I thought about getting the McKenzie cervical roll but it's made of foam and I have not had good experiences with foam pillows. I have gone through a couple different foam cervical pillows, including Temperpedic's, and found that they make me sweat at night and get too hard after awhile. They also seem really heavy to me.
I read McKenzie's neck book so wanted to try a cervical roll and thought that maybe an inflatable one would be more to my liking. (It helps that I have a Sleep Number bed, which has always served me well.) I found this pillow on Amazon and thought I'd give it a try and if it didn't work, then I'd get the McKenzie foam one.
I've had this cervical pillow for over a month now and am impressed. It's a little tricky to get it to the right pressure but this is fixable if you just experiment. You do have to press the part you blow into back inside the pillow (like what you'd do w/a beach ball) to cut the risk of your letting the air out by mistake while moving around at night. (I speak from experience.)
Because it is not foam and inflates instead, the roll is lightweight and doesn't make me sweat.
If you have a fuller pillow, it may help if you use this roll with a pillowcase that is a larger size than your pillow. My pillow is a Queen size and I use a King size pillowcase and I find this roll inserts without being too snug.
I'm so happy w/this pillow that I'm going to get another one to put into my travel bag.
After years of looking for the "Perfect" pillow, I found that this neck roll makes every pillow, even pillows in hotels, just right to prevent neck pain. So lightweight! I have one in my home and one in my travel bag and one for backup. My first air pillow has been used for over a year and still holds air perfectly. Sellers sent pillows IMMEDIATELY. Perfect transaction.
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The pillow is good, especially for people like me who suffer from upper shoulder & neck pain. The pillow is an air pillow something that is not obvious from the product description. But it is good none the less.
I recommend using a cotton pillow case to slide this under, and to fill the pillow about 3/4th way (its too firm if you fill it completely).
The one reason I did not give this a higher rating is because the pillow loses air every other day. I returned one unit back to Amazon thinking it is defective, but the replacement I received had the same problem.
I prefer this pillow over most other neck rolls because you can fill up air and make it as firm as you want. The other pillows I tried were either too firm or too soft, and I did not like it as much. I'd recommend this pillow if you don't mind filling up air every other day.
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I've used a good dozen neck/snore/cervical pillows over the years, because of chronic upper-back issues. I've been looking for a new one recently and figured I'd give this one a try because it was inexpensive. I wasn't able to fall asleep while using it.
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Just as with all pillows, everyone's situation differs. That said, I bought this because my McKenzie foam cervical roll is fine when I first fall asleep but then squishes to the point of being useless.
In my situation, I wanted a neck roll that would give me full support to give me a good curve so my head would fall into the depression in my foam pillow.
Unfortunately, what I hadn't counted on is that, because this neck pillow is inflatable, it flattens out too much to give me the curve I want. If I could inflate it to the degree I'd like, then have the pillow keep the roundness, it would probably be OK.
I thought putting it in the pillow case with my foam pillow would help, but it was impossible to get it adjusted right, even though I use a standard size pillow in a king size case. (I need the pillow to be a little on top of the low edge of the standard pillow--not tucked down at the bottom as shown in the product picture.)
I also tried putting the roll into a large pillowcase and tying up the ends Tootsie Roll style to keep the roundness, which helped a little, but didn't do the trick completely.
Not a lost cause completely however, because I find it useful for lounging and as a lumbar support.
Also, it's really a cheapskate move on the manufacturer's part not to put a one-way valve in this thing. It's very hard to get the amount of air just right because the air escapes so freely. A $2 kid's swimmies can do it, so could they. You can pinch the valve (if you have the hand strength) to control it a little, but still, shame on the manufacturer.
First let me affirm that using a chimney balloon makes a significant difference in terms of heat loss and drafts from a conventional fireplace with a modern safety damper that does not close all the way. This tool is very useful for inflation because it allows you to place the balloon higher in the chimney, well past the damper, while still being able to reach whatever device you are using to inflate it. The original balloon design has a very short valve, which if you are to reach it to inflate it, might not allow the balloon to be out or range of interfering with the operation of the damper itself. This extension allows you to position the balloon much higher to avoid this problem.
