Gel vs Memory Foam Pillow: Which Is the Best for Sleeping?

The importance of a goodnight’s sleep cannot be underestimated; this is because it dictates how we will feel the next day or the extent of relaxation that will get through the night.

Investing in good pillows should be a priority because your comfort and quality of sleep depend on it. While most people invest in good mattresses, they forget that a good mattress paired with a bad pillow still, they won’t be able to achieve comfort and good sleep desired.

There are various types of pillows, depending on what a person considers when choosing a pillow. Among these are gel and memory foam pillows.

Do you have any insights about gel vs memory foam pillows? Let’s look into these two types and compare them in detail before buying.

 

Table of Contents

Everything about Gel Pillows

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– What Is Gel Pillow?

A gel pillow is a type of pillow, also known as a cooling gel pillow; this is due to the fact that they use cooling gel to reduce heat buildup on the pillow surface and also regulate temperature, making sleeping more comfortable.

The gel found in gel pillows may be in the form of:

  • Gel infusions – polyfoam, memory foam, or some fibers may be infused with swirls or gel beads.
  • Laminated gel layers – gel layers may be lined on the interior of the pillow or the surface material of the pillow; the layers are mostly thin and can easily be removed.
  • Gel pads – These are gel cooling pillow inserts, inserted into a pillow, and gently regulate temperature, thus providing an instant cooling effect.

While choosing a gel/cooling pillow, sleepers should consider various factors in order to identify one that is suitable for their needs.

They include things like softness, design, Hypo-Allergenic nature, among others. This is because it has been proven that not all cooling gel pillows are effective.

– Why Should You Buy a Gel Pillow?

So, why should you invest in a gel pillow? Here is a detailed outline of the benefits that one can get from using a gel pillow while sleeping and not the other pillows.

  • It shields against severe hot temperatures at night

A cooling pillow regulates temperature during sleep, thus providing a cooling effect at night; this can be very beneficial, especially to people who live in places with harsh conditions, especially during the summer or people who sweat greatly at night.

  • Hypoallergenic

Most gel pillows are made with microfiber or memory foam; both of these are resistant to allergens like dust and others.

  • Comfort during sleep

The gel pillow provides comfort to users and a very cool surface for the sleepers to put their head.

  • Support

Infusing gel in memory foam or poly-fiber has proven to increase the ability of most pillow in forming a supportive cradle.

  • Relieving of insomnia

A gel pillow can help in solving insomnia problems, especially ones that arise due to heating at night.

  • Improves sleeping patterns

A cooling pillow can help sleepers to improve their sleeping patterns and enjoy their sleep, especially when living in an environment with harsh conditions.

  • It improves mental health

Good mental health is greatly dependent on the quality of sleep; lack of proper sleep can lead to depletion of energy from the body and, ultimately, depression due to lack of enough rest. A cooling pillow paired with a good sleeping environment can enhance sleep, thus improving mental health.

  • Helps in avoiding metabolic diseases

Deprivation of quality sleep may result in metabolic diseases like stroke, diabetes mellitus, and heart disease.

Research has shown that lack of enough sleep increases the chances of suffering from these diseases. A gel pillow can help in reducing the chances of these diseases simply by providing a good night’s sleep.

  • Helps in avoiding serious skin breakouts and also improves skin appearance

The cooling pillow minimizes the heat during sleep that may lead to sweating and thus, production of oils that may clog skin pores, causing breakouts.

 

Insights about Memory Foam Pillows

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– What is a memory foam pillow?

Before going deep down into understanding what a memory foam pillow is, let’s first understand what the words memory foam means. So, what is memory foam?

Memory foam can be described as a certain type of polyurethane that provides superior comfort due to the fact that it has the ability to change under pressure and returning to its normal form when the pressure subsides.

A memory foam pillow is a type of pillow made with polyurethane in order to provide comfort and quality during sleep due to its ability to subdue to body pressure and return to its original form when the pressure is totally gone. This aids in shaping and giving the neck and head extra support during sleep.

– Why Should You Buy a Memory Foam Pillow?

When searching for a good pillow, it is imperative to consider all the benefits in order to find out if it is worth investing in or if it will be suiting your needs. Here are some of the benefits that a person may get from using a memory foam pillow.

  • Hygienic

Memory foam pillows are easy to clean than the regular pillows; this is because they are not enclosed.

  • They provide support and great contouring

This pillow has the ability to support and conform to the shape of a sleeper head; this feature aids in preventing the head from sinking as it would in a regular pillow.

  • Hypoallergenic

This pillow is friendly to people with allergies because they retain less dust naturally due to the material they are made of.

  • Alignment of the spine

The memory foam pillow supports and holds the neck in place; thus, the spine will be aligned due to the form maintained by the head and neck.

  • It is durable

A memory foam pillow of good quality has a higher density than the normal pillow, which makes it more durable. It can last up to three years.

  • Can be of great relief to people with a pressure point on the neck

Due to its support and contour features, it helps in relieving people with pressure points the pain in the neck, back area, and shoulders.

  • It may help in the elimination or reduction of snoring problems

Due to its feature of great support and contouring, it helps in the alignment of the spine and fostering of a good sleeping posture, thus keeping the airways open through the night, thus reducing or eliminating snoring.

