When Mediflow got in touch and asked if I'd like to try out their Original Water-Base Pillow, I was intrigued. I'd heard of a water bed before but never a water pillow !
When it arrived in the post, complete with a pillow case, my first thought was that it feels and looks like a regular pillow at first glance. The water part is in addition to, not instead of, the normal soft pillow stuffing.
Then I turned it over and discovered the valve.
It comes with a handy filler tool to make this easier. It's still quite fiddly though because you have to hold the pillow upright and squeeze it to remove the air while filling, a bit like filling a hot water bottle. I would say it is a two-man (or woman) job and, to make it easier, I would recommend putting the water in a bottle or jug. I held the filler tool in place and squeezed the pillow between my knees while my daughter poured in the water.
It's a bit hit and miss to begin with because you can adjust the level of water to suit you, choosing between soft, medium or firm.
As a rough guide, you'll need 2 litres of water for soft, 3 litres for medium or 4.5 litres for firm. I went for medium.
Use the blue filler tool to tighten the valve, pop on the pillow case and you're all done. It sounded very sloshy to begin with which, according to the packaging, means that you need to remove more air, but mine settled down after a couple of nights. It was also a bit annoying at first because it kept falling over when I wasn't laying on it, because the weight of the water settled in the bottom and made it flip over. Again, this stopped after a couple of nights.
In terms of comfort, it offers just the right balance of softness and comfort although, to be honest, I couldn't really feel any difference (apart from the sloshing noise) between the Mediflow pillow and a regular one. I must admit, I haven't had any neck pain at all since using it, whereas I did use to wake up with a crick in the neck some mornings with my old pillow. Madhouse Daddy put his head on it and said that it felt like it was hugging his head more than a regular pillow and felt more supportive. Pierre had a go and kept wobbling his head because he liked the gentle sloshing noise which, he said, reminded him of being on a boat !
I was a bit concerned about it springing a leak, especially if one of the kids or dogs jumped on it or if I hadn't tightened up the seal enough. I've been using it for a few weeks and this hasn't happened at all though. The sloshing noise has stopped, even when I move the pillow, so I tend to completely forget it's got water in it.
The Mediflow pillow is currently the top selling pillow on Amazon.com and Amzon.de and it is the only pillow so far that has been clinicaly proven by John Hopkins University to reduce neck pain and enhance quality of sleep. The concept sounded a bit strange to me but, having tried it, I have been convinced.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £49.95 (but cheaper on amazon)
Disclosure : I received the product in order to write an honest review.
Other reviews you may be interested in :
This looks amazing. It's a bit pricey, but I suppose this won't ever go flat and horrible like others do, so could be worth it. Thanks for the review, as I had never heard of these before.
ReplyDelete