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• Stomach sleepers should look for a thin pillow so that it doesn’t push the neck up too high. You want your spine and neck to stay in as neutral an angle as possible, thereby relieving stress to both, says Joel Press, MD, the physiatrist-in-chief at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

• If you’re a back sleeper, you may need a flatter pillow than what a side sleeper needs. Stomach sleepers should look for a thin pillow so that it doesn’t push the neck up too high.

• Many pillows may look about the same, but they differ widely in how supportive they are. A great pillow for someone who sleeps on their back may be a terrible one for someone who sleeps on their side. And if your pillow fails to give your head and neck the proper support, it can cause restlessness and strain, making for a poor night’s sleep.

If you’re a multiposition sleeper, the best pillow for you might have softer and firmer sections, or one that’s lower in the center (for back sleeping) and higher on the sides (for side sleeping). Buckwheat hulls and pillows made of multiple materials fit this bill. For more on what’s inside your pillow, read, “ Which Pillow Fill Is Right for You?

Consumer Reports regularly adds models to our pillow ratings, with a recent update adding pillows from Amazon, Avocado, Serta, Sleep Number, and other brands.

If you’re a back sleeper, you may need a flatter pillow than what a side sleeper needs. Stomach sleepers should look for a thin pillow so that it doesn’t push the neck up too high.

Start your search by matching the pillow to your dominant sleep position: side, back, stomach, or combination. That’s the position you settle into and is likely to be your favorite, according to Rebecca Robbins, Ph.D., a fellow at the New York University School of Medicine and co-author of “Sleep for Success!” (AuthorHouse, 2010).