Friday, May 4, 2007

Memory Foam Mattress And Pain relief



If you suffer from chronic pain in your joints, back, lower back or neck etc. then you will know what it's like to never be able to sit down or go to bed without being in severe discomfort most of the time. It seems that what should be the most comfortable furniture in the house has suddenly become instruments of torture.



A possible solution for some people with chronic pain from Pagets disease or arthritis or other debilitating conditions is to use furniture made from memory foam. Memory foam mattresses are known to help you sleep by making the bed more comfortable and it is being used more and more in luxury hotels and even cinemas to make the experience more enjoyable.



How does memory foam help to relieve pain?



Memory foam becomes softer as the temperature rises and because it's an insulating material it is possible to increase the temperature of the foam in localised areas. When you lie on a sheet of memory foam some parts of your body will press into the foam more than others. On a conventional mattress this would cause pressure spots where your body presses into the material, which can then cause pain or pressure sores. When you lie on a memory foam mattress the foam will be heated by your body in places where it presses into the foam the most. This causes the foam to soften in those areas and allows your body to sink into it at that point. After a while the memory foam will mould itself to your body giving you all over support for every part of your body.



When all of your body is fully supported by the soft warm foam the pressure on every part of your body in contact with it is equal. Because there are no longer any single points of contact to cause pressure hot spots, all of your body will feel more comfortable. It's this removal of pressure points by distributing the pressure over all of your body that gives you relief from pain.



Why was memory foam developed in the first place?



Memory foam was originally developed for NASA for use in the space program. It was to be used as padding for the astronaut's seats as a means to relieve some of the discomfort experienced from high acceleration or 'G' forces. I'm not quite sure how this was expected to work in that situation however because the astronauts would be wearing space suits at the time which would insulate them from the foam in the seats. No heat no softening of the memory foam.



Memory foam also gives off small amounts of toxic gasses when it's new which has been the popular reason given for why NASA never actually used it in their space craft. In space there is nowhere for the gas to go.



Experiment to find the best solution for you



Memory foam mattresses are still expensive products, especially good quality ones, so it pays to try out some alternatives before changing your mattress. Memory foam pillows and toppers can easily be found and they can make a significant difference if you are having trouble sleeping. There are also cheaper materials like high-density polyurethane foam and latex foam that are also very good and might suit your pocket better.



I've recently experienced some lower back pain problems, which were astonishingly uncomfortable. My lovely comfortable soft furnishings turned into a torture chamber because I couldn't get comfortable on them no matter how hard I tried. A few memory foam cushions might help you out if you have similar problems.



Free information about memory foam mattresses and other products www.thememoryfoammattress.com Memory Foam Mattress substitute helps with chronic pain







1 comment:

bruce said...

I have had my mattress now for a couple of months and I absolutely love it. I was a little apprehensive after reading stories about people who said that the memory foam mattresses made them feel too hot, but after being convinced the materials had been changed recently I went ahead and bought. As a person who suffers from a aching back due to my old job, the new mattress has definitley helped ease the pain.