Luxury spa stuff? No… What until a few years ago fell within the range of goodies offered by a few wellness centres, today is almost within everyone’s reach: we are talking about cushions with natural padding: cherry stones, chaff, salt, herbs, seeds, flowers and many other green ingredients.
To breathe better at night or to relieve a bad cold, the ideal seems to be a pillow stuffed with mountain herbs or hay and alpine flowers, whose benefits are activated thanks to the heat of the body: it is suitable for a relaxing rest. aromatherapy but not for continuous use, because the padding is perishable and subject to bacterial alterations.
Rice husk helps relaxation, spelled husk aids sleep. It also boasts a unique feature of its kind: it maintains heat in winter and coolness in summer. Finally, placed under the legs, it is recommended to improve circulation or to cool down.
Neck and cervical pain also have an ally in millet chaff, which at the same time fights back pain, or for those suffering from rheumatism: their benefits are activated with heat. Experts inform that millet and spelled contain important percentages of silicic acid: thanks to the heat of the head, this would be absorbed by the scalp with an anti-inflammatory action.
And buckwheat husk? Relieves neck pain: cushions filled with this material do not flatten, allowing the head and neck to maintain a correct position. Furthermore – like rice husks – they remain cool in summer (they are therefore perfect for those who sweat a lot at night) and warm in winter.
An evergreen of natural remedies is padding with cherry stones: they are used to fill the cushions (instead of actual pillows) and are indicated (hot or cooled in the freezer as if they were an ice pack) to release tension from cervical or to relieve minor pain in the joints (the wrists, for example).
Another traditional ingredient of pillows (and beds) is pine wood, which even has its side in a study conducted by the Austrian institute of Weiz «Human Research»: antibacterial and balsamic thanks to the essences it releases (ideal for those suffering from ailments of the respiratory tract), relaxing, has an infinite number of properties, including that of normalizing the physiological rhythm of sleep, improving its quality. Super for healing pads (or bags) (to dissolve muscle tension) is hot salt (provided it is top quality and whole).
Returning to pillows, and still remaining in the “salt” universe, for those who suffer from joint or back pain there is the pink Himalayan salt pillow, which must be heated to around 20°C (you can do this by placing it in the oven already hot). In addition to reducing pain, it absorbs moisture. Hops, or rather their flowers, are sedative and relaxing: pillows with this filling are perfect for aiding sleep. To relieve neck pain, muscle contractures, headaches, menstrual pain and rheumatism, there is also the pillow with hemp seeds.
Finally, two novelties from the cushion universe are Kapok and shungite. The first is a fiber similar to cotton (light, it is rich in lignin and cellulose and is an ace anti-humidity); while the second derives from a mineral composed mainly of carbon. Recommended for absorbing the personal electric field, to recharge energy and to help the immune defenses, however it is a stony material and therefore is not comfortable: not suitable for the night but at most for a regenerating nap, it should be inserted in the center of a bigger pillow.
Apart from the padding, pillowcases also have their “why”: silk is breathable and excellent for not waking up with frizzy and tangled hair. The skin would also benefit. «The credit goes to the texture of the silk, which is less “traumatic” than raw cotton – confirms Beatrice De Felici, dermatology specialist at the Maggiore hospital – When you wake up, the face has fewer sleep wrinkles, fewer pillow creases. Furthermore, being a more breathable material, the bacterial content in contact with the skin is reduced.” Finally, silk is also thermoregulating, a virtue it shares with linen (also breathable): a significant detail now that we are in sight of summer.
Beatrice De Felici
Specialist doctor in the Dermatology department of the Maggiore hospital
Tags: green padding silk pillowcases
