Mediflow 1066 Elite Fiberfill Waterbase Pillow

Like most reviewers, I have struggled with finding the perfect pillow. I think a lot of my issue is I am short and over all smaller than the typical adult (4'10"). I would imagine my neck/shoulder is smaller than most adults. Most pillows crank my head up so I would try flat pillows which weren't enough. I also like my arm under the pillow so I tried the contour pillows made with arm space. Nothing helped.After a ton of research, I came across water pillows. I figured it was worth a try. My neck pain and headaches have decreased drastically. My boyfriend said I would wake myself up multiple times throughout the night but that as decreased as well over the last month since having this pillow. I am very much a mover in my sleep, so much so we actually have a pillow between us so I don't kick him and he doesn't feel my tossing as much. I think because of the water, as I move, the pillow changes to what I need throughout the night, including space for my arm to fit under.I wish I had gotten standard, not elite, because the standard is a bit flatter/thinner. Even without water, the elite is a bit thick for me but unlike other pillows, I can still get comfy. When it is time for a new one, I will go with the standard instead.Also, as other reviewers mentioned, it does take some time to get the right amount of water. I carefully measured the recommended low amount. I slept like that for a bit and it was fine. I didn't know if it could be better though, so I added more. After a few nights I decided it was too much. I not-so-carefully dumped out a bunch of water so I have no clue how much is actually in there right now but it is back to a good fit for my neck.Other reviewers mentioned the water isn't loud. I would disagree - maybe because it's in my ear though. My boyfriend is a very light sleeper and he's never mentioned hearing anything. We also have 3 fans going though. So that is something to be aware of. It doesn't wake me up but if I'm already awake and he is sleeping, I try to move very slowly so the water isn't sloshing around. Yes, I did follow the video instructions to be sure no air space was in there.

I have had long time neck pain and issues that make it very hard for me to sleep at night. I was on a desperate search to find a solution to the normal pillow and the usual "U" shaped pillows that are readily available at every store known to man. I have used so many of those over the years that claim to help neck pain. None do. They only take the pressure off of the area for a short period of time until you have to rearrange the pillow again....all night long. Of course, when I read about this pillow I thought it would be much the same thing, a promised solution with the same result - tossing and turning and rearranging the pillow all night. Also, it seemed very weird to me that I would be filling a pillow with water. But I slept on a waterbed for about 20 years so the concept at least made a little bit of sense to me. So at the desperate point I was at I was willing to try almost anything. I read all of the reviews and watched a video on youtube. It was explained that the theory was the water in the pillow would keep my head aligned at the right angle and that is what would help the pain. So not long after that I had my pillow. Wow! I know this is hard to believe, but that first night was the first night I did not lay there and roll the pillow over hundreds (okay, I exaggerate, let's estimate, into the 20's of times) all night long. And the next morning was the first time in a very long time that I had woken up without severe pain in my neck. My husband was amazed. He has seen me buy so many pillows and things over the years he really did think this would be just one more addition to the pillow graveyard in our house. Not so! This one is a keeper. I did adjust the water level about a month after I got it. I added about 4 more ounces of water. I think that the bladder of the pillow may stretch and adjust a bit after you start using it for a while. One side of the pillow is where the bladder, or plastic side holding the water is, and is where the spout is to pour the water in. The spout will lay flat inside the pillow. The other side of the pillow is like a traditional pillow with stuffing/padding. This will be the side you sleep on. It is comfortable and I have had no issues sleeping on it. You can hear a slight water sound when you are moving the pillow around on your bed. But you should not be hearing water moving around while you are just sleeping on the pillow. While filling the pillow you will be pressing the bladder gently to remove the air bubbles. If you remove the air bubbles there should not be an excessive amount of sloshing around inside your pillow. I purchased a cover for my pillow. The Insta Comfort Allergy Pillow Covers in Queen Size fit this pillow.Some have mentioned this pillow being heavy. It is heavier than a regular pillow. However, when we went out of town I took my pillow. It was no problem to take along. And there was no chance on earth that I was going to take using another pillow and letting my neck get back in the shape it was before. And trust me, even one night on the wrong pillow can do that. Those of you with neck issues can relate to that statement!I am not going to claim that I am pain free in my neck, however, if they could make this pillow for the back and I had that much relief for my back too I would be in great shape. I would rate the level of improvement from a scale of 1-10 1 being the less and 10 being the best, as a 7. That is pretty good relief from just a pillow.Also, I would like to point out that this is a review for the Mediflow ELITE Pillow. There is another Mediflow pillow, the Original:https://www.amazon.com/Mediflow-1006-06-Original-Waterbase-Pillow/dp/B003J372NS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499315390&sr=8-1&keywords=mediflowThe dimensions are different. The dimensions for the Original Pillow are 28 x 20 x 4.5The dimensions for the ELITE are 28 x 20 x 7 inchesNotice that the ELITE is thicker.Also, the Original states is has a ONE Year Warranty.The ELITE states is has a THREE Year Warranty.For the reasons mentioned I bought the ELITE pillow.

