The main benefit of a buckwheat pillow is it’s superior ability to support your head and neck. However, another benefit to using a buckwheat pillow is its great ability to regulate your temperature throughout the night. You can rest cooler in the summertime and warmer in the wintertime. Read on to find out how this works.
When you place your head on a buckwheat pillow, the hulls inside compress. Yet, because buckwheat hulls are natural, when they pack down, they still have space between them. This is due to the shape of buckwheat hulls – an irregular triangular shape that doesn’t allow them to pack super tight. Since there is space between the hulls, this filling allows air to circulate throughout the pillow. In addition, the hulls themselves don’t conduct heat, so the pillows don’t heat up like normal pillows. As the air circulates through the pillow, moisture is pulled away from your skin.
A buckwheat pillow is thermodynamic, which means that the temperature of the hulls changes to match that of the surrounding room. So, it becomes cooler along with a cool summer bedroom, and warmer along with a warm winter bedroom. We all know that keeping cool at night provides a better night’s sleep, so a buckwheat pillow again trumps a traditional, fiber filled pillow.
Given the wonderful benefits a buckwheat pillow brings to your sleep, its temperature regulation properties could stop there. However, they don’t. If you place a buckwheat pillow in the freezer for an hour or so, it will take on the very cold properties of the inside of a freezer. The chilled buckwheat pillow can then be used a natural cold pack. As the pillow cools, it will provide relief from pain and swelling. And, since it will actively cool to room temperature, you won’t have to worry about the super cold against your skin freezing you.
Some buckwheat pillows are also able to be placed into the microwave to heat up. However, read the specific instructions from the manufacturer of your pillow, since not all buckwheat pillows can be heated in the microwave. If you do have a buckwheat pillow that is okay to heat, you have a natural heating pad. If you are in any doubt about whether your pillow can be heated, then error on the safe side and don’t. Either way, keep in mind that buckwheat hulls are a natural material. As such, you can freeze them over and over, but heating them will dry them out.
Since a buckwheat pillow is great at conforming to the contours of your body, it can be molded to wherever the it is needed the most, providing an even temperature.
When you combine the great supportive properties of a buckwheat pillow with a bit of cold (and sometimes heat), you can help alleviate both acute pain and more general aches. It is becoming more common for medical professionals to recommend a buckwheat pillow for treating many things, from neck and shoulder pain to back and hip pain, general muscle tension to headaches. You may also find a buckwheat pillow being used in yoga and massage therapy.
As you can see, the temperature regulation properties of a buckwheat pillow are useful for many applications. From being a natural cool pillow for summer and a natural warm pillow for winter to conducting cool (and sometimes heat) for muscle aches and swelling, a buckwheat pillow is a great pillow to have.
