The Tinnitus Relief Pillow
A pillow with an ear hole, so your ear rests in open space instead of being pressed into the bed — comfortable side-sleeping for tinnitus sufferers who find pressure on the ear makes things worse.
- Made in England
- 12+ years
- Try risk-free
The pillow we’d point you to
- Everyday
The Original P.W.A.H® (V1)
Our best-selling ear pillow, a dependable everyday all-rounder.
Price range: £35.00 through £80.00Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
What is “tinnitus”?
The word “tinnitus”, like many words in the English language, derives from a latin root. In this case it comes from the word for “ringing”.
Anyone who has experienced tinnitus will know why, for tinnitus is the hearing of sounds that don’t emanate from an external source. Such sounds are most frequently perceived as a buzzing, ringing or hissing.
Tinnitus varies in pitch and volume from person to person and can be intermittent or constant. Indeed, your author has a ceaseless low hum in his right ear. It could be worse, and often is.
Tinnitus is not a disease in itself; it is a symptom and it is usually caused by an underlying condition. As for myself, I have what I consider to be clogged “eustachian tubes” (thank you, genetics), and after a head-cold, a long flight and the over -pressurization of my ears – well, there we have it.
What does tinnitus sound like?
Tinnitus is most commonly described as a ringing in the ears, but it varies massively from person to person.
Some people have a low hum, others a high pitches squeal. Sometimes in both ears, sometimes in one. It may be a constant sound or an intermittent amalgam of many. Sometimes the tinnitus is drowned out by ambient noise, sometimes it cuts through even the most enveloping of white noise. It can sometimes be ignored. It can sometimes drive people insane.
It can even be perceived as a familiar song. This is known as musical tinnitus.
Quite frequently a person’s tinnitus can pulse in time with their heartbeat. This is known as pulsatile tinnitus — where pressure on the ear at night can be especially uncomfortable, which is exactly what the hole is there to relieve.
Who gets tinnitus?
What are the risk factors of tinnitus?
There are a number of occupations or lifestyle choices that carry an increased risk of tinnitus, and they are all noise related.
These include being routinely exposed to loud music, whether at a concert or on your headphones, exposure to loud machinery or exposure to loud bangs. All of these affect the delicate workings of the ear and can eventually lead to tinnitus symptoms. There is a clear cause and effect there and steps can and absolutely should be taken to mitigate these known risks.
Yet beyond that there are many, many more causes of tinnitus which are not clearly understood, and they are very difficult to control for. Such factors can include high blood pressure, stress TMJ, neck pain, jaw pain, blocked eustachian tubes (hello), the list goes on and on. Mine started on an airplane, yours might have started during a particularly stressful meeting as my uncle’s did.
It is often not known what caused it and it is not known entirely how to cure it.
So what can be done about it?
The Original Pillow with a Hole - The Tinnitus Relief Pillow
There are several treatments for tinnitus currently being developed. Some of the most promising attempt to re-train the brain to filter out the disruptive frequencies. We would encourage everyone to seek treatment from an ENT specialist as their first port of call in order to find out what treatment is right for them.
What a pillow can do is take pressure off the ear. The Original Pillow with a Hole is, first and foremost, a pressure-relief pillow: its open centre means your ear rests in clear space instead of being pressed into the mattress when you sleep on your side. For tinnitus sufferers who find that pressure on the ear at night makes them uncomfortable — especially with pulsatile tinnitus, where the ear can feel most sensitive lying down — taking that pressure away can make side-sleeping far more comfortable.
We have been making this tinnitus pillow here in England for over twelve years, and it is very effective at relieving pressure from the ear. If your nights are worse when your ear is pressed into the pillow, this is exactly the discomfort the hole is designed to remove.
A simple test: does putting your ear on your pillow make things worse? If pressure on the ear is part of what disturbs your sleep, then taking that pressure off — which is all the hole does — is likely to make you more comfortable at night. It won’t treat the tinnitus itself, but it gives your ear somewhere to rest.
pressure on your ear when you lie on it — the whole point of the hole.
Which pillow should I choose for tinnitus?
If your tinnitus has a pulsatile component, or simply gets louder the moment your ear presses into the pillow, the goal is the same: take all contact off the ear. The PWAH V2 is our flagship and the most comfortable way to do that — it works standalone, with the plushest feel in our range. The Original V1 does the same job sitting on top of the pillow you already use, and the Travel PWAH means a flare-up away from home doesn’t cost you a night’s sleep.
Every pillow has a YKK® zip, so you can adjust the filling until the height is exactly right — useful if you’re also managing neck tension, which many people with tinnitus know all too well.
Falling asleep to sound?
Many people with tinnitus sleep with maskers, white-noise earbuds or a hearing aid still in. The hole serves double duty here: nothing presses the device into your ear canal, and nothing dislodges it as you turn over. If that’s you, our guide to sleeping with earplugs and headphones goes into more detail.
Not sure which pillow is right for you?
Find Your Pillow →- Everyday
The Original P.W.A.H® (V1)
Our best-selling ear pillow, a dependable everyday all-rounder.
Price range: £35.00 through £80.00Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page - Nightly use
The Original P.W.A.H® V2
A refined, quilted PWAH for comfortable nightly use.
Price range: £65.00 through £115.00Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page - Travel
The Original Travel P.W.A.H®
A compact, travel-ready PWAH for comfort anywhere.
Price range: £60.00 through £70.00Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
See the range in action
These are not cheap textiles, and you wouldn’t want them to be.
It’s expensive to make things this well. Well sourced materials with nothing hidden in them, made by people paid a proper wage, sewn from scratch here in Liverpool. Look at what else is out there: the rest of the market is made overseas, down to a price. We went the other way and chose quality over price. That’s why nobody else makes them like this.
- Made in Liverpool, England
- Premium YKK® zips
- OEKO-TEX® organic cotton
- Yorkshire coil fibre, spun since the 1950s
- Fairly paid team
Tinnitus pillow questions, answered
Machine washable and tumble-dryable — wash at 30°C and tumble dry. Pop a tennis ball in the dryer with it to redistribute the filling and keep it plump. Full guidance is on our Care Instructions page.
Yes — that’s one of the main advantages of the pillow. Open the YKK® zip and add or remove filling until the height and firmness suit you: take some out for a lower, softer feel, or add more for firmer support. It’s worth experimenting over a few nights to find what works for your shoulder and sleeping position. There’s a short video showing how on our Care Instructions page.
The Original V1 works best placed on top of your usual pillow, so you keep the height and neck support you’re used to while gaining the ear relief. The V2 is designed as a standalone pillow, though it can also sit on top of a regular one if you prefer more loft.
It’s a comfort aid, not a treatment. If pressure on your ear at night makes you uncomfortable, the hole takes that pressure off so you can sleep on your side — many tinnitus sufferers find that helps them rest. For the tinnitus itself, an ENT specialist is the right first port of call.
People with pulsatile tinnitus often say pressure on the ear is worst lying down. The open centre keeps the ear clear of the pillow, which many find more comfortable at night. It doesn’t treat the underlying cause — see your doctor for that.
Yes — the hole holds your ear and whatever’s in it clear of the pillow, so a masker, earbud or hearing aid isn’t pressed in or dislodged as you turn over.
The Original P.W.A.H® comes with a refund guarantee.
If you are not satisfied, return it to us within 14 days of receipt, in any condition, and we will refund you.
(But we’re sure you’ll love it)