Are you one of the people who consider their firm mattress and soft living room furniture to be more like instruments of torture than comfortable relaxation devices? If you suffer from a condition that causes you chronic pain in your back or in your neck, joints or lower back then you could have a problem with your furniture because it doesn't provide you with the support you need in the right places.

More and more people that suffer from chronic pain caused by arthritis, Pagets disease or other conditions are finding that their symptoms can be relieved to some extent by using furniture made from memory foam. It's now an established fact that memory foam mattresses can help many people to get a good night sleep by making their bed so much more comfortable and this can help to minimise the additional pain you might experience when you lie down.

So how does memory foam work and how can it help relieve pain?

Memory foam is a visco-elastic material, which means that it gets softer as it gets warmer. When it gets soft it allows objects to sink into it when the object applies pressure to the foam. Memory foam is also an insulator so it is possible to heat up the material in localised areas without the heat spreading to other parts of the foam. When a warm human body lays on a sheet of memory foam the foam becomes heated by the warmth of the body, just in the areas where the body makes contact with the foam. This causes the material to become softer under the body and allows it to sink into the foam. As you sink further into the memory foam, more and more of your body comes into contact with the foam until the warm, soft foam is giving you good support all over your body.

When all of your body is fully supported by the soft warm foam the pressure on every part of your body in contact with it is equal. Because there are no longer any single points of contact to cause pressure hot spots, all of your body will feel more comfortable. It's this removal of pressure points by distributing the pressure over all of your body that gives you relief from pain.

Why was memory foam invented?

Memory foam was originally developed for NASA for use in the space program. It was to be used as padding for the astronaut's seats as a means to relieve some of the discomfort experienced from high acceleration or 'G' forces. I'm not quite sure how this was expected to work in that situation however because the astronauts would be wearing space suits at the time which would insulate them from the foam in the seats. No heat no softening of the memory foam.

Memory foam also gives off small amounts of toxic gasses when it's new which has been the popular reason given for why NASA never actually used it in their space craft. In space there is nowhere for the gas to go.

Consider the alternatives

High quality memory foam mattresses are still expensive items so it pays to experiment with lower cost alternatives before going straight out to change your mattress. Memory foam pillows and toppers are easily obtained and can make a big difference if you are having trouble sleeping. There are also cheaper materials like high-density polyurethane foam that might suit your pocket better.

I recently experienced some lower back pain problems, which meant that my nice comfy lounge chairs turned into a nightmare because I couldn't get comfortable on them. A few memory foam cushions might help you out if you have similar problems.