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| "Where were you guys 20 years ago. I have suffered lower back pain for years and since sleeping on your Magniflex mattress I actually get a good
nights sleep and wake up feeling great. I will be telling my friends how good it is"!! |
| R. Kauffman |
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An Orthopedic
Surgeon's Advice
on Memory Foam:
Sumner Karas, MD, board-certified
Orthopedic Surgeon, gives answers about
sleep and solutions to pain:
Could my current mattress be the source of my
back, neck or shoulder pain?
A poor mattress absolutely can contribute to
back and neck pain. In fact, not too long ago I
purchased a new mattress specifically because an
older, soft mattress was contributing to my own
back and neck pain. Soft mattresses without
proper support are notorious for exacerbating
lower back symptoms. In any case, I purchased a
new firmer mattress, which was helpful in
alleviating some of my lower back pain. However,
I've noticed even further improvement in my own
lower back symptoms since placing a Memory Foam
Factory mattress topper on my own new mattress.
What lifestyle changes could I make in order
to reduce my pain?
Obviously it takes more than just memory
foam and a good mattress to alleviate back and
neck pain. In general a good exercise program
focusing on both flexibility and strengthening
is going to be part of the foundation of any
orthopedist's plan to treat most common forms of
lower back and neck pain. Weight control is also
very important for people with lower back pain.
Of course there are many other treatments that
are recommended on an individual basis depending
on a patient's particular problem.
How important is sleep to a healthy body?
It doesn't take a physician to know that a
good night's sleep is crucial to one's general
health and sense of well-being. In fact, recent
medical studies have shown that failure to get a
good night's sleep can have significant
systematic effects on one's body, such as
weakening one's immune system. It's been known
for a long time that poor academic performance
can often be attributed to lack of adequate
sleep.
A truly
restful night's sleep rejuvenates your entire
body. The more your sleep is disturbed, the more
your heart is unnecessarily taxed. A
conventional bed's harder surface causes you to
toss and turn more keeping your heart beating
harder than it should. Too much mattress
pressure on shoulders and hips also affects
circulation causing your heart to beat harder to
keep blood flowing.
Your sleep comes in 2 phases: REM (Rapid Eye
Movement) and non-REM. Non-REM sleep is the
quiet sleep that does the most good for your
body: your cells replenish, your spine reabsorbs
water to stay flexible, muscles fully relax,
skin re-hydrates and heals and circulation is
steady.
Conventional beds or mattresses with a hard
surface provide improper support and reflect
heat and moisture, disturbing non-REM sleep and
forcing you into REM sleep. During REM sleep,
your heart rate and blood pressure increase,
breathing is shallow and your brain waves
increase resulting in very little rest. Studies
have shown that proper posture and support
promote non-REM sleep. The right sleep system
fosters all the principles that lead to this
deep, healthy sleep.
The hot topic in sleep research is the effect of
temperature and humidity on the body and the
quality of sleep. Thermal imbalance is probably
the single greatest detriment to sleep.
Conventional bedding and mattresses trap and
hold moisture causing higher humidity. The heart
rate increases, by as many as ten more beats a
minute. Blood pressure climbs, sleep becomes
shallow, so there is less non-REM. These
synthetics provide a perfect climate for molds,
mildew and dust mites to thrive. The right sleep
system will absorb body heat and conduct
moisture away from the body.
The more we read about conventional mattresses,
the clearer it becomes they're just not healthy
for us. A standard flat mattress puts higher
pressure on shoulders, hips and thighs, which
constricts the veins and disrupts cell
structure. Heart rate increases as the heart
pumps harder to keep blood flowing causing blood
pressure to climb, stressing your body. Major
studies show that pressure becomes unhealthy at
levels over 40 mmHg (millimeters of mercury).
Standard mattresses put an average of 56 mmHg on
weight-bearing surface of the body. When lying
on your side, you can be receiving 61 mmHg of
pressure on the hip alone. This causes people to
toss and turn up to 200 times a night as opposed
to 12 to 40. The more restless you are, the less
rest your body gets.
Sumner E. Karas, MD
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