The angle of the pillow gets legs up and off the couch or bed to help reduce swelling, which helps reduce pain, too, as Christopher Neville, PT, PhD, associate professor in the department of physical therapy education at SUNY Upstate Medical University, previously told Real Simple. He said that elevating the legs (or any swollen body part) helps move your blood up and out of the affected area and back to your heart—a critical step to reduce swelling. To buy: $40 (was $60); amazon.com. Ebung says that its pillow can help with aches in the lower back because the elevation assists with spinal alignment; it can alleviate pain in the hips, knees, legs, ankles and feet, too. But one of the best things about this pillow is that it’s currently on sale for 33 percent off. Happy shoppers can’t get enough of it. One reviewer with a painful condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves said that this leg elevation pillow was the “solution to my back pain.” “I have spinal stenosis and suffered from searing pain in my hip and down to my thigh that interferes with sleep and had me waking up every morning in great pain,” the shopper wrote, adding, “I learned in yoga that elevating the legs was the healthiest position in which to rest, so I selected this leg elevation pillow… It has been the solution to my pain. From the first night I used it, I have had no pain and can now sleep through the night and wake up pain-free. I wouldn’t think of going to bed without it!” Another shopper, who purchased this pillow after having hip-replacement surgery, said they were stacking regular bed pillows under their legs to try and ease their pain while recovering but that it did little to help. After buying this elevation pillow, however, the shopper wrote they “felt the deep relief in my knees, hips, and lower back.” Their only regret? Waiting so long to get it. “It is such a blessed relief!”
