Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow review: Finally, a foam pillow I actually like

Sleep posture experts spent years coming up with the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow. Caramel Quin reviewed to uncover all you need to know.

To help you find the best pillows for neck pain, we tested a range of the very best pillows designed to support and relieve tension, so you can easily pick the one that will bring you the most comfortable night's sleep.

The Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow is designed to promote proper spinal alignment and help alleviate pressure, so you enjoy a better quality of sleep and wake rested and free of aches. It’s made using Levitex foam, which differs from materials like memory foam as it's soft under light pressure but firm when you compress it further.

The other unusual thing about this pillow is that it comes in four sizes - and you can figure out the right size for you online based on your height and sleeping position. But don't let all this unusualness put you off - here, we have the lowdown on exactly why this pillow is so impressive.

Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow review

Specifications

• RRP: £75
• Size: 60x40cm, thicknesses of 8, 10, 12 or 14cm
• Sleep position: Side, back
• Filling: Levitex foam
• Firmness: Medium firm
• Trial: 44 nights
• Guarantee: 3 years

First impressions of the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow

The Levitex is a pillow-sized block of foam, pretty much rectangular, but with slightly rounded edges. It manages to be both soft and firm at the same time, unlike many other pillows I've tried in recent months while searching for specialist pillows. However, it does smell slightly of foam.

What is the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow like to use?

Finding the right pillow is subjective as neck pain is a very personal issue. To make sure I covered all my bases, I recruited three testers, each with different reasons for their neck pain. I also tested the pillows for myself.

I slept well with the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow on the first night but I did have a mild ache between my shoulders when I woke up in the morning. This wasn’t a problem on subsequent mornings though, so I won't judge the pillow too harshly on first impressions. I’m 5’8” and sleep mostly on my side, which is why I'm always interested in the best pillows for side sleepers with neck pain-aiding qualities. That's not this one though, unfortunately.

Lucy, who hates memory foam pillows, didn’t like the look of the Levitex but it won her over: “It’s comfier than I expected and it supported my head and neck well. I was surprised at how comfy this was to sleep on, the firmness is a good thing. My head didn’t slump off my pillow like it did with my old pillow, so overall my neck felt better.” She’d be tempted to buy it but would look into its sustainability and materials first.

Saira would also consider buying it. “It seemed hard at first when I rested my head on the pillow, but it sort of moulded to my head shape and it didn’t feel as though I was resting my head on anything. It was comfortable.” Her shoulder, which normally aches (she has rheumatoid arthritis) hurts less thanks to the “firm yet soft” Levitex.

Laura struggled with the Levitex but experimented with sizes and posture and found that it would support her head well if she could get her sleep posture right (more on that below).

How does the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow compare?

This is one of my favourite pillows for neck pain, in fact it’s the most affordable of my favourites. One of the others is the pricier Dreams Tempur Cloud Air SmartCool Medium Pillow which has a softer feel.

If you suffer from neck pain, you need a supportive pillow that aligns different parts of the body - including the spine, hips, and knees. You don’t want something soft and insubstantial. The Levitex does a great job of this. It comes in four sizes and uses a unique type of foam that manages to be both soft and supportive. Also worth considering is the firm Back in Action Memory Foam Pillow.

But if you want something with a soft upper, that won’t break the bank, consider the unusual Mediflow Water Pillow.

Should you buy the Levitex Sleep Posture Pillow?

Yes, this is one of the pillows I’d recommend if you suffer from neck pain. The website gives you enough information to select the right size and there’s heaps of free sleep posture advice online from James Leinhardt.

Get the right-sized pillow and the right posture and you should be good. And if it doesn’t feel right, that’s what the free trial is for.

Sleeping with neck pain: A word from James Leinhardt

Levitex founder James Leinhardt, a sleep posture expert who’s spent more than a decade in the NHS supporting patients with complex needs, shares heaps of advice free online. You don’t even have to buy a Levitex pillow. There’s a YouTube channel packed with tips and hacks for improving sleep quality and posture plus a recent TEDxManchester talk on the science of sleep posture.

I’ll sum up the advice for you: If you normally sleep on your front then stop. Really. Try to switch to your side or back instead. The right pillow will help.

If you sleep on your side, fine-tune your position into ‘The Dreamer’, where you lie in the semi-foetal position with your knees bent. But don’t roll your upper leg forward like you’re in the recovery position. Instead, it should be the same position as sitting in a chair, but on your side. So everything should be aligned: hip over hip, knee over knee, ankle over ankle. The best way to do this, especially for women whose hips are wider, is to pop an old pillow between your legs, running from knee to ankle.

And if you sleep on your back then you can use the same pillow under your knees to get into ‘The Soldier’ position.