"I do take my pillow with me." You may have seen those people at the airport - a pillow stuffed under an arm as they drag their suitcases to check-in. Or you might be one yourself - attached to a pillow that's soft enough to settle into but robust enough that it's not bunched into a ball by morning. McCarthy insists he's not being fussy.
He's a top physiotherapist and knows the wrong pillow can be a pain in the neck. He doesn't take his abroad, but as soon as he gets to his hotel he starts "faffing about" with the pillows - and he's got a tried and tested trick to make even the most lacklustre one fit for sleep. Here's his guide to choosing the perfect pillow for you.
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McCarthy, an associate professor at the Manchester School of Physiotherapy, says the right pillow will depend on what position you sleep in. He tells the BBC's Sliced Bread podcast that most people fall into one of three categories of sleeper: side, back or front. McCarthy discourages front sleeping as your neck is turned one way for a long period of time.
"Inevitably a muscle or ligament gets stretched and a bit irritated," he says. "If there's one thing there's a really good consensus on... in the physiotherapy world about treating spinal pain, it's don't sleep on your front." When choosing a pillow, back sleepers should consider the flexion at the top of their spine, a curving that increases naturally in many people as they age. If you have a bigger bend "it means you need a slightly thicker pillow than someone who's got a very flat back," says McCarthy.
For side sleepers the key measurement is the width of your shoulders. In general, the broader you are the thicker the pillow you will need. But you also need to consider your mattress.
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