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Memory Foam Mattress Reviews
the Center for Injury Assistancesm
provides product reviews to improve your life. This
page reviews pressure relieving memory foam mattresses and mattress pads. Many of the products reviewed here will be of tremendous benefit
to people with neck, back, knee and extremity injuries. I have received many emails from people thanking me for literally
changing their life after they tried some of the products. By providing reviews, I hope to save you from making costly
mistakes and save you valuable time by doing the comparison shopping and testing
to find the best quality products to ease your pain and improve your life. The items listed on this page which I have personally comparison shopped
for quality, function and effectiveness are marked with
. If I bought it and continue to use it, it will also be marked with
.
Other products listed which I have not tried, are listed because of the possibility that they may be helpful to you. When pain is concerned, quality, function and effectiveness is my
only concern. When possible, I will let you know where you can buy at a discount.
Philip L. Franckel, Esq., President, 1-800-HURT-911,
Inc.
If you have a suggestion for a product, please let me know.
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Costco has some really great products from
SleepInnovations. I have a very hard mattress
and have begun to believe that the hard mattress is causing a lot of my
pain. After hearing Dux Bed commercials on the radio claiming that a hard
mattress is bad for your back, I decided to look for a product that could
help. I looked at two mattress pad products at Costco (they now have several other
products which I have not looked at). One is the
Novaform®
Mattress
Topper (pad)
SleepInnovations
and the other is the
Down Feather Bed (pad). Both mattress pads are meant to go
on top of your mattress. I bought both the feather bed pad and the Novaform®
Mattress
Topper. I returned the Down Feather Bed pad without trying it because
while it seemed comfortable, it did not seemed to compare to the Novaform® mattress pad
in relieving pressure and hence, pain.
The Novaform® mattress pad, claimed to be designed for NASA, is made
from a 4lb density memory foam that is designed to mold to your shape, and when you move or get up,
to slowly spring back to it's original shape. As of this writing, the Queen size Novaform®
mattress pad costs $111.79 at the
Costco store or online at
Costco;
$299.99 at
Linen-N-Things; and $329.99 at Bed
Bath & Beyond. It's worth the higher price, but you can get a
better quality version and a bargain at Costco.
What is Foam Density? Sleep Innovations' web site says "Density is a measurement of the mass per cubic unit volume. It is measured and expressed in pounds per cubic foot(PCF) or kilograms per cubic meter(KG/M3). Density is largely the determining factor in judging the quality of foam products. The lower the density the lower the quality, thus reducing the durability and the life expectancy of the product." Foam with a higher density will give an initial feeling of a firmer mattress when you first sit down on it. Bergad says that it's harder to expand foam with a density over 4 pounds and that sometimes the foam does not expand properly, resulting in product that has to be thrown out. Consequently, there is more waste in the manufacturing process and increased manufacturing costs.
Bergad's website indicates a density of 5 pounds for their mattress pad and 5.5 pounds for their mattress. Tempur-Pedic said, on the telephone, that the foam density of their mattress is 5.3 pounds. SleepInnovations said, on the telephone, that the the Novaform® Mattress Topper at Costco is a 4lb density memory foam, however, the Novaform® products sold in other stores have only a 3lb density. Costco sells a 2 1/2 inch thick pad. Bed Bath and Beyond's web site says its pad is 2 inches thick. Linen-N-Things does not indicate how thick their pad is.
Concerns: Several people who wrote to me have indicated that the Novaform® mattress pad has a strong odor, one person described as kerosene, and have asked me if this smell will go away. I found that the smell is initially strong, but disappeared after several days. The comfort and pain elimination is well worth the initial smell. if the smell bothers you after opening, I would suggest that you let it expand and air out in another room for three to five days. You should also note that the Novaform® mattress pad comes very compressed using vacuum and that it will start to decompress almost immediately, but can take 24-72 hours to fully decompress. Allow it to decompress and air out in a warm room. I recently bought two more Novaform® mattress pads at Costco, both of which failed to expand properly. Sleep Innovations told me that sometimes occurs and told me to return them to the store. Costco took them back without any questions.
One person recently wrote to me asking how the mattress pad has held up and whether it has lost its elasticity. The pad I bought in January 2002 shows no signs of wear and has not lost any elasticity or resiliency. Two pads I purchased at Costco in January 2005 did not expand properly and I returned them.
Some of my sheets have trouble staying on the mattress, while some seem to have more room and stay put. You will probably have to use deep pocket sheets with the Novaform® mattress pad.
The product comes with a 10-year warranty from Sleep Innovations, so be sure to keep your box and staple your receipt to the inside of your box. I've been using it since January 2002. It does what it's claimed to do, is very comfortable and I wouldn't sleep without it. It substantially improved my hard mattress and I found that it helped to substantially reduce my pain.
