Memory Foam vs Air Mattress



By Jessica Harrisson

Jessica Harrisson, EzineArticles.com Platinum Author

Are you considering a new mattress and have some confusion about memory foam vs air mattress?

This is understandable because there are lots of commercials on tv touting the benefits of both kinds of mattresses and it can be confusing, can't it?

I'm very familiar with the two kinds of mattresses and I've had lots of conversations with the owners of both kinds of them so if you'd like, I'll pass along what I've heard directly from owners of both.

Memory Foam

Memory foam is unique in its ability to support your body correctly to the best possible sleeping position. It won't matter if you're a back, side or stomach sleeper because you'll get great support.

Note that there are many different brands of memory foam. And within each of those brands, there are also various densities and firmnesses of foam.

Because of this, it's impossible to make a statement that applies to memory foam in general.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard from owners of memory foam mattresses is that they were too firm.

I've found that people who thought they wanted a firm bed were not happy with a firmer memory foam mattress like the Tempur-Pedic® ClassicBed™.

The same people were perfectly happy with a plusher feeling memory foam mattress, so it's not memory foam they didn't like, it was just the level of firmness they didn't like.

There are numerous misconceptions about memory foam that come up a lot.

The most frequent is that people have heard memory foam sleeps hot. I've heard that more than anything else.

These same people, after sleeping on memory foam (even in hot humid climates) had no complaints about heat build up.

Another thing I've heard a lot is that it feels like your rolling out of a rut when you try to turn over on memory foam.

Because memory foam becomes very firm when it's cold, you might experience that sensation if your mattress was cold when you got into bed.

Immediately after warming the mattress, this wouldn't be the case, it just feels like any other mattress when you turn.

I've found that about 98% of the population likes to sleep on memory foam if the firmness is matched to their expectations.

Memory Foam vs Air Mattress

I've also had many calls from people who owned air mattresses and the number of complaints is significantly higher.

It may just be the complaints were pointed to the most popular advertised brand, I'm not sure.

For that brand, the most common complaint was the rock hard divider between sleep partners.

One guy said it was like he slept on a mountain, his wife in a valley and the Rock of Gibraltar was between them.

Another complaint was the loud noise made at night if you needed to add air to your mattress. It's kinda' like running a vacuum cleaner in the middle of the night.

My personal experience is that air mattresses don't support the human body as well as other types of mattresses.

Some people loved their air mattresses and so it isn't a clear cut distinction between the two types of mattress.

I found the dissatisfaction with air mattresses to be extremely high, somewhat over 30% of the people who bought them didn't like them. That's really an astronomical number.

Many of those people have found some relief by placing a memory foam mattress topper on their air mattress and pumping the air to the highest level.

This is a case of the best of both worlds, not memory foam vs air mattress.

So again, the memory foam vs air mattress question is not cut and dried but my experience is that memory foam suits a much larger segment of the population.

About the Author:

Jessica Harrisson is a free spirited lover of all things rich. Fine wine, elegant china and anything else that pampers. Her search for better sleep brought her to the wonderful world of memory foam and she has been spoiled ever since. She now wants everyone to experience the best memory foam mattress to spoil their body.


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