Best pillows with a hole
A hole in a pillow removes pressure on the ear, and the pressure is usually there because the pillow is wrong.
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A pillow with a hole, sometimes called an ear pillow or CNH pillow, has a recess or opening where your ear sits when you lie on your side. The ear drops into the gap instead of being pressed flat.
People buy them for four reasons: ear pain from side sleeping, earrings or piercings, hearing aids, and ear conditions where pressure is uncomfortable.
For piercings and hearing aids the case is straightforward and mechanical. For general ear pain, it is worth checking something first.
A pillow at the wrong height presses your ear harder, because your head is either driven down into the surface or wedged up against it. Fixing the height removes the pressure at source, and it is free to test.
The picks
The pick, if you want one answer
Simba CustomFlex Pillow, 7.7 / 10. Set the height correctly first, because that is where most side-sleeping ear pain comes from.
| Product | Best for | From | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simba CustomFlex Pillow | Best first purchase | Mid range | 7.7 / 10 |
| Simba Hybrid Pillow | Best for holding the right height | Mid range | 7.9 / 10 |
| Origin Coolmax Latex Pillow | Best for long-term consistency | Mid range | 7.8 / 10 |
| Nanu | Best cheap way to experiment | Budget | 7.9 / 10 |
Simba CustomFlex Pillow: Best first purchase
Mid range · 7.7 / 10
Removable fill, adjusted after sleeping on it. Take fill out until your ear stops being pressed, which solves the problem for most people without needing a specialist shape.
Buy it if
Your ear hurts side sleeping and you have never measured your loft.
Do not buy it if
You have a healing piercing or wear hearing aids in bed.
Read the full Simba CustomFlex Pillow review
Simba Hybrid Pillow: Best for holding the right height
Mid range · 7.9 / 10
Scores 7.9, the highest on this site. Micro-springs hold height under load, and a pillow that sags overnight ends with your ear pressed into the mattress, which is a common cause of morning ear discomfort.
Buy it if
You know your height and want it held all night.
Do not buy it if
You need the recess specifically.
Read the full Simba Hybrid Pillow review
Origin Coolmax Latex Pillow: Best for long-term consistency
Mid range · 7.8 / 10
Scores 7.8. Latex resists compression set, so it holds its height rather than slowly losing it. A pillow quietly dropping two centimetres over two years is how ear pressure appears with no obvious trigger.
Buy it if
You want a set height that does not change over years.
Do not buy it if
You want to sink into the pillow.
Read the full Origin Coolmax Latex Pillow review
Nanu: Best cheap way to experiment
Budget · 7.9 / 10
Scores 7.9. Adjustable fill at a low price, which is the sensible way to find your number. Establish the height first and buy a shape second, not the other way round.
Buy it if
You want to test heights before spending on anything specialist.
Do not buy it if
You want the firmest support.
Check the height before buying a shape
Lie in the position you actually sleep in for ten minutes so the pillow settles, then have someone look at you from behind. Your neck should be a straight continuation of your spine.
| What you notice | Usually means |
|---|---|
| Ear sore, head feels driven into the pillow | Too firm, or too little give at the ear |
| Ear sore and neck aches at the back | Pillow too high |
| Ear sore and arm goes under the pillow | Pillow too low |
| Ear sore only on one side | Check the mattress on that side for a dip |
| Ear pain with discharge, hearing change or fever | See a GP rather than changing pillows |
The free experiment: fold a towel to different thicknesses and sleep on each for a few nights. It costs nothing and answers the question a specialist pillow is trying to answer with a shape.
Who the hole genuinely helps
New or healing piercings, particularly cartilage, which take months and are aggravated by nightly pressure. A recess is the direct answer, and a folded towel with a gap works as a stopgap.
Hearing aid wearers who keep them in at night, where the device is pressed into the canal.
Anyone advised by a clinician to keep pressure off an ear after surgery or during treatment. Take the specifics from them.
People with ear conditions where contact is painful, once a GP has looked at it.
For general soreness with no medical cause, the height fix usually does more and costs nothing.
What to look for if you buy one
The recess must line up with where your ear actually sits, which varies with shoulder width and how far up the pillow you lie. A hole in the wrong place is worse than no hole, because the edge of it presses instead.
Firm enough that the recess stays open. Soft fill collapses into the gap under head weight, which removes the only feature you bought.
Check the overall height still suits you. Specialist shapes are frequently made at one loft, and a correct hole at the wrong height solves nothing.
