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According to a competitor,

[...] the visco memory foam mattress cuts off circulation and increases inflammation.

This is in keeping with my personal experience of inflammation.

Is that just an anecdote and one more dubious claim from a competitor with many of them? Or is there scientific evidence to support the claim that memory foam mattresses cause more inflammation than other styles?

Oddthinking
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Connie
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  • This site is specifically for examining *notable* claims. Could you provide a link to somewhere you have seen this claim? My best research efforts only resulted in the opposite claim: that memory foam mattresses are good for people with arthritis and will ease their pain. Is there a reason you tagged with with [tag:chemistry]? I would have thought [tag:sleep] or [tag:medical-science] would be more appropriate. I also noted that there's a lot of spam on this topic. – Ladadadada Nov 10 '13 at 17:37
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    @Ladadadada I found a claim, "The difference is that the visco memory foam mattress cuts off circulation and increases inflammation" at http://myergobed.com/best-mattress-inflammation.php ... – ChrisW Nov 10 '13 at 18:26

1 Answers1

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Memory foam cushions and mattresses are useful as their shape moves around the user and their body and musculature, The material is used in some wheelchair cushions for long term users such as those with rheumatoid arthritis, or a combination cushion for full time wheelchair users such as those with spinal injury. As a mattress, they disperse a person's weight and pressure equally without putting pressure on joints and bony prominences, i.e. arthritis. Also useful for people with difficulty moving around in bed, e.g. stroke, high tone etc.

Reference: Seating and pressure ulcers: Clinical practice guideline, Stockton, Lesley ; Gebhardt, Kryzstof S. ; Clark, Michael, Journal of Tissue Viability, 2009, Vol.18(4), pp.98-108 [Peer Reviewed Journal]

Oddthinking
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The qualified skeptic
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  • How is it useful for people with difficulty moving around in bed? I have heard that squishy foam makes it harder to move around, because people sink in to them and can almost become trapped. Sounds like the opposite to me. Seat cushions are a different issue because there is a lot more weight on a small area, which must be firm so that the person can sit erect comfortably (a less than 90 degree seat angle is hard to maintain). –  Apr 20 '16 at 01:58