Orthopedic beds and mattresses

Latex mattresses

The two types of foam found in many of today's luxury mattresses are memory foam (also known as visco foam) and latex foam. Many of these latex mattresses also have exceptional orthopaedic qualities and promote the deepest stages of sleep (i.e. stages 3 and 4). Latex mattresses can be classified as a variation of memory foam by some manufacturers and may be called "latex memory foam" or "visco memory foam" mattresses.

Latex and body shape

The main orthopaedic quality of a latex mattress is its naturally tendency to conform to the shape of the body and, by so doing, to naturally and automatically reduce the body's critical pressure points. The ability of a mattress to balance the qualities of support and body shape conformity are at the heart of its orthopaedic performance.

Natural Latex Foam Rubber mattresses are made using natural latex foam rubber instead of petrochemical polyurethane foam. These hypoallergenic mattresses are anti-bacterial and resist moisture build up, as well as mould and dust-mites. But their strongest selling property is their comfort and support of aching joints and muscles. As such they have excellent orthopaedic characteristics.

Latex mattresses, and the emergence of orthopaedic latex mattresses, are a comparatively recent innovation in the bedding industry. Latex mattresses can come in many tensions from soft and comfortable to very firm and hard – but the characteristic that they all share is good support for the resting body.

Latex or memory foam

Orthopaedic Latex mattresses have a denser feel to them (it is claimed) than memory foam and are great at helping to relieve the pressure points of the body. Furthermore, Latex does not react to heat like memory foam, which means that it is more resilient and pushes back against the sleeping body.

A Latex foam mattress has the ability to conform well with the shape of the body (much like memory foam), however, latex foam offers a springy resistance which is more similar to a coil mattresses.

Latex differs from memory foam in its elastic, open-cell structure - a structure that recovers from pressure immediately. Latex is a very supportive, yet conforming material and importantly, Latex does not "sleep hot" because its open-cell structure allows it to breathe. The reverse of this (i.e. "sleeping hot") is a criticism that some direct at standard memory foam mattresses.

A Latex mattress does not let off gas in the form of "toxic petrochemicals" like memory foam and "synthetic" chemical mattresses. But Latex allergies can be a serious problem for certain individuals (i.e. if they have an intolerance to the material).

The above can be summarised by stating that, Latex is the most durable orthopaedic mattress material available, it is not heat sensitive like memory foam and it takes a long time to wear out.

Reasons to buy an orthopaedic latex mattress

The main feature that may makes latex the perfect orthopaedic mattress choice for you is the fact that these mattresses mould to the body's shape and they do so in a very neutral way. The other striking feature of these mattresses is that they are "temperature sensitive", i.e. as the body temperature increases, the mattress will allow the sleeper to sink deeper and deeper into it. The concept is that, as you fall into a deeper sleep (with your body temperature increasing), you sink further into the mattress and feel a greater level of comfort.

Some Latex mattress manufacturers like Dunlopillo, use a process called "Talalay", where natural Latex is blended with a synthetic latex to make the latex foam which we know as the latex mattresses. Some memory foam mattresses also have a little latex mixed in to increase the memory foam's resilience.

Because of show room and floor space restrictions, both Latex and memory foam mattresses are poorly represented in retail bed outlets. For this reason the internet still represents the best and most extensive source of latex foam bed retaillers.