This pillow-shaped "cheat" for a good night's sleep is the only thing that fixed my bad sleep habits

"The harsh truth is that we're all sleeping wrong and we have been for a long time" James Leinhardt smiles at me. It's clear that this isn't the first time that he's delivering this news. In fact, if you track back James' rich history as a sleep posture specialist, he's been telling us this for decades. It's just that now, with the help of TikTok and his mini skeleton, the word is spreading.

I thought I had my sleep set-up sorted. I've selected and tested enough mattresses to find the perfect firmness for me. I've invested in some nice, cooling bed sheets and sorted out the tog of my duvet. However, James promised me that I wouldn't be getting restful, refreshing sleep without the right pillow. If what you're sleeping on right now is a lump of feathers (I was once guilty of this too), chances are, what's waking you up in the night or making you feel achy in the morning is your guilty pillow.

This is where James comes in. He founded Levitex out of necessity back in 2016. James worked with critically injured, chronically ill, and in-firm patients for over ten years and it became quickly clear that we need to rethink the comfort, pressure relief, support, and posture of our pillows. He calls Levitex "a cheat to getting a good night's sleep", but I think that's modesty. Having slept on mine for a month, I think it's genius. In fact, I think it's one of the best pillows of all time, including pillows for neck pain.

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

The background

Before I could get my hands on one of these, I spoke with James, the founder of Levitex. If you're on TikTok, you'll have seen his friendly face and heard his even friendlier Northern accent delivering the kind of facts that make you sit up a little straighter (as well as the ones that'll help you sleep a little better).

James talked me through the Levitex story, so I knew what I was expecting. I think it's worth understanding a little bit behind what brought Levitex to market, because there was a lot of work. James and Dr Liebeman researched, created, and patented this special type of foam. They quickly started sleep studies (which have now delivered impressive results) and then, in 2021 they started using the Levitex for Covid-19 patients to create a Conscious Patient Kit to help the most severe, hospitalised cases with their breathing.

Essentially, James' message, promoted through Levitex, is that your pillow needs to offer pressure relief, postural management, and propioception. And most pillows don't. With the Levitex, James promises that this is possible. If you're a side or back sleeper, you can consult a chart on the website that will show you what to do with your Levitex pillow and where to put your old pillow to assume the perfect sleeping position. If, like me, you're a front sleeper, there's a little more work to do.

By virtue of sleeping on your front, you end up turning your head one way or another. As a result, the mobility in your neck becomes really uneven. I hadn't noticed this until James got me to look from side to side and I realised that I can turn much further left than I can right.

James compares this to when you sit at a table and cross one leg over the other. James explains “ you probably have a favourite way to cross your legs, which is great. However, this is something that you do when you're awake and conscious in the daytime. So, if one leg begins to feel a little numb or painful, you'll flatten your legs or shift in your seat. When you’re sleeping, you won’t notice the pain until it wakes you up. Even then, you probably won’t know that it was your poor posture that woke you up, you’ll just feel a bit achey.” James and I devised a way that the Levitex might be able to help me out of my front sleeping habit and into something a little healthier and more gentle. It sounded like a tall order, but it's one I was willing to take on.

First impressions

I was off to a great start with the Levitex. After speaking with James, I was seeing pillows from a whole new perspective. How have we all been getting it wrong for so long? The Levitex seems to offer the chance to completely change the way we sleep. I'm not exaggerating.

The Levitex arrived promptly after my call with James. I was using a size small (because I am actually small and quite light). There's a guide to choosing the right size for you as well as advice on returns and sizing (which I have broken down in the section below).

All of the packaging is completely recyclable, which gets a big thumbs up from me, and the box had lots of useful information printed across it, which I love. When a brand makes use of the little things, you know they've put a lot of thought into the product.

Inside the box, the Levitex was wrapped in tissue paper, so it felt like I was opening a proper gift up. And, in many ways, this is a gift.

Composition

The inner foam is made from Levitex, which is both the brand and material name. This is essentially a form of polyurethane, which takes the best bits of memory foam and latex and blends them together. It feels like latex, but it's lighter and cheaper. The similaritieis to memory foam are the pressure relief that it offers, except this has enough firmness not to mess up your posture.

There are clinical trials around Levitex which offer some solid support for how this performs. On the website, Dr Matthew Dickinson, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, says "Levitex performs exponentially better than anything else on the market", which is always a good thing to hear about your pillow.

If you're a statistics person, Levitex, says that when the pillow is compressed by 25% of its original size it "is soft, comfortable, and pressure relieving. However, at a force of 65% compression, it becomes firm and resistant". This perfectly serves the sleep trifecta of pressure, posture, and proprioception.

After all that geeky stuff, the cover of the pillow is simple. It's 100% nylon, which is low maintenance and cool to touch. As one final cherry on top of the cake, the pillows also contain an inherent antimicrobial treatment called AMP:PM so that bacteria, mould, and mildew can't grow inside the foam.

Who would it suit?

The Levitex promises to optimise your sleep posture, which can help a whole host of different sleepers. James says, "I've seen this help to decrease snoring, reduce back pain, help to utilise lung capacity, improve core strength, and boost your energy levels. Above all else, you'll finally get the good nights sleep that you dream of whilst your bad pillow keeps you up at night."

James tells me that in trials 67% of snorers will stop or reduce their snoring if they sleep properly on their side in an optimised sleep position. In theory, this is what the Levitex does, so it should help you to stop snoring.

