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Tempurpedic Mattresses
by Frank Hague
Tempurpedic Mattresses, generically known as Memory Foam, are
becoming mainstream items. Even so, with all the different
options and prices of foam on the market, the consumer should
know about the major differences between these products prior
to paying a major amount of money for a bed they will be
sleeping on for many years.
I've personally tried out a memory foam mattress and pillow
set, and can honestly express enthusiasm for this product. It
adapts to the contours of the body significantly better than an
innerspring mattress. In any case, I personally cannot
personally recommend a specific brand because every sleeper has
different preferences due to weight and sleeping habits. The
best thing to do is to visit your local bed store and try
laying down on a couple different bed systems. When the sales
staff have to prod you awake, you know you've discovered the
right brand.
The importance of getting sufficient good-quality
uninterrrupted sleep cannot be overstated. No-one functions
well on lack of sleep. Due to the abundance of artificial
lighting and late-night entertainment and activities, the vast
majority of people in the developed world are sleep-deprived,
and sleep deprivation is a important cause of accidents.
Remember the Exxon Valdez? That accident took place in the
early hours of the morning, and industrial accidents peak on
the graveyard shift. Sleep-deprived students learn poorly.
Chronic sleep deprivation has an effect on the appetite centers
of the brain, causing overeating and subsequent obesity. Any bed
system which allows you to reach a deeper level of sleep will
substantially improve your quality of life.
There are many benefits to memory foam above a conventional
mattress: it's hypoallergenic, molds to the individual contours
of anyone's body, and will provide a form-fitting cradle of
insulation on cold nights so you require fewer weighty, dusty
allergenic blankets and comforters. All the pressure points
that cause discomfort, and subsequent tossing and turning, are
eliminated.
Memory foam was first introduced onto the market by a Swedish
firm called Tempurpedic. This brand-name top-of-the line
product is very expensive, and there are dozens of cheaper
competing brands, some made in China, others from the USA. In
any case, be warned: not all memory foam products are alike, as
with any merchandise, you tend to get what you pay for, both in
quality and longevity.
Memory foam is visco-elastic, and it responds to temperature
changes much as bubble gum does. Better-quality memory foam has
a wide range of temperature responsiveness, while some of the
cheaper brands can get as hard as wood if the ambient
temperature of the bedroom goes beneath sixty degrees. Finally,
as you change position the foam warms up from your body heat, it
will respond and conform to your body shape, however this can
take a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, pressure points and
discomfort are created which could cause you to awaken. Also
these cheaper brands might turn into soft goo on hot summer
nights, offering no support. Better brands of memory foam, like
Sensus and Temperpedic, specifically state their consistent
performance through a wide temerature range.
An additional issue is the longevity of the memory foam, as all
foam products eventually break down and lose their springiness.
Better memory foams offer longer guarantees, twenty years,
whereas the cheaper brands offer ten years.
So, in summary, you do not have to acquire the brand name
Tempurpedic product, however it's best not to pinch pennies and
buy the cheapest either. You'll spend many nights regretting a
bad choice of mattress. Two or three hundred dollars is not
really a large additional expense when spread out across
decades of memory foam mattress utilization.
As well as differences in quality, there are also differences
in memory foam mattress construction. Mattresses can have
either three or four inches of memory foam across a denser
supportive core. More isn't necessarily better, because if the
top layer of memory foam is too thick, you'll sink in quite far
prior to hitting the supporting layer underneath. Tummy sleepers
should purchase two inch foam, side sleepers and medium sized
people should buy mattresses with three inch memory foam, large
or heavy people or back sleepers should acquire the four inch.
The base of the bed can diverge as well. A few memory foam
systems feature loose sheets of foam of different firmness
levels that can be arranged to the sleeper's private taste,
others are laminated together. As well, man-made (petrochemical
foam products) are about 1/3 the cost of natural latex. People
who are sensitive to out-gassing of man-made products should
think about a natural product.
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