# Why do we need pillows for sleeping?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 28, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412 "2013-10-28T03:43:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BambaSaysMamba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BambaSaysMamba)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/1 "2013-10-28T03:43:02Z")
Why do we need pillows for sleeping?
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/2 "2013-10-28T03:48:45Z")
To keep your spine straight when you sleep. Try lying down face up on a completely flat surface and placing your head on the ground will actually be curving your spine backwards above your neck.
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### Author:  [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/3 "2013-10-28T05:16:54Z")
What did humans do before pillows? Do any other animals have similar sleeping needs?
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/4 "2013-10-28T05:33:34Z")
We used leaves, or hay or a bit of fur or whatever soft substance we could find. Chimpanzees build nests in trees or use foliage when they nest on the ground.
> **[Snoozing Chimps Offer Glimpse of Hominid Sleeping Habits](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/snoozing-chimps-offer-glimpse-of-hominid-sleeping-habits-72353981/)**
>
> Most chimpanzees build tree nests when it's time to go to bed, but some prefer sleeping on the ground; the same was probably true for early hominids
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/5 "2013-10-28T07:29:28Z")
We wouldn’t need pillows if we didn’t have shoulders.
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### Author:  [@barbarajones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbarajones)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/6 "2013-10-28T09:08:54Z")
First, your pillow supports your neck and your head with your body. You must keep your spine straight in order to get a good sleeping posture. And because you spend hours in sleeping, if you are not sleeping in the right posture, you may hurt your neck or your back.
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### Author:  [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/7 "2013-10-28T09:22:08Z")
You can rest your head on your arms, too.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/8 "2013-10-28T09:43:49Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> What did humans do before pillows? Do any other animals have similar sleeping needs?
> [@panache45](#):
>
> We wouldn’t need pillows if we didn’t have shoulders.
To complete the answer these two have begun to give: most animals don’t have shoulders that wing out like ours, thanks to their teeny tiny clavicles. Dogs and cats and similarly shaped critters can lie down in any number of ways, and their spines will be gently curved and supported in all the right places.
Shoulders, while they do a lovely job of providing lots of muscle attachments for holding these big heavy heads upright, are kind of a pain in the…back, when it comes to sleeping. So animals that have them, like gorillas and chimpanzees and humans, make nests with materials from their environment, or support their heads with each others’ body parts in a sleeping pile or, a distant third, support their own head with their own body parts (ie, their arms). Humans have used many different materials, from piles of leaves or rolled up skins to wooden carved rests to high density poly fiber fill to support their necks and let all those shoulder muscles relax during sleep without wrenching the spine into shapes it doesn’t like to be in.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/9 "2013-10-28T13:28:51Z")
I sleep on a floormat without a pillow. I don’t have any neck or back problems at all.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/10 "2013-10-28T14:27:18Z")
> [@Undead Annie](#):
>
> I sleep on a floormat without a pillow. I don’t have any neck or back problems at all.
Do you sleep on your side? It’s side sleepers who have the most trouble with shoulders and no pillows. I suspect if we hadn’t any means to make nests, we’d all be back or front sleepers, or spend short amounts of time on our sides with our arms up until thoracic outlet issues developed.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/11 "2013-10-28T14:35:54Z")
I sleep stretched out flat on my stomach with arms at my sides. Works fine for me, except when I had the cast on my arm. Then I had to sleep in a fetal position with my left arm over my head.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/12 "2013-10-28T16:35:07Z")
> [@Undead Annie](#):
>
> I sleep on a floormat without a pillow. I don’t have any neck or back problems at all.
Well, being undead, you are a special case.
I used to sleep on my belly, arms at my sides, no pillow, and head turned to either left or right. But now in my dotage, my neck is not that flexible any more (and my belly is bigger), and I have to utilize other positions.
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### Author:  [@IceQube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IceQube)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/13 "2013-10-28T16:37:47Z")
> [@clairobscur](#):
>
> You can rest your head on your arms, too.
I’m resting my head in my hands after reading this thread.
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### Author:  [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/14 "2013-10-28T16:56:41Z")
I think there is some drainage going on.
From my experience not using a pillow can result in a more stuffed-up nose and having to deal with a phlegm problem in the morning.
p.s. I nominate “phlegm” for funniest word.
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### Author:  [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/15 "2013-10-28T17:01:34Z")
> [@Absolute](#):
>
> What did humans do before pillows? Do any other animals have similar sleeping needs?
While I doubt she “needs” such support as I’ve seen her sleep in all sorts of words positions, I’d say that 80% of the time my cat is sleeping in such a configuration that her head is on some other part of her body and not just flat on the floor. No idea if this has anything to do with spinal comfort.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/16 "2013-10-28T21:23:49Z")
Jacob made do with a rock. (Gen. 28:10-19) As the story is told, he had very strange dreams that night.
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### Author:  [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/17 "2013-10-28T21:38:16Z")
I think a lot of it is out of habit. We are used to sleeping with pillows, so most of us cannot imagine sleeping without pillows.
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### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/18 "2013-10-28T21:57:46Z")
My dogs seem to want to sleep with anti-pillows. They often lie on their doggie beds with just their heads on the floor.
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### Author:  [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/20 "2013-11-29T07:08:34Z")
Ancient Egyptian headrests
[http://www.virtual-egyptian-museum.org/Collection/FullVisit/Collection.FullVisit-JFR.html?../Content/WOD.LL.00126.html&0](http://www.virtual-egyptian-museum.org/Collection/FullVisit/Collection.FullVisit-JFR.html?../Content/WOD.LL.00126.html&0)
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### Author:  [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2013, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-need-pillows-for-sleeping/672412/21 "2013-11-29T07:26:06Z")
The Chinese (in ancient times) also had pillows similar to the Egyptian, made of jade, bamboo, porcelain and bronze. I cannot imagine how you could sleep on something that hard. It seems like it would give you a pressure sore on your head. The article linked above says the Egyptians might have covered theirs with fabric or fur or something soft.
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