I feel like I used to have a satisfactory layout for years but haven’t since found a consistently comfortable arrangement. I like to have a fairly thick pillow or two under my head to accommodate my bad shoulder, a pillow between my thighs to avoid chafed skin, and a pillow for hugging - also mostly for my shoulder.
The head ones tend to get distorted really quickly and it’s really difficult to find a good hugging pillow.
Two thin pillows stacked and oriented vertically. Thinness is key because they’re easy to fold or roll to “make” pillows of various shapes and thicknesses, to support whatever position I feel like lying in.
I’ve heard that before and tried it myself, but I’ve always found that whatever custom shape I make unravels itself as I sleep, waking me up.
It’s not perfect, but having thin pillows that are a bit worn/broken-in can make then less likely to spring back into their flat shape. The way you place them can also help… for example, rolling downward toward the mattress instead of up, rolling the bottom one and placing the top one across it to hold the roll in place, or placing two half-rolled pillows in a, uh, “69” orientation so the pillows keep each other’s roll in place with friction. Depending on how you sleep you also might be able to train yourself to shift position/roll over without lifting your head, but that’s more of a challenge.
Well, you definitely seem like an authority on the subject!
I don’t think I’ve stuck with this approach for more than a consecutive week or two, so perhaps I need to give them more time before they get comfortable.
Shredded latex is the answer, 100%. But only if you are able to remove (or add) the latex as needed. I found I needed about half of what the pillow came with. Maybe a third?
The result is a pillow that can do it all: prop up your head for reading in bed, become mostly neck support for back sleeping (with a bit of shaping; takes seconds but isn’t automatic,) and ditto for side sleeping but at a slightly higher height.
Once you get used to a pillow that holds its shape and provides excellent support, all other pillows feel archaic.