Your bedroom is your hideaway…your sanctuary.
Everything inside of it should be comfortable and cozy if you want to guarantee a good night’s slumber.
How do you achieve this? Start with your mattress. The right mattress makes all the difference in the world with how you feel during and after sleep.
Think about it: no joint aches and no back pain. Sleeping deeply through the night. And most importantly, waking up refreshed and ready to tackle the day ahead. If this sounds like an unattainable wish, well, it’s not.
The Magic of Memory Foam
Viscoelastic foam (a term you will see throughout this article) is another way of saying memory foam. This foam has been around for 50+ years. NASA initially invented viscoelastic foam as a material that could be used for the comfort and safety of astronauts during launch. People ended up liking it so much that in 1991 Tempurpedic released its first-ever memory foam mattress. Now you can find this memory foam in seat cushions, pillows, and even shoes.
With that said, let’s look at what makes memory foam such an excellent mattress option and the types of health benefits it provides.
Body-hugging comfort
Memory foam is a highly resilient temperature-sensitive material that reacts to your body heat and weight. As you lie down on the viscoelastic, the foam will mold to your curves. It’s this body-conforming feature that sets memory foam apart from other mattress materials.
This body-conforming feature helps in supporting the alignment of your body as sleeping on a natural curve is better for your spine and promotes lumbar support.
Ideal for all sleeping positions
The resilient nature of memory foam can comfortably accommodate all kinds of sleeping positions. This is because the material adjusts and distributes body weight evenly.
If you’re a stomach sleeper, you’ll find that your spine is held in perfect alignment, and if you are a back and side sleeper, you’ll enjoy the same level of posture support.
Superior motion absorption
Limited motion transfer is another benefit of memory foam. The ability to absorb energy and lessen the effects of movement make memory foam an excellent choice for couples who are light sleepers. When one partner rolls over, the other doesn’t have to feel or hear a thing.
Less back and neck pain
Viscoelastic foam promotes a neutral spinal alignment, which allows you to sleep in a position that is comfortable and supportive. In the long-term, this helps reduce problems with chronic neck pain and back pain.
Hypoallergenic
If you or anyone in your household suffers from allergies, then you should definitely consider a memory foam mattress. Its dense structure is useful for lessening the number of allergens that can build up in your mattress. Dust and mold will not be able to find a way in
Great pressure relief
Mattresses that are too firm can result in painful knees, hips, back and shoulders. Because memory evenly disperses body weight across the sleep surface, this problem is eliminated.
Customized support
These mattresses let you sleep cooler at night, have a better airflow, and offer a range of customized support. You can choose from different foam comfort thicknesses as well as low density, medium density and high-density memory foam mattresses.
Different Types of Memory Foams
When buying a memory foam mattress, it’s important to note that there are different styles on the market. Memory foam typically comes in three types: traditional, open-cell and gel-infused. Each of these has its pros and cons, so if you want to get the best sleeping experience, make sure you know what type of foam you’re getting.
Traditional
Traditional memory foam provides a good sleep experience by molding your body. One of the negatives, however, is that it can retain body heat, which makes it uncomfortable to sleep in higher temperatures.
These two types of memory foam (see below) were created to resolve this issue.
Open Cell
Open-cell memory foam is your basic memory foam with a different internal structure. Open-cell memory allows for better movement of air inside the mattress. This will enable it to transfer the heat away from your body as you’re sleeping.
Gel
Gel memory foam is a mattress that has been pumped with gel. There are generally two different kinds:
The first kind is a material that just absorbs heat. Think of it as an ice pack you might keep in your freezer. The other type is called a phase-changing material. This material helps to regulate your temperature as you sleep by absorbing and releasing heat.
The Weight of Memory Foam Mattresses
Some memory foam mattresses are much lighter than others. Does this make a difference in how you will sleep?
Yes, it does!
For instance, if you have a larger body size, then a denser memory foam mattress may be better suited for you. This is because the added density of the weight will give you more support, and you will find yourself having a better night’s sleep.
A person with a smaller body type will want to use a softer memory foam mattress as they do not have as much need for weight distribution and will not be sinking far into the mattress.
Reflex Foam
If you think a memory foam may be out of your budget, but still would like the perks of it, reflex foam is a low-cost alternative.
Reflex Foam is a high-density version of polyurethane foam, which is the basis for memory foam. It’s made from pretty much the same materials as memory foam. However, it has a little bit of a different cell structure.
Rather than the hole’s memory foam uses to get its viscoelastic properties, reflex foam uses a bubble structure. These bubbles move to conform to your body, but they bounce back to their original form when the pressure is released.
Probably the most notable difference you’ll feel is that it’s going to be a little more firm, which is suitable for folks who don’t like the sinking feeling of memory foam. It also is resistant to dust mites!
Take Away
Buying a memory foam mattress might be the thing you need to guarantee a good night’s slumber. There are so many great benefits to switching to memory foam. The additional comfort is top-notch and the fact they tend to last longer than traditional mattresses is a big plus.
