Aching neck

Try lots of different thicknesses and textures. I bought a memory foam angled pillow which I thought would be perfect and only after months of shoulder and arm pain did I realise that it was wrong for me.
I used to like a deep pillow or even two, but now find I am more comfortable with a thinner squishy pillow. It is amazing what a difference it can make

I find a memory foam pillow works well for me NanKate as it seems to mould itself round my head gradually.

I can only be comfortable on one feather pillow which I can pummel into shape to support my neck at just the right angle..
My guess is you just have to keep trying different pillows to find what suits you as everyone has different requirements.

The memory foam pillow made my neck ache worse, sadly. My GP recommended I use a very narrow pillow and that does help. I also do those stretching exercises recommended for neck/shoulder pain, without which I stiffen up a lot. My neck is a pain , partly due to ageing and inflammatory/osteo arthritis but I suspect the fact I almost broke it when falling from a horse at great speed onto hard ground 40 years ago is the root of the problem.

I hated the memory foam pillow I bought - too hot and too (strangely) inflexible!

I used to have feather pillows but have changed to foam ones as they're softer and seem to suit my tossing-and-turning sleep pattern better.

DH has a memory foam pillow which he likes. mine got thrown out after the first week I hated it. A chiropractor told me the best thing for neck pain is a thinner man made pillow underneath and a feather/down one on top. so that is what I have and it's very comfy.

I have also resorted to using a small roll pillow which just supports the back of my neck when lying in bed. Anything more bulky and I wake up with an achy neck. Try just using a small soft towel or such to see if it helps.

I sleep on my back with a large pillow under my knees to try to help prevent my back from locking up in the morning. If I happen to turn onto my side I get really uncomfortable.

A lot of people seem to find memory foam makes them feel very hot.

I have also known of people who find that as the memory foam compresses a lot to allow it to balance your weight when sleeping.
If you need to you push down on it with your arms to lever your self out of bed the lack of resistance in the mattress makes it very hard to get up.

If you can't buy a small neck roll disembowel an ordinary pillow and put the stuffing into a smaller roll shaped cover.

Buckwheat pillow every time! You can make it into any shape you want so that it fits round you, rather than you having to try and arrange yourself to suit your pillow!! It's supportive, too. Mine came from online company called Razzmatazz.

You could try The good sleep expert online. I bought the petite butterfly pillow and found it helps and it's very comfy after the memory foam pillow i had. they give plenty of advice so you can judge for yourself.

I would really love a new buckwheat pillow. The one I had for several years came from QVC, and was the original Japanese type, square, and didn't fit the pillow cases. I would really like another. Thank you mini mouse, I will look at razzmatazz, QVC don't seem to have them now. The one I had was called a sobacawa pillow.

Thanks ALL for these great suggestions and I think I will go down the route of a buckwheat pillow.

I will no longer be a pain in the neck, but my family may disagree.

I'm glad I read this thread because my neck and right shoulder are very painful at the moment. I used to swear by my memory foam pillow but it isn't making any difference to it at the moment.
I've ordered a buckwheat pillow and am fervently hoping it will help as analgesics, hot/cold packs, ant inflammatory gels etc not doing the trick. Am getting very fed up and GP says X-ray shows it's extensive arthritic changes so physio appointment mid-August.

Fingers crossed!

It may help if you use just one pillow that is fairly flat and not "bouncy".