Derila is an ergonomic memory foam pillow with a depression for the head and curved parts for the neck. I chose it because I often woke up with a stiff neck after sleeping on my side and back. I mainly wanted to reduce that morning pull towards my shoulder.
I used it every night for six weeks. I didn’t put another pillow underneath because then my head would go too high. I found it most comfortable to orient it with the higher curved part towards my neck.
Right from the start, I felt that the foam wasn’t soft in the way it looks in the pictures. It adjusted under the weight of my head relatively slowly, which I liked because I didn’t sink sharply when I turned. The first night it felt low and slightly strange, especially since I was used to a large fluffy pillow.
During the first week, I hardly noticed any change. I woke up the same way and several times during the night I searched for my old habit of tucking my arm under the pillow. With Derila, that wasn’t comfortable for me. If I fell asleep on my stomach with my arm under my face, my arm would get stiff, which annoyed me.
Around the tenth day, I started to feel a difference in the morning. My neck wasn’t completely relaxed, but I didn’t make those slow circles with my head while making my coffee. By the third week, the change was most noticeable when sleeping on my back. My head stayed more stable in the middle depression, and I didn’t wake up feeling like my chin had dropped to my chest.
When sleeping on my side, the result was more uneven. If my shoulder was well supported by the mattress, my neck felt nicely upright. If I lay close to the edge of the pillow, I felt tension on one side. In the first few days, I had to consciously adjust my head further in, which interrupted my falling asleep.
There were also things I didn’t like.
- The first two nights, the foam had a slight new smell that disappeared after airing out.
- On warm nights, it seemed to me that the area under the back of my head retained more heat.
- The shape wasn’t comfortable for prolonged stomach sleeping.
- The pillow is compact, and with broader shoulders, it might not provide enough height when sleeping on the side.
After the fourth week, I stopped thinking about it every night, which was a good sign for me. I simply lay down and fell asleep. The morning stiffness decreased, especially on days when I had been sitting a lot in front of the computer. It didn’t disappear completely. If I had been slouching during the day or carrying a heavy bag, the pillow couldn’t fix that by morning.
I didn’t see any significant change in snoring, and sometimes I woke up with a dry throat, just like before. I also didn’t feel any special cooling effect. For me, it mainly worked as a stable support for my neck, rather than a solution for every sleep problem.
I would recommend it to someone who primarily sleeps on their back or side and is looking for a more defined support. It’s also suitable for travel because it doesn’t take up much space, although I didn’t take it out because I didn’t want to crush it in a bag. People who love soft and high pillows will probably need time to get used to it.
I wouldn’t choose it for severe, persistent neck pain, arm numbness, or after an injury expecting it to solve the problem on its own. In such cases, it is only part of the conditions for better sleep, and I would seek medical evaluation. It doesn’t seem suitable for someone who almost exclusively sleeps on their stomach and can’t tolerate medium-firm foam.
I would buy Derila again, but not with the expectation of a miracle. It helped me reduce morning tension after going through a few uncomfortable nights of adjustment. For me, this is a good pillow for the neck and back, as long as you accept its specific shape.