A removable washable cover, because a pillow bought for a healing piercing needs to be clean.
Cheaper things to try first
A folded towel with a gap left in the middle, which tests the whole idea for nothing.
A softer pillowcase. Polyester is slick and holds moisture; cotton percale or lyocell is kinder against a sore ear.
Alternating sides, which gives one ear a night off.
Checking the mattress. Hip or shoulder pain side sleeping means the mattress is too firm, and a mattress that will not let your shoulder sink pushes your head harder into the pillow, which presses the ear too.
What not to do
Buy a shape before establishing your height. Adjustable first, fixed second.
Buy a soft one. The recess collapses under head weight.
Ignore ear pain with discharge, hearing change or fever. That is a GP matter.
Assume the hole lines up. Position varies with shoulder width.
Keep using a pillow that fails the fold test. Fold it and let go; if it stays folded it has lost its height.
Also considered, and why they are not here
A roundup is only as useful as what it leaves out, so here is what was assessed and rejected for this list.
| Product | Why it is not on the list |
|---|---|
| Simba Hybrid Firm | Scores 7.4. For broad-shouldered side sleepers, where the pillow has to hold height under load and ear pressure is worst. |
| Aeyla Dual Pillow | Two firmness options in one pillow, which is another route to finding what your side sleeping actually needs. |
| Aeyla Bamboo Pillowcase | Scores 7.6. The cheapest change that makes a difference against a sore ear, since the case is what you are actually lying on. |
| Derila | Scores 4.8, the lowest on this site. A small fixed-loft foam pillow sold through urgency mechanics rather than specification. |
How this list is made, and who made it
Independence
No brand pays to appear on this site and no placement is sold. Some links earn a commission if you buy, which never changes a score, an order or a verdict. Several of the lowest scores here are on products that carry commission, and several recommendations carry none.
Who writes this. Kyle Klinkradt has worked in the mattress and bedding industry for over ten years across retail, distribution and brand partnerships, and has handled, sold or assessed products from every major UK bed-in-a-box brand. Every review on this site is written by one person, so the scores mean the same thing from page to page.
What the assessment is. Construction specifications against what they physically do: spring height and where in the mattress it sits, spring count for the size, gauge, whether the base is sprung or foam, foam density where it is published, comfort layer depth and material. Then the commercial terms that decide what you are actually buying: trial against returns policy, guarantee length against the company's UK trading history at Companies House, and the regulatory record.
What it is not. This is not a laboratory. I do not publish pressure-mapping data or claim to have slept eight years on every mattress here, because nobody has and pages that imply otherwise are not telling you the truth. Where a judgement rests on construction rather than long-term use, the review says so.
What gets a product removed. Leaving the UK market, a specification change that makes the review inaccurate, or a corrected fact. Brands that have withdrawn are kept on the site with the score removed rather than quietly deleted, because people still search for them.
See editorial independence, corrections and the author page.
How these were chosen
Every product here has its own review on this site with a score out of 10, and the score is a judgement rather than an average. Nothing appears in a list because it pays more.
A score is against the market, not against its own range. The cheapest mattress in a lineup is usually priced to make the model above it look reasonable, and the flagship of a budget range has risen into a bracket where better brands compete. Both are judged against what else you could buy for the money.
Everything listed can actually be bought in the UK. That is not a given: Casper withdrew in July 2020 and Leesa no longer sells here, and both still appear in current British roundups with affiliate links attached.
I do not pad the list. Where only three or four products genuinely qualify, there are three or four. A list of seven when the category contains four good ones is a list with three bad recommendations in it.
Prices move constantly. Judge the cash price on the day rather than any percentage beside it. See every review on this site or where the real savings are.
Questions people ask
Does a pillow with a hole help ear pain?
For piercings, hearing aids and clinically advised pressure relief, yes, directly. For general side-sleeping ear soreness, the cause is frequently a pillow at the wrong height, which presses the ear harder, and that is free to fix.
How do I know if my pillow height is wrong?
Lie in your sleeping position for ten minutes and have someone look from behind: your neck should be a straight continuation of your spine. An arm going under the pillow means too low, and ache at the back of the neck means too high.
What should I look for in an ear pillow?
A recess that lines up with where your ear actually sits, firm enough fill that the recess stays open under head weight, an overall height that suits you, and a removable washable cover.
When is ear pain not a pillow problem?
If there is discharge, a change in hearing, dizziness or fever, that needs a GP rather than a new pillow. Pain on one side only is also worth checking against a dip in the mattress on that side.