Considering a memory foam mattress or related product? Learn what sleep experts say about it. What's Memory Foam? What Are the advantages of Memory Foam? What Are the Disadvantages of Memory Foam? Are Memory Foam Products Safe for Younger Children? Few issues feel pretty much as good as a great night time's sleep. That's especially true if sleep seems to escape you, evening after evening after night time. If you've heard about memory foam, you might surprise if it might enhance the standard of yoursleep. Some people swear by it. Others are much less enthusiastic. What precisely is memory foam? And what are its pros and cons? Here is info to help you determine whether memory foam is value a strive. What's Memory Foam? First designed within the mid-1960s for NASA airplane seats, memory foam is made from a substance known as viscoelastic. It is each extremely vitality absorbent and mushy. Memory foam molds to the body in response to heat and pressure, evenly distributing physique weight.

It then returns to its authentic shape when you remove the stress. Along with defending in opposition to influence, these properties make memory foam very comfy. After its "virgin flight" for NASA, memory foam made a foray into different functions. For instance, it was used as cushioning in helmets and shoes. Medication discovered a use for it in prosthetics and Memory Wave products to forestall strain ulcers similar to seating pads for people who are severely disabled. Then, memory foam really took off. It's now well-known for its use in pillows, mattress pads, and mattresses, which come in several densities and depths. What Are the benefits of Memory Foam? Might the particular properties of memory foam improve your sleep? Sleep specialist Donna L. Arand, PhD, says that goal research supporting the claimed advantages of memory foam -- or the effects of any particular sort of sleeping surface -- are missing. This is true for quite a lot of causes, she says.

This kind of sleep research can be expensive, if carried out independently. Or it's "chased" by a shadow of bias, if supported by business. Also, some sleep technology, resembling memory foam, is comparatively new, so it hasn't been nicely studied. But maybe one of many more difficult stumbling blocks to testing the well being advantages of mattresses similar to memory foam is the subjective nature of sleep. It is simply difficult to measure. Typically the brain's electrical exercise, measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG), and different findings recorded throughout a sleep take a look at do not at all times match up perfectly with an individual's subjective experience, says Arand, who's the clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Heart in Dayton, Ohio. Sleep shouldn't be only subjective, but preferences for sleep surfaces are particular person, Arand says. Lots of Arand's patients who use memory foam have provided unsolicited glowing experiences like these about memory foam: "I am sleeping great." "Greatest sleep I've ever had." "I love going to bed at night." Arand says these anecdotal responses may be one-sided. That's as a result of she and different employees don't ask all their patients about their sleep surfaces. "We could only be hearing the great things," Arand says.

Kathy R. Gromer, MD, Memory Wave sleep specialist with the Minnesota Sleep Institute in Minneapolis, agrees that memory foam might improve sleep. But Gromer adds that Memory Wave App foam does not do anything for sleep apnea or different sleep-respiratory disorders -- and sleep disorders are the first complaint of most her patients. Arand says, "so this helps to help your body along the curves and natural strains of the body." Memory foam manufacturers declare this helps relieve pain and thereby promotes extra restful sleep. And, though customers typically imagine that very firm mattresses are greatest, more "giving" mattresses like these might lead to raised sleep in folks with again pain, based on the Nationwide Sleep Basis. Although there aren't scientific data to help the hypothesis, Arand wonders whether or not memory foam sleep surfaces is likely to be especially useful for older folks. For them, minimizing further motion may cut back the number of instances they awaken in the course of the night. Being much less aware of a mattress associate's movements could be an extra benefit, she adds. What Are the Disadvantages of Memory Foam? Gromer says that memory foam merchandise could retain physique heat, which could make them less snug in heat weather. Nevertheless, Arand has not heard this complaint from her patients. When new, memory foam can produce an odd chemical odor -- a phenomenon known as offgassing. To attenuate this downside, the Sleep Products Safety Council, a sleep merchandise commerce group, recommends airing out the mattress or pad for at the least 24 hours before putting sheets on it. Are Memory Foam Products Safe for Younger Children? Donna L. Arand, PhD, clinical director, Kettering Medical Sleep Disorders Heart, Dayton, Ohio