What is a Memory Foam?
Memory Foam is polyurethane that is dense and flexible when in contact with heat. This type of foam is usually rigid when cooler and tends to mold when in contact with human body, which is warmer.
It has a distinctive property of pressure reduction and used for medical applications like beds for patients who cannot move or immobilized and in wheelchairs. It also helped people suffering from certain pain specifically in the neck or back because of its heat inducing property.
Memory foam was developed in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA for astronaut's chairs to aid in the pressure of G-forces in liftoffs in the 70s. It was not used nevertheless because it was breaking or falling apart for a very short period of time being used. After a few years, it was marketed to the public consumers. Manufacturing it remained complicated and undependable; however, the progress in manufacturing it still continues until the desired effect was made. It was not cheap to make and therefore became too expensive for consumers, but in the years to follow it now became affordable and consumers readily accept it.
The memory foam is denser than the normal foam mattress, consequently heavier than the normal foams or mattresses. But this attribute also makes it more supportive but also provides comfort.
It has many benefits compared to regular foams because it particularly relieves pressure points and thus helping people with backaches, also provides good blood circulation. It is also being advertised as helping one improve sleeping. Overall, it is the best sleeping mattress for everybody.
The warmer memory foam or the overlay is also dependent to the cooler memory foam or the lower firmer foam. A thin overlay should have thicker firmer foam and vice versa.
The very nature of memory foam is the warmth of the overlay. It is the characteristic that helps it mold to the human body. This characteristic also became a problem then but now as technology progressed, air channels were introduced to help air circulation. The comfort was retained as well as its support.
Previously it produced odor which is not acceptable in space missions in the enclosed spaceship because. It is noticeable when it is new.
Memory foam's great use is for people that need to recover from illness or surgery. It prevented from getting bed sore. If not treated properly and if one lay in just ordinary foam, chances are bed sore will occur wherein blood flow is restricted because of the pressure of the body pressed on normal mattress. But this was solved by the invention of the memory foam. It efficiently molds the body and the pressure points are eradicated. Body produced heat and it is one component that makes the memory foam effective because the overlay follow the human body and heat is also dissipated and helps in relieving pains in the body. Sleeping also is more comfortable with this kind of mattress because it is not springy compared to normal foams. Its added firmness below is like any other mattresses but much better.
