduction in support. I finally replaced it with the one that had come with my tempurpedic mattress purchased in 1999. Note that I continued using my originally purchased one until 2001, saving the new one until I felt that I might as well use the new one, since it was slightly more firm than the 5 yr old one.
I have used my second tempurpedic pillow since 2001 and am just now feeling the need to get a newer one, though the old one is still very adequate, I would like the firmness of a brand new one again. Personally, I don't feel that 100 bucks for a pillow that I use for 5-10 yrs is too much to pay, especially when that pillow is what keeps me from having constant neck pain.
The cheaper versions that the chiropractor had recommended never were even close to the comfort and support that this tempurpedic pillow provides. I had used 4 different ones from 1990 - 1996 and still not found one that really worked well.
I do not travel without either my full size or travel size tempurpedic pillow, as I cannot get a good nights rest without it or be comfortable & pain free the following day if I sleep on any other pillow.
I highly recommend this pillow & the tempurpedic mattress too for anyone who like myself has the misfortune to have lifelong back/neck problems caused by injury.
These pillows are meant to be slept on lying on the high side, lying on your back or side - on your back being the best position to sleep in, on a properly supportive pillow & mattress, if you have ongoing back/neck issues, or so I have been told, and found to be true over the last nearly 20 yrs that I have personally suffered from these issues.
There is no better pillow out there in my opinion for folks with neck injuries.

The neck pillow works well to ease neck pain which, for me, literally no longer exists. The side pillow is a better choice for me. My husband prefers the neck pillow.

Complaints: 1) The smell takes a long time to calm down. I called Tempurpedic and they said to roll the pillow a few times but this did not work. I had to put it outside in the gazebo for 15 days when the humidity was low and temps were in 50's. Each day I did the roll trick a few times. Finally, the smell did leave. Unfortunately, it returns periodically which I don't understand unless it is deteriorating. The mattress does this same thing. My husand and I both are bothered by the foam smell, even after 8 yrs use. To this day, there are days we have to open the bedroom windows to air the room out from the foam odor.

2) No matter what Tempurpedic claims, the material gets too hot from body heat. Tempurpedic comfort level causes me to stay in one position longer than an old-fashioned pillow. The pillow and mattress aborbs and holds body heat and sometimes I wake up feeling like I am baking. Moving to a different spot helps but when you have a husband beside you there are not many different spot choices. Plus, the product takes times to comform. In the winter, I like this. Not so much other times of the year. If I try to use chillow or a cold insert, the foam shaping doesn't happen and defeats the purpose of the pillow.

Overall, I would purchase the product again. The pain relief is worth the above problems. I do think the item should be lower priced, after all, how expensive is it to make memory foam.

Bought it on their marketing hype that says it relieves neck pains. For us it actually caused neck pains.

The pillow does contour around your neck and head; it feels great first but after a wile it begins to feels like a stiff foam or a sand-bag that is contoured around your neck and head.

Actually, my girlfriend and I had different experiences. For me it's more lack of comfort than pain. It felt like the skin in the back of the head is squished between the foam and weight of the skull-bone. The foam is designed to return to its original shape so it presses against the skin. I'm not a doctor - but I can tell when the skin feels like numb because the blood flow to it is interrupted.

For her - it's just the shape and size of the pillow. Her head is not heavy enough to sink low to the point where it feels comfortable for the neck. She was waking up with aches in the neck. She tried for some days thinking that it was just a matter of getting used to of it - but no. I tried to see if it works for me - again no.

Worst of all, the store where we bought it refused to return the pain-causing product... saying it was not longer packed in the plastic bag it came with. The store policy was that they'll return a product within 60 days.

Apparently the policy did not applied to this pillow - it seems to have its own return policy that overrides the store return policy. We had the receipt and the box. It was even wrapped in the plastic it came in, just that it was no longer sealed! How come they do not disclose the policy before they accept the money?

May be we are in the percentile of people for whom this doesn't work - in fact felt painful. What I don't understand is why would they not take the pillow back? They expect us to sleep on the plastic cover for the whole time we're trying it out? They charged $100 for some lump of foam - you'd imagined they had built their losses in the price.

The funniest of all is when we called the customer service. The rep totally denied the experience my girlfriend was having and told her that pillow actually helps the neck.

We only have one thing to say: DO NOT BUY - IT IS A WASTE OF MONEY.