I have waited a little while to write a review on this pillow. I wanted to sleep on it for more than a week before I would give an opinion on it. It's been a month, and I LOVE it!! It has been a great pillow so far. I did read others reviews before purchasing it. They were very helpful and I appreciated all of them. I will say that I too suffer from neck pain and really wanted this pillow to help. So far the pain has decreased, but is not completely gone. I do feel the pillow is the reason for the decrease. I have awoken quite a few mornings to find that I am in the same position that I was in when I fell asleep. I will agree with others that the pillow is heavy when filled with water and it makes sloshing noises when I pick it up. However, I am not walking around with the pillow and I only hear the sloshing if I pick it up or roll on to my side. Like I mentioned before, I haven't been moving around a lot in my sleep so I have not been bothered by the sloshing noise. I will say that I followed the instructions that came with the pillow and decided to add only the amount of water to make it soft. I figured it was easier to add more water than to take it away. I'm glad I started with it on soft because I felt like the top part of the pillow was a bit fluffy when I first got it. After sleeping on it for a bit, I found that it went down a little and was then able to add a little more water to get it where I wanted it. Hopefully this is helpful to whoever reads this. If you decided to buy this pillow, I hope you will give it a chance and figure out what works for you. :)

Words cannot express how happy I am with this pillow purchase. I sleep on my side and sometimes on my back. I can promise you that at least the last 5 years 3-5 times per week I would wake up with neck pain and much worse than that I would get sharp headaches that would start at the base of my neck and expand from there. The headaches were just too much to deal with especially when I have such a busy life with work, family, home, friends etc. I have purchased so many pillows claiming to be the one. In the last 3 months alone I purchased 4 pillows because the neck and head pain increased (my husband and I even purchased a new mattress set this past December thinking that would help me). My body felt great but the headaches and neck pain remained. Last week I was just done and decided to find and buy yet another pillow. I stumbled upon the Mediflow 1066 Elite Fiberfill Waterbase Pillow and as usual decided to purchase because the pros outweighed the cons. OH MY GOODNESS ! Never ever ever ever have I had a pillow like this and I don't think I have ever had a nights sleep that made me want to stay in bed. I see comment about going flat or a leak and guess what, I don't care ! They have a warranty for the leak and even if they didn't I would buy the pillow over and over again. As for going flat again I don't care, I will buy a new one. My goal is to buy one ever few months and store them just in case their leadership team decides not no make them (no offense 😄) All I can say is I look forward to going to bed now and I wake up feeling rested and ready for the day. Yes I know some days you just don't want to get up but it's 1000 times worse with neck pain and/or sharp headaches. This pillow is the one at least in my opinion.

Update-April 25 2018: I tried to go back to this pillow because the thought of just throwing $50 away bothered me but now I really hate it and am putting it down to a 1 star instead of 2. The musty smell NEVER goes away no matter what you do, even with their "anti-mildew" pillow protector. That's is another $10, although it's a very nice protector and can be used with any other pillow (once all the mustiness from this pillow's been washed out). Another thing I've noticed is that the water evaporates inside the chamber at a ridiculous rate. I have to put more water in every 7 to 14 days or it becomes painfully flat. And it's not even leaking. The water is just evaporating. As I mentioned in my old post, this pillow is so heavy when full that manipulating it to keep adding water is difficult for me as I'm quite small. I actually pulled a pectoral muscle wrestling with this thing.The search for a truly helpful pillow for my neck pain continues.Original review-January 5th 2018: After reading the great reviews and tests where it helped neck pain, I wanted to love this pillow. And it is a great idea, which is why I gave it an extra star. But in practice, it just didn't work for me at all.For starters, I tried it at every possible fill level and none helped my neck pain or stiffness. 5.5 liters was the best of the possible fill levels but still wasn't properly supportive, my upper back and neck actually got stiffer. I've gone back to my old latex pillow and feel a bit better.Secondly, with 5 liters of water, the pillow is ridiculously heavy. I weigh 110 pounds so, carrying an awkward 11 pound pillow into the bathroom when the water level needs to be adjusted is a bit of an ordeal.Third, the fill instructions tell you to use tap water and that unless you use well water, you don't need bleach. I think both of these instructions are wrong. Distilled water and bleach is probably a good idea and I wish I'd done that. I've had this pillow for only a few weeks and have completely changed the water three times, airing it dry for a full day in between fills and it already smells musty.