Sleep Enough

The solution for those sleepless nights and the stiff neck in the morning can sometimes be as simple as a new pillow. We usually take our pillows for granted until we spend the night tossing and turning because we cannot find a comfortable position, or wake up in the morning with a stiff neck and a headache. Memory foam pillows are a type of therapeutic pillow which promises to provide good support for the spine and the natural neck curve, and ensure sound sleeping comfort by evenly distributing our weight. This sounds like something advertisers would say, but many people are raving about the comfort and adaptability of memory foam pillows.

Memory foam was developed in 1966 for NASA’s seat cushions. When it was released to the public in 1980, it attracted the attention of mattress manufacturers and soon became one of the most sought-after materials for luxurious mattresses and pillows.

The secret of memory foam, which is in fact polyurethane with some additional chemicals which provide viscosity and density, is in its adaptability to the sleeper’s contours and weight, by reacting to the person’s body heat. The memory foam fits itself according to the weight and pressure applied to it, and only slowly regains its original shape once the pressure is lifted.

Medical field finds memory foam particularly useful as a pressure relief material for bed-ridden patients and for people in wheelchairs. Memory foam pillows are recommended by medical practitioners as head and neck support for people with spine injuries or back problems.

Most people love their memory foam pillows and find them very comfortable, but some complain about the unpleasant chemical odor. Ironically, the biggest problem with memory foam pillows is that they are too sensitive to heat, exactly what makes them so comfortable. In a cold room, they can be rock hard, and in a hot room, or next to a person with a fever, they get too hot, and in consequence too soft, almost “smothering” the sleeper.

A new version of memory foam, Serta’s Cool Action “Gel Memory Foam”, might solve some of the memory foam pillows’ shortcomings. Gel is inserted into memory foam to become a part of the memory foam cells and to improve the airflow and reduce the heating effects of the body. The manufacturers claim that Cool Action™ Gel Memory Foam breaths twelve times better than ordinary memory foam and that it remains comfortable over a bigger range of room temperatures.

The jury is still out on these new types of memory foam, but the fact will always remain that it is a completely synthetic material and that it contains toluene and some volatile organic compounds that may keep allergy and asthma sufferers awake. If you sleep well on your memory foam pillow, get some good organic pillow cases as well, so that you can also breathe without any problems.