Beans72 Organic Buckwheat Pillow - Japanese Size (14 inches x 20 inches) Made in USA

I've got to tell this story. I have had trouble with the discs between my cervical vertebrae, especially C7, slipping out of place on a daily basis for the last 10 years. , probably due to a lifetime of heavy shoulder bags, poor posture, because of my dental assiing job, and the wild 60s dances, I did when I was young. 😃To avoid surgery, which has horrible consequences, I've used therapy balls to unkink the horrible knots in my shoulder, neck and upper back/shoulder blade region (right side mostly), and to gently press the discs back in place. For years, at night, I have slept with a king size pillow on each side of me to get my body in an optimal position [ I'M A SIDE SLEEPER ] . But also, I brought to bed with me each night, five different pillows : latex, memory foam, sobakawa, down and a medium firm fill. I sleep on my side, mostly the right side. Each night was filled with swapping out pillows all night long, as no pillow was perfect to keep my neck vertebrae in place.THEN, I ordered this PILLOW, exactly one year ago. I had to remove at least half the buckwheat. So yes there was a little smell for a couple of nights.. not a big deal. But the *hardness* of the pillow made me regret having paid so much for it. So I ordered another pillow that had shredded foam, that you could remove and adjust the fill as needed and mush it around to give support. The hardness of the buckwheat pillow hurt the blood vessels in my temples and it was compressing my jugular veins. I tried the soft pillow and it was *dreamy*, but after a couple of nights, I had to bring "Mr. Buckwheat" back, because my neck was screaming for support! So I would sleep on the buckwheat and do a lot of adjusting to take the pressure off sensitive areas. During the night, when I couldn't take the hardness anymore, I'd switch to "Mr. Softee". So I kept on trying with the buckwheat and LISTEN TO THIS!... As the weeks and months went by, my head and neck veins either became used to the hardness or the buckwheat became not so hard.. or both. I used the buckwheat (pillow) more and more, until I no longer used the Softee at all... NOR ANY OTHER Pillow, EVER! Also, you become very adept at the adjusting of the pillow, you just know how thick it needs to be and how to lie on it right away, instantly. I usually like my pillow to be fairly thin, so the part I'm not lying on is thicker. However, sometimes I really need extra support on that C7 vertebra, so I flip it over and voila!.. .. instant support and relief and back to sleep I go. I now sleep soundly and solidly through the night, seldom changing position ... for the first time in decades (I'm 66)! Oh.. also the pillow is very cool and seldom heats my neck, if it does, I just flip it over. And something else, no one else might mention is, the PILLOW NEVER SMELLS!! IT NEVER gets stinky! How does that happen?! Now, I would never go off ANYwhere to stay without it. I look SO forward to going to bed every night now, knowing when I lie down on my pillow, I will have instant comfort and relief if I've had a bad neck day. I have the smallest pillow ( I'm 5' 1") and it's plenty big for me, more than enough. This little bag of seed hulls has made a HUGE, HUGE difference in my life. It is the PERFECT PILLOW! So DON'T GIVE UP on it. Keep working with it. Pretty soon you'll be a pro at maneuvering it and you will benefit greatly with how your neck stays in place and the extra sleep you get because you are not waking up at all hours of the night. ONE PILLOW!.... That's all I use now, except I still have my two king size pillows I use as body pillows, for my lower body. I almost never take the time to write a review, especially one this detailed, but this pillow has helped me soooo much, that I want others to have the same relief I've experienced. It's such a little thing and makes such a big difference. Just don't get discouraged at the initial hardness. It took about 2 months to become accustomed to it, and about 6 or 7months before it was the ONLY pillow I wanted. It is more than worth it to stick with it. You WILL get used to it, I know because I'm extra sensitive, and although it never loses its support, I do believe the hulls get a little more supple. I saved the other half of the hulls in a gallon ziploc bag, just in case these hulls ever wear down. After a year, it doesn't seem like that is going to happen. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PILLOW! Have a wonderful Christmas and SWEET DREAMS! 💕ps. Poor Mr. Softee pillow now just takes up space in my closet. ;D

Interesting little pillow; I've been sleeping on it for about a week now.At first, it does take some getting used to, and it does take some work in order to make it as comfortable as possible, but once I got it just right I find myself falling asleep almost immediately after I lay down.When I received the pillow, it was stuffed entirely too much with buckwheat, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good, in that the amount of buckwheat I removed from the pillow is enough to fill two more pillows for me comfortably, I would just need to find appropriate pillow cases; bad, in that I spent a good few hours just scooping out buckwheat and re-adjusting the pillow to find my optimal size. I placed the scooped out buckwheat in a ziplock bag and keep it high in my closet.The first night I went to sleep with it (after adjusting the buckwheat amount), I woke up the next morning with a bit of a sore neck. It may have been just my body adjusting to the pillow, because the nights since then have been phenomenal. I found that once you lay your head on it, it helps to bunch the buckwheat under your neck and almost push them up against your shoulders. As as I am a back sleeper, I found this to provide excellently comfortable support. I also sometimes sleep on my side, and I should note that this pillow is perfect for that too; given the nature of the pillow, moving to the side (despite the pillow's relatively small size) is a super smooth adjustment, as the pillow does not bunch up on its own and smother your face when you move. For stomach and face sleepers, however.... I imagine the pillow is far too firm for that to be comfortable. Why would you sleep that way in the first place?It should also be noted that if you tend to worry about your face and complexion, as well as wrinkles caused by aging, then this pillow will be perfect for you. Scientifically speaking, wrinkle creams and lotion do very little to help fight age wrinkles; that particular battle begins with your sleeping pattern. It you sleep with your face smooshed into a pillow every night, the skin on your face is pulled and pushed (without you being conscious of it) all night long, distorting the natural lines of your face and causing your wrinkles to become more and more pronounced over time. This is particularly true for side and stomach sleepers. While I don't think this pillow will help stomach sleepers (it is very hard to breath into a pillow stuffed full of buckwheat), for side sleepers it's great; the pillow never rides up to meet your face, allowing your skin to be free from impediment all night long.One last thing; this pillow is somewhat noisy at first. I don't mind, but for people who want an entirely silent night's rest it is something that need to be taken into consideration. Recently I don't even notice the noise; I assume as the buckwheat becomes "polished" from further use, the noise will become less pronounced.--- Strange 林全德