What is Memory Foam?
Originally a 1966 innovation for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), memory foam, also known as visco-elastic foam, is a material intended for airplane seats to lessen the intensity and pressure of gravity in take-offs and landings.
The discovery of its features and benefits quickly penetrated the medical field as it provides a comfortable and sensitive material for patients in intensive care units and wheelchairs.
In the 1990s, the material was sold to a public company that would later change the game in the mattress and sleeping department. However, its production in its introductory phase was quite expensive. Because of its commercialization, new ways of making it more inexpensive have been achieved throughout the years.
Memory foams’ ability to conform to the body’s contours stood out in every industry it entered. It was the type of mattress that became revolutionary. And a high-quality memory foam mattress today is still a game-changer for many because of its wide array of benefits.
Why Choose a Memory Foam Mattress?
1. Memory Foam Provides Pressure Relief
When you are sleeping in your bed, forces act upon your body, such as the downward pull of gravity and the upward pressure coming from your mattress.
Using a traditional innerspring mattress creates painful pressure points where your body and your mattress come in contact with the hips, shoulders, and heels. Because the pressure in your body sleeping on a regular spring mattress is concentrated on specific areas, other critical areas of the body lack support, causing body aches, lower back pain, and even muscle tension.
Memory foam has a temperature sensitivity feature that aids in pain relief because areas in pain are slightly hotter than the rest of our body. These small differences soften the foam, enabling it to be more gentle in those areas of pain. Its pressure point relief feature helps to give you better sleep.
However, traditional memory foam mattresses absorb and retain heat from body temperature, which could be useful during winter. To ensure you continue getting a good night’s sleep even in warm weather, look for a memory foam mattress with a cooling feature and good airflow.
An example of how pressure points are relieved on a side sleeper
2. Memory Foam is Good for the Back
With a memory foam mattress, its ability to adjust accordingly to your body lessens the upward pressure from the body by up to 50%. A quality memory foam mattress supports the body evenly, helping with spinal alignment.
The sleeper benefits from this in the long run because it also aids in preventing spinal problems, regardless of sleeping positions.
The mattress’s contouring feature is made possible by its adjustment based on body weight and the memory foam’s temperature-sensitive material. Sleep specialist Donna L. Arand, Ph.D., mentions that body heat softens the foam in just the right places allowing it to follow the original shape and lines of the body.
3. Memory Foam Isolates and Absorbs Motion
Restful sleep is harder to achieve when sleeping with a partner or a pet with all possible sleep disturbances.
For light sleepers, a memory foam mattress might be your solution. Because this mattress type deals with motion transfer. It isolates motion in one area, and your partner can go in and out of bed without you feeling a thing.
4. Memory Foam is Good for the Health and is Hypoallergenic
Another key benefit is for people suffering from sleep apnea, a condition where breathing is interrupted during slumber. Sleeping with a memory foam mattress, especially when paired with quality memory foam pillows, provides a good amount of support and elevation for the head, which assists in achieving a healthy breathing pattern.
Dust mites and other allergens such as mold and pet dander thrive in traditional innerspring mattresses because of the large open spaces inside these beds.
An Innerspring Mattress That You Have for a Couple of Years Could Have 100,000 to 10 Million Dust Mites inside of It.”
Not only does it provide the perfect environment, but it also gives them access to a stable food source. Dust mites are known to snack on dead skin cells, and since we spend so much time in our beds, we leave many dead skin cells on our sleeping surfaces.
Because of the high-density structure of the memory foam, there are no large open spaces for the dust mites to reside in.
Remember, the best mattress must care for your health.
Worried about off-gassing? Don’t! It is only a result of the new mattress’ production process confining the smell of polyurethane foam in a closed space. It should dissipate around 48 hours in a well-ventilated area.
5. Memory Foam Beds are Durable and Long-Lasting
The average memory foam mattress can last up to eight years, with higher quality memory foam lasting up to fifteen years. Maintenance isn’t much of an issue because it only needs very little to last for a long time. Of course, the mattress could benefit from the occasional turning and vacuuming now and then, but that’s all there is to it.
In comparison, innerspring mattresses last up to five to six years but are prone to sagging. Additionally, a monthly rotation is optimal because this mattress type doesn’t repel dust mites. On the other hand, air and water beds average a lifespan of seven to ten years but to be able to reach that duration, constant changing and updating of parts must be done.
Should I Buy a Memory Foam Mattress?
The memory foam mattress is a gift that keeps on giving! From its numerous health benefits to its hassle-free maintenance, the memory mattress is worth every penny.
At this point, you have to agree with us that the right mattress does exist. While all of the reasons mentioned above are benefits the Ecosa Mattress can deliver excellently, it goes beyond the benefits of a traditional memory foam mattress.
The Ecosa Mattress is a mattress that any type of sleeper can love- from side sleepers to back sleepers and stomach sleepers. Why? because of its flexibility and adjustability! The Ecosa Mattress offers three options for firmness. And beyond that, it cares for the planet just as it cares for you. It does not just adjust according to your needs, but according to the world around you.
Check out: Ecosa’s Memory Foam Mattress or see the range: Queen Size Mattresses, King Size Mattresses