ORTHOPAEDIC MATTRES

Mattress Toppers

A mattress topper is an addition layer of padding that is laid on top of a mattress for extra comfort. One school of thought suggests that it can make a hard mattress more comfortable and offer some orthopaedic advantages, whilst another suggests that it can salvage a badly worn or failing mattress. The later application is almost certainly not a valid one.

Materials used for mattress toppers tend to be memory foam or Latex foam, hence the orthopaedic body contouring claims made of them.

Mattress toppers lay on an existing mattress with the sheets been made up over them. Most mattress toppers are made from memory foam, although Latex foam is now available, and the benefits of their use potentially include, a further layer of comfort, body shape profiling and, in the case of memory foam, a warmer bed.

Although most mattress toppers tend to be of a foam based material, toppers of goose down and feathers are also available.

Although many claims are made for mattress toppers, it seems highly improbable that they can add any genuine orthopedic characteristics to a mattress. As such, mattress toppers should not be purchased for this purpose alone.

Selecting a mattress topper

Since there are several materials used in different mattress toppers, there are no fixed criteria for determining what to look for, or what makes up the best topper. The following points may however give you some ideas.

• Good quality visco memory foam mattress toppers typically weigh in the region of 4lb or 5lb density. Lighter toppers are unlikely to perform as well.
• The finest quality feather and down mattress toppers will have a 100% cotton cover with a high thread count. The higher the thread count, the more durable and the softer will be the topper cover.
• Many foam toppers will have a contoured profile, this is aimed at facilitating good airflow around the body. A small number of people find memory foam to be overly warm and when this is the case another material may prove better.

How they work

As an example, a memory foam or Latex foam topper can be laid on a firm or hard mattress to make it feel more supportive and body profiling. The harder or firmer the topper base, the more noticeable will be its sleeping characteristics.

Neither a Latex or a memory foam topper will transfer the motion of one sleeper to the other (in a double bed) and therefore both are good at reducing the actual mattress disturbances between two sleepers.

Latex toppers have perforations in their core which aid ventilation and cooling making them feel cooler than memory foam.

General information

The most popular mattress topper material is memory foam and a high density memory foam topper should last for several years.

Visco-elastic memory foam toppers are used in hospitals and homes for the elderly because of their comfort and body shaping properties. They can also help remove the build up of pressure points around areas like the hips during sleep.

No mattress topper, however good, can make a faulty mattress perform properly. A mattress topper will not provide the same orthopaedic characteristics as an orthopaedic mattress.