What are the benefits of travel pillows?
Airplanes and other forms of transportation typically offer tight-fitting seats, which can be uncomfortable for those trying to relax on a multi-hour trip. Additional obstacles are seemingly endless: uncomfortable seats, limited leg room, noisy conversations and frequent overhead announcements. Andrew Varga, MD, a board-certified physician at The Mount Sinai Integrative Sleep Center, said one of the main reasons people struggle to sleep while traveling, especially on international flights with time changes, is because they're trying to sleep at a time with "low circadian and homeostatic drive," which means it's not a time when they would normally sleep, so they're not as tired. The other factor, according to Varga, is the sleeping space, which is usually cramped and doesn't let you lie recumbent or change positions, except in typically pricey business- and first-class cabins.
"Not everyone is an equally deep sleeper, and people with any sleep issues at baseline will often have a harder time sleeping in a louder and less comfortable environment - such as an airplane," added board-certified psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, MD, a sleep medicine specialist. He noted that posture plays a big role in the discomfort we feel - and as anyone who has slept on a plane knows, "the head tends to fall off to the side or forward, which is both uncomfortable and can cause neck pain, and [can] even make breathing less efficient."
"Sleeping upright is not at all a natural position," said Mayank Shukla, MD, a board-certified pulmonologist and sleep medicine specialist in New York City. "Our head weighs almost 10 pounds and flops around the neck when sleeping upright, leading to aches and pain with all that muscle strain."
Experts noted that travel pillows can provide support for the neck and head, alleviating some pain and discomfort when combating an upright sleeping position while traveling. They're typically portable, lightweight, ergonomically designed and come in different sizes to fit every type of person, plus some have additional high-tech features like temperature regulation. This can be a good tool for frequent flyers, who hope to maintain a semi-regular sleeping schedule when going on trips.
