Core Products Soothe-A-Ciser Pillow - Blue

I have what my chiropractor tells me is degenerative spinal disorder...or a "reverse curve" of the cervical spine as shown in the X-rays. I used to work all day in front of a computer for several years which probably created/exacerbated the problem. I also have TMJ issues (not severe).To try to coax the cervical spine to curve the right way again and relieve some neck pain, 2 chiropractors have suggested that I roll a towel and put it underneath my neck while lying down on my back on the floor for several minutes. Although this worked OK, I wanted something that might work even better.I looked at various options on Amazon, read through many reviews and ordered two products that looked promising - this Soothe-a-Ciser Cervical Neck & Shoulder Reliever and the Omni Cervical Relief Pillow ( Custom Craftworks Omni Cervical Relief Pillow ).I've been using both for over a month now, and I definitely prefer the Soothe-a-Ciser over Omni. With Soothe-a-Ciser, I feel a strong "push" against the back of my neck. As you can see in the product picture, your head hangs over the top of the pillow, acting as a weight against the back of the neck and allowing your cervical spine to stretch. In fact, you may want to try it for a very short time for the first few sessions. In my eagerness, I rested 15 minutes on it for the first 2 days and my muscles were absolutely sore! After a week of rest, I shortened the length of time on it and worked my way up to using it for longer periods.With the Omni Pillow, the contour of the neck is too soft and not high enough to have much support...a rolled-up towel behind my neck feels much better. As other reviewers have noted, the depression for the head is not nearly deep enough. The back of my head is on the flat side if anything and the pillow is *still* not deep enough. I can barely feel the hump of the pillow behind my neck. Although it is a comfortable pillow, it does not do much for my neck or shoulders.I definitely do feel a difference after using the Soothe-a-Ciser, so I will continue using it. Hopefully it will correct my cervical spine back into its natural curve. I have stopped using the Omni pillow as it really doesn't seem to do anything much other than being a pleasant pillow to lie on.

This product does exactly what the product description states it "restores the natural curve of the neck" and uses "the weight of your head to gently stretch your upper chest and anterior neck muscles". No where does it say that this product will distract the cervical spine, in other words it does not provide cervical traction. Furthermore, expecting a passive device to generate any appreciable traction force on the cervical spine when you are lying in a horizontal position, defies the laws of physics not to mention simple common sense.The average human head weighs between 10 - 12 lbs. You will not get distraction between the cervical vertebrae (i.e. traction) until you overcome the weight of the head. Therefore the distraction force needs to be over 10 - 12 lbs before any cervical traction will occur. The only way you can generate that amount of distraction force is with either a mechanical (powered) traction device, or an over the door pulley system with a gravity dependent weight, or with manual traction (ie: like when a physical therapist uses their hands to manually distract the cervical spine)It is completely unrealistic to expect this device to reproduce the manual or mechanical traction that a PT provides in their office. If you have a cervical herniated disc impinging upon an adjacent nerve root, this product will not do anything even remotely similar to the traction that you benefited from in your PT's office. Generating the amount of force required to provide enough cervical traction to lessen pressure on a nerve root (in a home setting) generally requires an over the door traction unit, or a mechanical home cervical traction device. However, someone with a history of cervical disc herniation may benefit from this device if they have postural related neck pain.So what is this product good for? Exactly what the product description says, it uses the weight of the head to gently stretch the upper chest and anterior neck muscles. For example, if you spend a lot of time sitting at a computer, and you want to counteract the flexion forces causing excessive kyphosis of the upper thoracic spine, and tightness of the anterior neck and pectoralis muscles. That's what I purchased the Soothe-A-Ciser for and I am extremely satisfied.

Pros and cons. First off, the woman in the product picture must be more on the petite side and looks like it fits her small shorter frame perfectly.About me.... I'm a slender to average framed female in my early 30's and weigh 150 lbs. I'm 6'-0", but I'm mostly leg, so my torso is about average for someone about 5'-9".The lumbar support bump hits too high up towards my mid-back. It needs to at least a few inches longer. The misplaced lumbar support can be rather uncomfortable. I read at least one other review that said it hurt their back, I can can completely understand if they are tall. This should not be a one-size-fits-all product.Next is the size of this product. It looks bigger in the product picture with the petite model. It's pretty narrow. Actual dimensions are: 21" long x 10.75" wide x 6.75" high on the neck x 3.3" high on the lumbar.Material stiffness is great. I read a review of the product having too much compression and the product wasn't dense enough to be effective. I did not have this issue at all. The product was the perfect density to give just the right amount of support. I tried adding as much extra pressure as I could to see if someone heavier would have any issues, and still held up very well. Not sure if that other reviewer had a dud, knock off product, an older model, or maybe just weighed a lot more.In all, the neck support and height are great for my neck and help a lot to relieve tension and pain. I just wish it was wider and longer so that the lumbar support actually hit my lumbar where it should.