Memory Foam Health Benefits

We all know how refreshing a good nights sleep can feel, and indeed how tiring and grumpy one can feel after a bad nights sleep. This is what memory foam is designed to help you achieve, the perfects night sleep. Whilst a memory foam mattress or bed won’t cure your ailments, in most cases it can certainly help to provide relief from them due to its fantastic properties of being both heat and weight sensitive. These properties allow the memory foam to adjust and contour to your body’s unique individual shape, some people would even say its almost like being cuddled whilst asleep. I’m not sure if I’d go that far myself, however my own experience with memory foam mattress has certainly improved the overall quality of my sleeping experience.

So why exactly is a good nights sleep important you may ask? Well, the benefits both proven and unproven are far too many to list here. However there are a few that are of significant benefit to most of us, for example getting a good nights sleep can help your heart strength, when sleeping for the recommended 7-9 hours sleep per night suggested by medical experts. Those that sleep for less than the recommended 7 hours often have a higher rate of obesity and stress than those that sleep for the recommended amount of time. Further, stress can often be a cause of lost sleep and this can spiral out of control as the lack of sleep releases more stress hormones, increasing the level of stress in the body and causing problems with sleep.

My own experience with memory foam is that i used to suffer from terrible shoulder and lower neck pain, often waking up in the morning with poor mobility when moving my neck and shoulder. However since purchasing my own memory foam mattress I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of life its returned to me, now when i go to sleep I’m able to rest with my neck and spine in a more natural alignment. This natural alignment is much healthier to the body, not just for sleeping but in general too. As instead of sleeping with your neck and spine twisted and strained into any number of unnatural positions, the memory foam cushions and supports your body evenly in its natural sleep position, relieving tension and pressure points that are often the cause of such aches and pains.

Originally developed by NASA, memory foam found its first commercial use in the medical sector, where it was widely adopted in the care of those who are incapacitated for long periods of time or need to use a wheelchair. The primary usefulness in this situation is that it can provide the cushioning and support of a firm mattress, but with the additional properties of being able to mould itself to the body’s shape. This greatly improves blood flow and circulation in long term patients, helping to prevent pressure sores and other medical problems associated with poor blood flow. As well as improving blood flow, the soft yet firm support offered by a memory foam mattress relieves pressure on your body where it meets the mattress. Commonly known as pressure points and often situated at the hips, shoulder, knees and neck, these pressure points are a main cause of tossing and turning during the night, as the body shifts to relieve pressure on it. The support offered by memory foam products means your body no longer has to shift during your nights sleep, offering a much more comfortable and rested experience.

Now, onto the creepy. Dust mites are virtually harmless to the vast majority of people, indeed most traditional spring mattresses have upwards of 10,000 such dust mites living in them at any one time. However for those that suffer from allergy’s and asthma, dust mites can be a severe problem. The good news is that a quality memory foam mattress or bed will help prevent the build up of these dust mites, this is mainly down to the fact that such dust mites mostly feed off organic material, such as cotton bedding fibres or dead skin. In a memory foam mattress, the visco elastic material denies the dust mite of the food it would normally have in a cotton sprung mattress, thus helping to lower the number of mites which in turn can provide great relief for allergy and in particular asthma sufferers. In addition, most memory mattresses are allergy free and hypoallergenic however we suggest checking your chosen mattress to ensure this, as some cheaper ones may not offer the full protection.

There is certainly a lot to take in with regards to the health benefits of a memory foam mattress however the most important thing to do is ensure that the product is right for you and your individual needs. Remember, you can’t put a price on good health!