  • Variety of shapes

The memory foam pillows are convenient because they are available in various shapes according to the needs of the sleeper. The pillow is made to suit different sleeping positions.

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Which One Should I Choose: Gel vs Memory Foam Pillow?

Each of the two pillows has its own advantages and disadvantages, but it goes without saying that the benefits drawn by sleepers from the Gel pillow surpass those of the Memory Foam Pillow. Wondering what advantages it has and why you should choose the Gel pillows? Here is the reason why you should choose the gel pillows as compared to the memory foam pillows.

  • Affordability

Memory foam pillows are more costly than the gel pillows. This also because of things like durability where memory foam is said to last for a long time than the gel pillows. If looking at it from the pricing angle, then the gel foam will be easier to procure due to its price.

  • Comfortability

The gel pillows provide a balance of both support and comfort; the pillow can be molded easily into any shape according to sleepers’ need and doesn’t have any form of off-gas releases.

The memory foam pillows are constructed using polyurethane, which just conforms to the shape of the head and neck of the sleepers but does not have the ability to be molded into different shapes according to sleeper needs at different times.

  • Health factors

Gel pillows are the best because they are free from factors like off-gas releases that may cause allergies and are thus suitable for people with allergies.

Memory Foam pillows are made with polyurethane, which is a kind of plastic; it is susceptible to releasing volatile gases, which may trigger allergies or affect the users with asthmatic symptoms. However, research has shown that this rarely happens.

  • Temperature regulation

The gel pillows are good because one of their most important features is regulation of heat and provision of a cooling effect to sleepers, especially those who live in places that have harsh climatic conditions that overheat during the summer.

The memory foam pillow does not have the ability to regulate heat and thus may overheat at night during certain seasons and thus may result to discomfort at times to users who sweat a lot.

  • Eco friendly

The gel pillows are friendly to the environment, and if a person is considering this feature, they should go it.

The memory foam pillow is made with some type of plastic called polyurethane, which of course, is not eco-friendly and maybe susceptible gas release though this happens in very rare circumstances.

  • It improves sleeping pattern

The cooling gel pillow is very effective, especially for people with bad sleeping patterns; this is because the worst sleeping patterns are contributed to by overheating at night; thus, with the use of this pillow, it may help to generally improve their sleeping patterns through prevention of heating.

The memory foam does not have this feature; thus, sleepers who sweat and overheat at night may still have to deal with sleeping patterns problems.

  • Enhances mental health

Sleeping can dictate the state of our mental health; enough sleep has been established to go in hand in hand with positive mental health. The cooling pillow can enhance the quality of sleep, thus keeping the mental health optimal and fresh.

Research shows that people who use the gel pillow fall asleep faster than the people who use others. This is because the gel allows the sleeper head to stay cool throughout the night.

Even though the memory foam pillow conforms to the shape of the neck and heads, it doesn’t possess the ability to keep the head cool and thus, in case of a humid night, it can lead to break of sleep due to sweating which when experienced for a longer period can cause mental health problems like depression, stress, and even insomnia.

 

FAQs

1. What Is Memory Foam?

Pillows or mattresses that are made of memory foam are made from a polyurethane material. This material is very sensitive to pressure and also temperature.

It is able to conform to the shape of a person’s body, and despite the fact that you will create an indentation in the mattress, your body will be fully supported by the mattress and the memory foam, allowing you to sleep better at night.

2. What Is Gel Foam?

The name itself seems to indicate that it is made of some type of gel, but this is actually a misrepresentation. It is simply memory foam to which is added gel beads, or a type of gel liquid. Although there are some companies that produce pure gel materials, the ones that you will typically find our these that are infused with gel on top of a memory foam mattress.

There has been quite a bit of talk about the benefits of sleeping on a gel foam mattress, which leads many people to purchasing gel foam pillows, but is there actually a reason to purchase this over regular memory foam products?

It is as good as latex pillows, ones that are filled with the synthetic material that is similar to that which originates from a rubber tree.

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3. Why Gel Foam Pillows Is Right For You?

The reason that people use pillows that have gel foam is for the same reasons that they will use a gel foam memory mattress. As mentioned before, it can reduce the amount of heat that you feel at night, and is therefore much more comfortable by comparison.

Therefore, it is of great benefit to people that run with a higher body temperature.

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If you are the type of person that prefers a regular pillow, one that does not specifically conform to your head or face, then you will probably not be interested in looking for ongoing sales for any products related to memory foam.

However, if you have tried one before and you were able to get a better night sleep, this might be the best type of product for you.

Although you may prefer a regular mattress, especially if you like to sleep on something that is very firm, you may find great benefit in using memory foam pillows, especially those that are combined with gel, so that you can sleep better without all of the excess heat that is typically going to be experienced when using any type of memory foam used today.

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Conclusion

A sleeping pillow may look like a small, simple item in our beds that is normally not paid attention to most, but its importance cannot be underestimated; the truth is, without a quality sleeping pillow, sleep may become impossible.

There are very many factors to consider while choosing which one to settle for, especially when it comes to the memory foam and gel pillows.

There might be different designs of both pillows, but in order to get quality and value for money, it is important to research well and find out which companies offer the best of the best.

Remember, quality sleep is everything because it even goes as far as determining the well being of our mental health so choose well.

 

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