Cheaper Alternatives to Memory Foam Mattresses

yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = "Cheaper Alternatives to Memory Foam Mattresses"; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = "Do you need help to sleep but can't afford a new mattress? Is your new mattress harder than your old one therefore not as comfortable as you hoped it would be? Although memory foam mattresses, especially the Tempur Pedic ® brand, are the ultimate in providing that help to sleep you are looking for, there are other products available that can make life more comfortable without spending a lot of money."; yahooBuzzArticleType = "text"; yahooBuzzArticleId = window.location.href; Are you looking for help to sleep but don't want to spend out on a new mattress? Is the new mattress you bought recently harder and therefore not as comfortable as you had hoped it would be? Although memory foam mattresses, especially the Tempur Pedic ® brand, are the ultimate in providing the help to sleep you are looking for, they are quite expensive. You might want to take a look at other products that are available that can make your life more comfortable without having to spend a lot of money. If the alternatives make a big difference then you can decide whether to invest in a new mattress at a later date.

The most common alternatives to try are memory foam toppers and pillows.
If your mattress is too hard then you can lay a memory foam topper on top of your existing mattress to make your bed softer. However, you can't do this if your mattress is too soft for you already because a topper or memory foam pad will only make it softer.

If your mattress is okay, but your shoulders and neck ache when you wake up in the morning, it could be that your pillows are not as supportive as they could be. There are two types of memory foam pillow available that might help you with this. One is a pre-formed shape that is used on its own. The shape is such that it fits into the curve or your neck and supports your head. It usually comes with its own fitted cover but will also fit into standard pillowcases.

My mother suffers from cervical spondilitis that causes her a lot of pain in the base of her neck and shoulder. My sister bought her a shaped memory foam pillow to try and help her out. It took my mother quite a while to get used to the pillow but she now finds that it helps her to sleep comfortably. She won't sleep with anything else now. You only need the one pillow for the correct amount of support so don't buy more than one. You can get memory foam pillows that are the normal pillow shape but they tend to be slightly more expensive because they use more foam and they are not likely to be as supportive.

Memory foam toppers and pillows are made from the same high density visco-elastic foam that the tops of the mattresses are made from. Density makes a difference to how soft the foam is - 4lbs per cubic inch is softer than 5lbs (Tempur Pedic ® use 5.34lbs density foam). The toppers come in varying depths but the standard is 2" to 3", the same amount as would be found in full mattress construction, over a harder supportive layer of foam. Memory foam is too soft to be used on its own in a mattress so a firm supportive core is always used. As for cost, the less dense the foam, the cheaper it is, but to get the best benefit, it is recommended to not use a density of less than 4lbs per cubic inch.