All About Memory Foam Mattress Pads

Wouldn't it be nice to feel as if you were sleeping on a cloud? You can easily capture that feeling by investing in a memory foam mattress pad. If you are used to getting your nightly 8 hours of rest on a traditional innerspring mattress, prepare yourself for one of the best night's sleep you've ever had.

Reduced Blood Flow

When you lie on  an innerspring mattress, your body creates pressure points at the head, shoulders, lower back, hips, lower legs, and the heels. The bed springs that are beneath these pressure points push into these areas, and reduced blood flow can be the result. Sluggish blood flow can progress until a painful "pins and needles" effect is felt in the body parts. Most people wake up when this pain develops, but until this point, your slumbering body will feel an increasingly annoying sensation.

This in turn disturbs your rest, and can cause you to restlessly toss and turn while still asleep in an effort to find a comfortable position and relieve the discomfort. It is not uncommon for someone to change positions while sleeping up to 80 times in one night! All this restlessness disturbs your R.E.M (rapid eye movement) sleep cycle. Sleep studies have proven that in order to have a good and restful nights sleep, your body requires an uninterrupted R.E.M cycle. Without this, you wake up tired and unrefreshed, as you have not had enough of the right kind of sleep.

What Makes The Memory Foam A Better Alternative

Why is a memory foam mattress pad so different from ordinary mattress pads? A memory foam mattress pad supports every part of the body it touches by molding to each curve and pressure point. Your circulation is not hampered in any way as a result. Some people are concerned that a foam mattress pad would be too hot to sleep on, as foam is known absorb and hold onto body heat. Memory foam is made in such a way that this is not a problem. In fact, it is temperature sensitive. It was developed for the NASA space program to sense an astronaut's body weight and temperature in order to conform to the body and give it support during rocket lift-off and re-entry.

Memory foam is also widely used in hospitals and by people who suffer with back pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia. The best quality memory foam has the heaviest weight. It is a mistake to choose a memory foam mattress pad by the density of the foam alone. Heavy memory foam lasts much longer.

On Top Of A Regular Mattress

Memory foam mattress pads are made to be placed on top of a regular mattress. This addition will give any mattress type, including innerspring and air mattresses, better support and luxurious comfort. The pads are normally around two inches thick, a size that has been found to be perfect for most people, but a 3 inch version is also available that is well suited for providing comfort to heavier individuals. There is also a 4 inch memory foam mattress pad available for those who are seeking the ultimate in luxury sleep solutions.

Most memory foam mattress pads are made to last for more than ten years.