
Facel
A loan of $15,000 helps a 2x Kiva borrower patent a device for people who suffer from sleep apnea and neck pain.

Facel's story
For over 10 years, I have been suffering from chronic neck pain. The pain was so strong that I had to use a wheelchair. One night, I was in so much pain that I wasn’t able to sleep. I had a painful insomnia episode. That night, I imagined a pillow that would allow me to rest better. The next morning, I made a raw sketch of the pillows by identifying the source of my pain.
Hence, the Cervical Orthopedic pillow and the cylinder orthopedic pillow with leg spacer were born in my mind. I conducted a prior art study and noticed that the ornamentation of the pillows was not in the market. As soon as the designs were perfected, I submitted the patent applications. Once the patents were granted by the USPTO, I created the product.
Once I started using it, I noticed that the prototypes were so effective that I realized that I had to share the products with other people who were suffering the same kind of problems to spread sleep hygiene.
An experimental phase was conducted by physicians who found the medical benefits of the pillows. According to this group of doctors, these pillows are useful to enhance the sleep quality of people with chronic upper and lower extremities pains, sleep apnea, post surgery recovery, and to avoid ulcers due to pressure.