Pillow with improved head traction

A pillow comprising:

• a compressible and resilient body including a rear portion adapted to support a user's head and a front portion adapted to support the user's neck with the user's spine extending generally parallel to a longitudinal direction of the compressible and resilient body generally from the rear portion to the front portion thereof, the body having a generally planar bottom surface and a front edge;
• the body including raised ribs extending transversely across the body normal to the longitudinal direction and generally parallel with one another;
• and
• an extension portion extending longitudinally forward from the front edge of the body and having a transverse width substantially less than the width of the body, the extension portion having transversely extending raised ribs which are upwardly inclined relative to the bottom surface of the body in a direction away from the front edge of the body, whereby the extension portion is adapted to support the lower neck and central upper back region between the shoulder blades of a user, and the ribs on the extension portion are adapted to apply a traction force in said direction away from the front edge of the body.

A pillow for creating traction forces on a user's body, the pillow having a symmetrical configuration such that it can be used in either of two positions rotated 180 degrees relative to each other, the pillow comprising:

• a resilient and compressible body having a length extending in a longitudinal direction from a front edge toward a rear edge of the body and having a width extending in a transverse direction, the body having an upper surface for supporting the user's head and neck and an opposite bottom surface that is generally planar when the pillow is in use supported atop a planar surface, the body having a middle portion for supporting the user's head, a first neck-supporting portion disposed between the middle portion and the front edge of the body, and a second neck-supporting portion disposed between the middle portion and the rear edge of the body;
• the body having transversely extending ribs on both neck-supporting portions, the ribs on the first neck-supporting portion being inclined upwardly toward the rear edge of the body at an acute angle to the planar bottom surface of the body, the ribs on the second neck-supporting portion being inclined upwardly toward the front edge of the body at an acute angle to the planar bottom surface of the body, whereby the user can use the pillow either in a first position wherein the user's neck is supported by the first neck-supporting portion and the user's head is supported by the middle portion, or in a second position rotated 180 degrees from the first position wherein the user's neck is supported by the second neck-supporting portion and the user's head is supported by the middle portion, and in either position the weight of the user's neck on the ribs causes upper surfaces of the ribs to deflect with a generally horizontal component of deflection from the user's feet toward the user's head so as to exert traction forces on the user's spine.