--- title: "How we research ยท The Side Sleeper" url: https://thesidesleeper.com/how-we-research/ published: 2026-10-05 updated: 2026-10-09 --- About # How we research Every number on this site comes from a source you can check, and says how sure it is. ## What this site does, and doesn't - **Paper research, not lab testing.** The specs come from what sellers and manufacturers publish. Nothing has been measured by hand, slept on for a review, or sent to us free. - **Counting, not scoring.** There are no "best" picks or star scores of our own. The comparison lays out what each listing says, and the guides explain what to look for. - **No paid links.** Product links are plain links, and the site earns nothing from them. If that ever changes, every page with such links will say so at the top. ## Which pillows are in The comparison covers 25 knee and leg pillows, collected on October 5, 2026: - the between-the-knees pillows in Amazon US's best-seller list for leg positioner pillows, ranks 1 to 77; - one from Amazon US's specialty medical pillow list; - two brands that sell direct from their own sites, Cushion Lab and Brooklyn Bedding; - one body pillow, as a benchmark. It's left out of every knee-pillow count. Elevation wedges, under-knee bolsters and covers are left out, because they do a different job. Specs come from the listing text and, where the brand publishes them, the manufacturer's own product page. Each listing is fetched once per collection, and the extracted listing text is kept so every value can be traced back. ## How each number is labelled - **stated**: the listing gives it, clearly. - **worked out**: calculated from stated numbers, with the working shown. - **unclear**: several numbers are given and it's impossible to tell which one is meant. - **contradicts itself**: the listing gives two different values. - **not given**: not in the text, often only in the photos. Only "stated" and "worked out" numbers go into a calculation or a chart. Thickness is the listed outer height; contoured shapes hold your knees a little closer than that. Marketing words such as "high-density" or "won't flatten" are recorded as the maker's claim, never as a spec, and quoted phrases on the site are the makers' own words, not tested claims. ## Health information The guides stay on fit and everyday use. Where a page touches on pain or a condition, it links to medical sources such as the NHS and NCBI rather than making its own claims, and it says when to see a doctor or physiotherapist. Nothing here is medical advice. ## Who writes it The guides are written under the pen name Nell, the Side Sleeper: a side sleeper writing for other side sleepers. Nell has no medical credentials and doesn't claim to have tested the pillows, which is why every number and every health statement points to its source instead. ## Freshness and corrections - The data is collected again about once a month. Prices, ratings and ranks change daily, so they always carry the date they were collected. - Every guide shows two dates: when the page last changed, and when the data on it was collected. - Every number lives in one data file. When a listing changes or a mistake turns up, the file is fixed and every page that uses that number updates with it. - Corrections that change a conclusion are listed here. None so far. ## Use the data The full comparison is free to reuse under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): credit "The Side Sleeper" and link to [the comparison](https://thesidesleeper.com/knee-pillows/compared/). Download it as [CSV](https://thesidesleeper.com/data/knee-pillows.csv) or [JSON](https://thesidesleeper.com/data/knee-pillows.json), or read the headline counts in [knee pillow listings, by the numbers](https://thesidesleeper.com/knee-pillows/findings/).