I never had a mattress but I did have a pillow at one point or another. I hated it as well. What I didn’t like about it is that when I moved (like the commercials would show) the impression of where I was would take a few seconds to go away. That means if I just moved my head a little bit I had to hold it there while the pillow re-inflated, otherwise I’d just fall right back to where I was.
Having said that, I recently pick up a wedge pillow (for some GERD issues) that had a memory foam top and didn’t have any issues with it one way or the other. I suspect that’s because it’s not a memory foam pillow, it just had a half inch or so layer of it, so you don’t sink into it.
I can’t imagine having an entire mattress made out of the stuff.
My husband loved it, but it raised hell with my sciatica and degenerative disk disease and paralyzed me. He’d wake up bursting with energy, but I’d push myself out of the hole I’d sunk into, feeling horrible and needing some time before feeling came back to my legs.
We eventually got a Sleep Number, and have been much happier. The weird thing is while our memory foam experiences were so different, our sleep numbers were the same.
I like them if only for the knowledge that they don’t have interior cavities filled with bedbugs, mice, fleas, and spiders. I can’t rest on top of 30 cubic feet of unknowable boojum and cootie habitat.
Yeah, never owned one, but tried sleeping on them while staying as a guest at various places. Makes me feel like I’m in one of those carry cases where the foam insert is cut to fit and perfectly constrain a camera or some such.
I’ve never understood the appeal, either. I don’t mind making things a bit softer on the surface–I like using a regular mattress pad, for example. But memory foam seems like it puts you in a hole.
There’s more than one type of foam mattress. I got a Casper bed, and I love it. My wife got one too, and returned it because she thought it was too soft. She then got a “firmer” memory foam from a local store instead, but the thing is, now I think my bed is firm and hers is too soft, and she thinks the same thing, only in reverse.
So the moral is, try out a bunch of mattresses. If you pick one and think it represents all of its kind, you are wrong.
This^. I didn’t like sleeping on memory foam either, except the fact that it does not transmit vibrations when one partner changes positions. Our current mattress has a memory foam base with a thick pillow top over it. Bliss! Nice comfy pillow top to lay on and no waking up if wifey tosses and turns!
Put me in the ‘hate it’ column. I’m essentially a human space heater when I sleep, plus if the mattress is too soft I end up waking up in order to change position. If it isn’t too soft, then I wake up because a body part fell asleep. (As in, part of a leg, or a section of my arm, etc.) Memory foam pillows are a no-go for me as well: they very quickly cause my TMJ to freak out.
Old-school waterbed (the kind that’s basically a bag of water in a box), though? Or sleeping on a hard floor? No issues.
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No you’re not ! I am not crazy about it and when I was seeing a PT she told me a lot of her patients hated their memory form mattresses and returned it for a number bed . They liked the number bed better.
There are varying levels of firmness among memory foam. The toppers that I have seen, though, were all uselessly squishy.I can’t imagine them doing anything for anyone.
Personally, I haven’t noticed any meaningful difference between foam and padding, as regards comfort for two cushions that are equally firm. The main difference is that memory foam doesn’t transfer energy from one side of the bed to the other. That’s better in all cases from sleeping with someone to resting something else on the mattress (like a bowl or a device you’re putting together, or whatever).
So, the same advice as with any other mattress. Find one that’s comfortable to you. There’s a lot of variety and the price is no guage for what’s best.
We tried a TempurPedic in a store, years back when we were looking to replace our ‘springs-a-leak-every-18-months’ waterbed.
I hated it - lying on my back, it felt like my butt was being pushed up and my back was arching backward. Lying on my side, it felt like my hip was being pushed up and my spine was pretzeled.
A few years later, I was in a different store - and they had a TempurPedic that had a softer top layer. THAT one, I loved.
We really need a new mattress now (we wound up getting a Sleep Number bed before and I’ve grown to hate it) and I’ll have to seriously look at the TempurPedic. Drawbacks of course are they’re pricey, and supposedly you wind up sleeping “hot” which at my age is not a good thing :D.
I’m with you Athena. I can’t stand memory foam mattresses. They make you sleep really hot and sweaty. Whatever side touches the mattress, gets too hot. I wish I could find the old kind with the coils or springs. Memory foam is nothing but foam rubber, and is always hot and uncomfortable. They used to only use it on baby beds.
Does anyone make the old kind of mattress with the coils or springs?
So frustrating.
No you’re not the only one that hate memory foam mattresses . I was going to PT and ask the PT therapist which was the best kind of mattress to buy and she said a lot of her patients end up returning their memory foam mattresses and brought the one that can be adjusted to the firmest a person like .
Speaking of cheap bitches, my father and his guest room! This is where his friends and family will come to visit and he gets a foam mattress. Not memory foam or something like a real mattress, but a foam one, menaing not very thick and not “substantial”. He’s well-off but VERY frugal and I guess didn’t want to get a real mattress??! I resent the penny-pinching every time I see it – spring for a real mattress for your loved ones!!
Had an amazing foam mattress that was great for everything but, as you say, the boom boom. It was also hard to extract myself out of it in the AM. Threw it out for a firm latex hybrid thingie, and I HATES it. Feels 2% better than sleeping on the floor, and while it is a bit better for the old boom, my back curses me every other night. I am a side sleeper normally, but with this thing I am an everything sleeper because I toss and turn all night trying to get comfy. Also I swear it makes me sweat more at night, even though only roughly 10% of my body actually makes contact with its surface at any given time.
Bottom line…we can fool around anywhere, but I want absolute comfort for sleep, and I’d trade back if I could.
Edit: My kids have a twin over full bunk with supercheap memory foam mattresses (<$100), and I have a much better night’s rest if I get conned into sleeping in their room. Hmm.
