In recent years, a number of new mattress technologies have come
onto the market. Two of the most popular types are memory foam
mattresses and latex foam mattresses. Both memory foam mattresses and
latex foam mattresses seek to solve a problem that most people are
familiar with, the tossing and turning that most of us experience in
bed.
Most of this tossing and turning is caused by a process referred to
as pressure point arousal. When we lie in bed at night, our body
always rests more heavily on certain areas called pressure points. A
side sleeper has pressure points located at the hip and shoulder, for
example. The purpose of both memory foam and latex mattresses are to
reduce these pressure points, by distributing pressure over a wide
surface area.
Memory foam has the additional benefit of conforming very closely
to the body, and actually "filling gaps" between the body and the
mattress surface. Memory foam accomplishes this in part through the
way it reacts to pressure. Metal springs and most types of foam will
react to pressure by exerting equal, opposing force. Memory foam,
because of its slow rebound time and open-cell structure, does not
return pressure in this manner. The result is that less force is built
up at pressure points, and a more consistent level of support is
provided along the entire length of the body.
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