Adequate sleep is essential to your health and overall well-being. Most adults require about seven to nine hours of sleep to recharge the body and feel refreshed. While several factors contribute to quality sleep, the importance of having the right mattress can’t be overemphasized.
When shopping for a mattress, it’s vital to note that not all mattresses are the same. Mattresses come with different levels of comfort, edge support, firmness, and size. These factors affect the alignment of your spine while you sleep and the overall support the mattress provides.
For the past few decades, memory foam has dominated the mattress market, supplanting traditional innerspring options. However, a new contender has emerged and offers consumers another innovative sleep solution. Air foam, though similar to memory foam, has unique advantages for mattress shoppers to consider.
Mattress Materials
Many consumers own memory foam mattresses primarily made of polyurethane, a durable and moisture-blocking material. Memory foam mattresses also contain chemicals that increase the material’s density and viscosity. Examples include isocyanates, formaldehyde, benzene, and naphthalene. Bear in mind there are different options for memory foam mattresses, including traditional, open-cell, and gel, and each has its pros and cons.
Air foam mattresses use a different type of foam with billions of microscopic air capsules. Manufacturers use advanced technology to add the foam capsules and don’t add the heat-trapping chemicals present in memory foam.
Advantages of Air Foam
Air foam mattresses don’t have conventional foam, meaning they don’t retain your body heat. The lack of heat retention allows for a more relaxed, restorative sleep.
This new iteration of foam mattresses also provides excellent pressure relief and can evenly distribute your body’s load across the surface. Consequently, you’re less likely to experience pain in the back and hips.
Unique air foam mattress benefits also include optimal durability. Durability means slowing the loss of support and sagging that most mattresses eventually endure.
Tests show that air foam is 300 percent more durable than its memory foam counterpart. The mattress yielded impressive results in a pounding dynamic test, where it only lost 0.03 inches of thickness after the pounding cycles.
Also, as previously mentioned, air foam doesn’t contain the heat-trapping viscoelastic chemicals. Instead, the foam is CertiPUR-US-certified, meaning it’s 100 percent free of harmful chemicals, which ensures a temperature-neutral design.
Disadvantages of Air Foam
Since it’s a new technology, you’re likely to spend slightly more on an air foam mattress than a traditional memory foam mattress. However, you still may spend less on an air foam mattress than a high-end memory foam mattress, which can cost up to $5,000.
Advantages of Memory Foam
Memory foam uses your body heat to remain soft throughout the night, as heat improves its viscosity. When you get up, the foam goes back to its original form. These two elements help to enhance the comfort of the mattress and ensure excellent spinal alignment. A memory foam mattress can also relieve pain in pressure spots, such as joints, making them a great option for those with arthritis.
Like Air Foam, memory foam does not transfer motion if multiple people are sleeping on it. It’s excellent for absorbing movement and pressure. Memory foam mattresses are also durable, and they’re ideal for adjustable beds.
Furthermore, the dense structure of memory foam reduces space for dust, pollen, mold, and pet dander, making the material a hypoallergenic option for people with allergies.
Disadvantages of Memory Foam
Memory foam depends on your body’s heat to contour to your body. If your body doesn’t generate enough heat, the mattress won’t be as comfortable for you. Conversely, if your body generates enough heat, memory foam doesn’t dissipate the heat well, which isn’t ideal for people who want to sleep cooler.
The dense structure of memory foam can make mattresses heavier, which can be troublesome during moving. However, there is an increasing number of lightweight options today. Keep in mind that memory foam mattresses are not waterproof, so they’re likely to get wet if you sweat at night or spill something on the surface.
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Quality sleep has countless health benefits, so you owe it to yourself to do what you can to get plenty of rest. To sleep better, you need to invest time in finding the ideal mattress for your bed. Finding the perfect fit requires you to compare your options, including trying out mattress options while shopping at a local store or participating in a sleep trial if you order online.
