How one sleeps defines the rest of that person’s day. Not only that, but sleeping in wrong positions can invariably damage more than just your posture in the long run. In today’s cut-throat world, sleep is one aspect of most people’s lives that is left compromised to compensate for other priorities.
It is true that a person needs 8 hours of sleep, but just that won’t be enough. An individual needs 8 hours of undisturbed sleep, and the position of sleeping plays a vital role. Sleeping in an incorrect pose might do any amount of damage- from leaving you moody, numb or sore all over to long term damage that includes the most common problem people face today, back pains and joint or muscle aches.
Keeping this in mind, looking at your mattress can be helpful. The kind of mattress you sleep on will determine the quality or comfort of your sleep. Sleeping on the floor is the healthiest habit, but in most cases, the floor can get cold, extremely hard and is not for everyone. This is why looking into a memory foam mattress can add a lot of soundness to your sleep.
What is a Memory Foam Mattress?
Everyone has heard of the memory mattress from some source or the other. But what exactly is it, and how will this mattress improve your sleep? Memory foam was created by NASA eventually for aircraft, and slowly seeped into the normal world. For the longest time, the material was too expensive to have as a mattress, but it made its way into homes through pillows and cushions.
Memory foam is mostly made from something called polyurethane foam, a material made from combining water and hydrocarbons to a polyurethane mix. Currently, the process of making memory foam involves a polyol being mixed in with a diisocyanate and water, making the foam rise like bread dough, with pores or cells to allow absorption of air. This gives it a unique ability to accommodate your body shape and sleeping position, and spring back up after you have gotten off the bed.
The three most common types are the traditional memory foam, which is made through the regular process and uses petroleum products; Plant-based memory foam, made out of coconut springs or other plant-based materials. This is a more environmentally friendly option and there are gel-based memory foam mattresses, which are just the traditional one that has been added with a gel base to keep you cool at all times, preferred by people who feel warm very quickly. There are many additions to spruce up a basic memory foam mattress too, like memory spring foam.
There are multiple aspects that make memory mattresses superior in quality and convenience.
- Firmness: Most mattresses are either soft or firm. This can be a problem, as soft mattresses can be bad for your spine and hard ones can be uncomfortable. Memory foam mattresses are medium-firm, thereby supporting your body and securing better sleep.
- Temperature: A regular spring mattress retains heat. Gel mattresses could cool up excessively. This reason makes it harder to sleep on these mattresses during summer or winter, respectively. The memory foam, on the other hand, maintains body temperature at all times, keeping you cozy and feeling light, no matter what the weather outside may be.
- Spine alignment and pain relief: Memory foams are made in such a way to not only support your body while you sleep but also align your spine; irrelevant of your sleeping pose, which other mattresses can’t achieve. They do not support the curves and unevenness of your body and bones, unlike memory foam, which changes shape to align your spine and neck. They also work wonders for people suffering back, hip, muscle or neck pain, as it evenly distributes your body weight throughout, while other mattresses leave you applying excessive weight on your torso, neck, and lower back.
- Pressure alleviation: Memory foam does not apply upward or direct pressure onto the sleeper, and instead sinks in with the sleeper to release pressure from your body and avoid adding any more, unlike conventional mattresses.
- Maintenance and Durability: Most mattresses are high maintenance and aren’t highly durable. Spring mattresses, for example, need constant rotation- the springs can wear off and sag, the springs could break off and so on, thereby leaving you needing a new mattress more often. Memory foam provides you with an almost zero maintenance option, which is highly durable, offers comfort and lasts for at least 8-10 years. While this may seem like a more expensive option, maintenance and replacement costs for other mattresses may run your money out of your wallet very quickly.
- Allergies: Memory foam mattresses are made from inorganic substances. Thereby, dust mites, pet fur or molds cannot thrive on this surface. This is why people with allergies can sleep a full night’s sleep without worrying about their condition acting up.
- Posture: If you feel like your posture is sagging and you spend too much time sitting, you might consider memory foam, as you are already aware of its ability to set your spine in the correct position.
- Sleeping Positions: The most convenient feature of memory foam is that unlike other mattresses, this one provides all benefits to every individual, no matter how bizarre your sleeping pose is or how many times a night you move around. This can usually disrupt your sleep, but with the memory foam, you never have to worry.
With all the advantages in mind, you have to look into a few aspects of the mattress itself, like a comfortable size to fit in your room, the thickness of your preference, the type of memory foam mattress you want and if you want to add layers to make it more preferable.
Memory foam mattresses are rapidly gaining relevance in more and more homes owing to their multiple benefits. The best part is, with memory foam, all you have to worry about is going to bed on time every day, while the rest is taken care of by the mattress to ensure you a cozy and fulfilling sleep.