That sounds a lot for a whole pillow to achieve, but in my experience, it does a decent job. I'm not a snorer, nor do I struggle to use my full lung capacity, but this did help me get deeper sleep and it got rid of my neck pain. Most importantly though, it stopped me from being a front sleeper. That's a fate I never thought I would escape.

What is it like to sleep on?

Before I give you the details of my experience, it'll be helpful for you to know a little context about how I sleep. As a front sleeper, I normally don't have a pillow. If I do, it'll be a blanket stuffed under my head. I lie on my side at the start of the night and will eventually roll onto my front, which is appalling for my breathing and my neck health, but it's the comfiest position for me.

As soon as my head hit the Levitex, I could see what the fuss was about. The pillow lifted my head enough that I could feel space between my lower shoulder and head. There wasn't any strain, tension, or pressure anywhere. The pillow felt soft and comfortable, but firm at the same time (is that even possible?). Overall, I felt comfier than I had in a long time. Let me tell you, it felt good.

That night and the night after and the night after and the night after (you get the picture) I slept really well. Normally, I wake up in the night a few times, but I found that I was sleeping right through. James posited that we're all waking up in the night, not because we need the toilet, but because our sleep positions are actually making us so uncomfortable that they pull us out of sleep. That tracks for me. My neck pain disappeared with the Levitex and so did waking up in the night. Coincidence? I think not.

It's been a month now, so physiotherapists would let me make my conclusions about how good this has been (experts generally say to wait for two weeks to see a change). The first piece of evidence I have for you is that I've stopped sleeping on my front (hooray). I've not been getting too hot in the night and have generally felt comfortable. I think the missing piece in my sleep routine has finally fallen into place.

I didn't just use the Levitex though. James recommended a few adjustments for me to achieve the perfect sleeping position (known as the Dreamer, although he says "an optimised back sleeper is a decent position to be in too"). To sleep in the Dreamer position, James recommends "sticking your old pillow between your knees and ankles. This will help your hips to remain neutral and will help you achieve the optimum sleep posture." You'll be on your side with your legs bent, a little like the foetus position.

James also added, "there's a chance that some sleepers might need two pillows to give them enough support, but I always recommend giving it fourteen days before you make the call."

How does it compare?

On its own, the Levitex scored top marks for me, a front sleeper. Anyone like me, who’s been looking in to foam pillows will have come across the Panda London Memory Foam pillow.

You’ll almost be able to predict what I’m going to say about how these two compare just from the image above. Aside from the foam composition, which is different anyway, these feel like pillows for completely different sleepers. The Panda London Pillow feels like classic memory foam. It’s actually made from bamboo, which is a nice touch, but aside from doing your research, you wouldn’t know that it was bamboo just from lying on it. This memory foam is much more spongy and elastic than the Levitex. Paired with the one-size thickness of the Panda, this is a very firm and plump pillow. It’s actually the one that I was testing before the Levitex and, whilst it’s great for being propped up in bed, the firmness can make it difficult to get good alignment if you’re a small side or back sleeper like me. The Levitex, on the other hand, feels almost softer, but because it’s so thin, this isn’t soft to the point where I would worry about overheating.

Is it cooling?

There's nothing about the Levitex that promises to cool you down as you sleep, but it doesn't affect your temperature as you sleep. Most foams are well-known to insulate, so this is a great option if you want the softness and ergonomics of foam, but you hate the idea of all that heat heading your way.

I'd still say that the pillows thinness made it feel cool to touch and sleep on. If you have a bamboo or a silk pillowcase, I think you can get a large amount of cooling power behind you (or as much cooling power as many pillow can offer).

What are the eco-credentials?

Foam is notoriously not quite the climate-friendly substance that tree-huggers will want on their bed. However, Levitex, as with their completely recyclable packaging have kept an eye on this. For each pillow sold, they plant two trees, which technically makes the pillow carbon negative. I'd certainly be able to sleep a little easier knowing that.

Returns and trial period

The Levitex Pillow comes with a sheet that explains your returns and trial period options. Of course, they hope that the size is right the first time around. However, they point out that physiotherapists recommend testing all sleep products for two weeks before you'll see any results, good or bad. For that reason, Levitex has extended the 30-day statutory returns period to 44 days, so you'll have plenty of time to sleep on your decision.

There's a guide to finding the right size for you, but if you need a refresher, here's the headlines.

• Small (8cm) suits side sleepers below 5’2″
or back sleepers below 6’2″
• Medium (10cm) suits side sleepers 5’3″ to 5’8″ or for back sleepers 6′3″ and above
• Large (12cm) suits side sleepers 5’9″ to 6′2″
• Extra large (14cm) suits side sleepers over 6′3″

Levitex says "if your pillow is the right size, it will feel like you want to push your head into it, but can't. If it's the wrong size, it will feel like your neck is angled up or down."

Should you buy it?

If you're struggling to shake some bad sleeping habits, this is the way you're going to fix them. Don't be shy of asking Levitex for their advice and tips on what to do with your pillow and how to use it. I did and I managed to overhaul my unhealthy sleep style. It's a miracle worker.

How we test

Some people call testing pillows sleeping on the job and others say you're taking work to bed with you. I say, it's a dream come true. As a self-confessed sleep geek, I love nothing more than testing out the latest and greatest pieces in sleep innovation and Levitex ticks a lot of boxes.

As you can see, to get a review up and running, our pillows go through a series of rigorous tests. I do a lot of research before coming to a conclusion on who a pillow suits, whether you should get it, and why. If you want to find out more, you can visit our dedicated page for how we test pillows.