Updates: May 12, 2005: After considering several mattresses, I finally decided to get a mattress from Bergad. Bergad says their mattress is 5.5 pound density, which is just slightly better than Tempurpedic. Bergad seems to have the best quality and price. I will update my review after sleeping on it. I can't wait! January 2005: I decided to buy a memory foam mattress, but haven't bought one yet. I will update after getting one. November 2004: I just bought a second Novaform® mattress pad so now I have two on top of my mattress. Now, it's twice as comfortable! This time the pad is now made a little larger and 2 1/2 inches thick instead of 2 inches thick. Again, the smell went away in a few days.
Product Variations: Costco also sells a Novaform® Mattress Topper with a goose down quilted cover. I haven't tried this, however, I believe that this would eliminate the benefits of memory foam. placing anything on top of memory foam will inhibit its ability to conform to a particular shape, such as your body. Additionally, placing an insulating material such as goose down, will inhibit the temperature sensitive qualities of the memory foam. Therefore, my belief is that the memory foam is most effective with direct contact to your body. While it would be uncomfortable if used without a sheet, I believe that there should be as little as possible between you and the memory foam. Therefore, I would personally choose not to have anything of any thickness or with insulating qualities, such as goose down, on top of the memory foam.
I tried the Novaform®
Manufacturers Using Memory Foam
(in alphabetical order):
Abed Abed compares
their mattress to Tempur-Pedic®. Abed claims that
their mattress has 3 inches of 5.3 pound density memory foam, as does the
Tempur-Pedic, but they claim to have a breathable mattress cover, longer
warranty and a lower price. Their memory foam mattress pad is 2 inches
thick.
Isoform® by Bergad: (I haven't tried any of
their products) Their web site says that their mattress foam is 5.5 pound
density. The page showing their mattress pads indicates that the foam is 5
pound density and that the pads are available in 2 inch, 3 inch, and 4 inch
thicknesses. Their prices are very competitive. Their products are
only slightly more expensive than Costco, however, they have a higher foam
density and thicker pads than Costco.
Isotonic® by Carpenter:
Novaform® by Sleep Innovations said, on the telephone,
that the the Novaform® Mattress Topper at Costco is a 4lb
density memory foam, however, the Novaform® products sold
in other stores have only a 3lb density. Their web site does not have any
information on the Novaform products. Costco sells a 2 1/2 inch thick pad.
Bed Bath and Beyond's web site says its pad is 2 inches thick.
Linen-N-Things does not indicate how thick their pad is.
Osim®
Sensus® by Foamex:
Tempur-Pedic®: I tried the bed in a Brookstone
store and thought it was very comfortable. I have not tried this at home.
Their web site is not very helpful. It doesn't provide any useful
information and their comparison tab does not compare their products. They
said, on the telephone, that the foam density of their mattress is 5.3 pounds,
but I cannot find this information on their web site.
Important Insurance Note: If prescribed by your
physician to reduce back pain, hip, knee or joint pain or to
promote better circulation, a pressure relieving memory foam bed may be covered by
your medical insurance policy. Check with your medical insurance plan for
eligibility requirements. Additionally, if you were injured in a car
accident in a no-fault insurance state, you may be able to obtain coverage for
your pressure relieving memory foam bed if prescribed by your doctor. A
no-fault insurance company may deny the claim, however, if properly supported
the claim will have to be approved. To properly support a no-fault
insurance claim to pay for a pressure relieving memory foam bed, you need:
1) A prescription from your doctor prescribing a pressure
relieving memory foam bed. It will also be helpful to get a written report
from your doctor explaining why you need a pressure relieving memory foam bed;
2) Medical documentation to prove you have an injury that
will be relieved by a pressure relieving memory foam bed. An example of
good medical documentation would be an MRI report showing a herniated disk or a
bulging disk and an EMG report, performed by a neurologist, which shows a nerve
injury;
3) You need to prove that the injury was caused by the car
accident. This is accomplished by a written report from your doctor and
can be addressed in the same report mentioned above. To prove that your
injury was caused by the car accident, the doctors report should say "the
patient's injury is causally related to the motor vehicle accident",
causally related being the magic words.
Many times, the no-fault insurance company will require your
doctor to write a report, before the doctor can be paid. If the insurance
company requests your doctor to write a report, you do not have to pay for the
doctor's report. When asking your doctor to write you a prescription for a
pressure relieving memory foam bed, make sure includes in his report why you
need the bed. If the insurance company does not request the doctor to
write a report and you need the doctor to write a report so that you can get
reimbursed for a pressure relieving memory foam bed, you will probably have to
pay your doctor to write the report.
pillow, also available at Costco. It's interesting,
but I found it to be too thick for my comfort. They now have another natural
shape pillow. I tried the natural shape
Tempur-Pedic pillow at a
Brookstone store
and found that to be much more comfortable than the shaped pillow.