If you suffer from acid reflux you may have heard the advice to elevate the head of your bed. It's actually a bit of good advice, especially if you are troubled by reflux predominantly at night.
The reason it helps is that by elevating the head of your bed you are enlisting the help of gravity. It is more difficult for stomach acid to reflux uphill than it is when you're lying flat down.
Adjustable Mattress Frame
But how do you do you elevate the head of the bed? Their several ways to go about that. I think using an acid reflux wedge pillow is one the simplest and best. I'll explain what these pillows are in a moment, but first I want to tell you about some of your alternatives.
One thing to realize is that simply trying to prop your head up with two or three ordinary pillows doesn't work. In fact, it could actually aggravate the situation.
Some people put a block under the feet of the bed frame at the head. This works if the bed frame is suitable, but you typically can't elevate the bed more than four or maybe 6 inches. For some people this isn't enough.
Also, putting the bed on a slant like this strains the bed frame. Beds aren't designed to be used like this.
Another solution is to get an adjustable hospital-type bed, but it really isn't appropriate nor necessary for most people (not to mention the fact that it doesn't fit in very well with most decors).
A better answer for most people is an acid reflux wedge pillow.
Acid reflux wedge pillows are designed specifically to properly elevate your entire torso on a slant beginning at the top of your hips. As the name implies, they are wedge-shaped. The degree of elevation varies from 4 inches to 12 inches or more.
In use, these pillows maintain a gentle slope from the top of your head to your lower pelvis. You can use a regular pillow under your head on top of the wedge pillow. Most people find these reflux pillows comfortable if they sleep on their side or back. People who sleep on their stomach may find that the wedge tend to cause a bit of back strain.
Some of these pillows are designed to go between the mattress and box springs. However, most rest on top of the bed surface.
As with normal pillows, personal preference has a lot to do in determining which wedge pillow is best for you. Fortunately there are several manufacturers and several choices available