Scoliosis and Memory Foam Mattresses
I have been receiving many emails about memory foam and whether it actually works.
I will let you into the secrets of my good night's sleep and what I think about memory foam and why it has helped me so much, for starters I no longer sleep with Valium, I simply don't need it.
The memory foam that I sleep on was invented by a guy in the UK, who, unfortunately does not have the dollars behind him that his competitors like Tempur do, therefore he has not been as recognised as a brand name like he should have been - it's all down to money, and what a shame that is.
I have heard great reports about Tempur mattresses and I have tried one, however, I have to say that their product is not as wonderful as the OroMed Sleep System that I use - you understand that this is MY personal opinion and I am entitled to have one ;)
I started my quest for memory foam 4 years ago, I just couldn't sleep and was getting beyond my tether of walking around the house at night in tears because I was worn out and in heaps of pain, pain is worse at night as the body slows down and tries to go into sleep phase. My first problem was my Harrington, at the top where it connects to my spine, it pokes out (we call it rod pokage!), on any conventional mattress the rod and mattress would fight against each other, after a few hours of this my skin would become very sore and I would wake up and not be able to get back to sleep - it was driving me insane.
So, I decided to do some searches on the internet and call a few companies to see what was on the market that may help this catch 22 scenario that I had found myself in - we had already spent a small fortune on what shops call "orthopaedic mattress" - no such thing!!! I found OroMed HealthCare and gave them a call. I spoke with Ljubo who explained his product to me, (I didn't realise at the time that he was the man who invented this bed!) how it worked and why and we decided to go ahead and my bed arrived in Spain 3 weeks later.
OroMed created their sleep system with back pain in the forefront of their minds, in fact, Ljubo himself had a back injury from Football and this is what set him about inventing a mattress that could relieve this pressure from his lumbar spine - the lumbar is where I have the most pain, although the rod pokage we talked about earlier was a major problem - pre memory foam mattress - this issue has been resolved and I do not complain about this problem any more.
Along with the mattress I also have their adjustable bed technology, they have built the World's First fully automated sleep system and it is the dog's gonads! You programme your most comfortable sleep positions and while you are asleep the bed will recognise when you have turned from back to side, front to back and so on and change the bed to the selections you programmed before you went to sleep - genius!
They also changed the mattress and this encompasses a "recess". A mattress with recess which is of a sandwich configuration, the top section being made of high density Visco-elastic slow recovery foam which is sensitive to body weight and temperature. However, at the heart of the mattress is what clinicians agree to be the main reason for Oro's remarkable success - it's unique pressure relief comfort recess.
The pressure relief comfort recess ensures that the sleeper is held in the most ergonomically efficient pressure free position, with the spine and neck held in a natural line from head to hips. It provides an invaluable aid to circulation and creates the opportunity for long, undisturbed and health giving sleep, eliminating stiff necks, tense shoulders or aching backs.
I do appreciate that what we sleep on is personal comfort but the answer to the questions I have been getting are: YES it has helped me, no it can't cure your back pain if you have Scoliosis but getting a good night's sleep does help you fight the next day ahead and if that means I don't get pain until the afternoon, whereas before it never left me, I think I can call that an achievement, there is no cure for my Scoliosis and I am well aware that I will be living in pain until my death bed, all I want for my life now is to be able to enjoy some of it and use as many aids as possible to make my life comfortable - having my adjustable bed with memory foam is a major player in this fight against pain.
Now, if I have pains during the day and I just can't cope - guess where I go - TO BED! ;)
Comments
I checked out the website for the Memory Foam Mattress, so much information, I got a bit tired but did email them and will see what I get back. My pain is mainly on one side, so I don't know if this is for me, it looks like the hospital beds, which for me is just tearful memories. However, you did get me all excited when you said it makes you feel better in the mornings. My mornings are the WORST!!! My work has suffered a great deal as well, because I sometimes just could not get out of bed on time - and no, not being lazy here, I wish!!! Just too much pain slows everything down.
About the heat pads - again thank you for the link :) I might ask a friend of mine who is in the UK to send me some. I use the old water bottles hehehe you know the one's old people use :( I have actually burnt myself sometimes without realising, just to numb the pain!!! I still cannot decide which is better, the hot or the cold ones. I think the hot ones are more relaxing in a way.
Thank you again and like I said, still waiting for the responses I get from the doctors, and the minute I do, will email you all the details. Call it wishful thinking, or just being naively optimistic, but I still cannot accept that I will be in pain until my death bed - cant do it!!! I hope that is not going to be the case either...also not for u too!! we are too young, beautiful and good to go through that..oh and modest ;)
Anyways, thought I would end it with that for now..thank you for being great and will definitely keep in touch :) xx
My pain is also localised on one side, my donor site over my left hip is what I have been suffering most with, over the years, therefore, I beg to differ that the mattress would not help you because you have pain on one side only.
As for the heat patches, I sell these from my website, I am a distributor for the Japanese patches - they work in the same way as the UK versions, last just as long but they are cheaper!
Be careful with cold treatment and remember R.I.C.E, I will blog about this also :)
I've tried sleeping on spring mattresses, and they just hurt way too much. This semester at school, I pulled out my futon, and put 3 pads on it. I also put a mattress pad, and a thick comforter, which I sleep on top of. I've found that it works a great deal better than spring mattresses, and while my pain may come back in the morning, I can sleep comfortably without painkillers.
Keep giving us the info, I love to read it, and thank you for taking the time to find it. :)
~Amy~
(lifewithscoliosis.blogspot.com)
This is the trouble with all these lovely beds and mattresses, they come at a price, however, OroMed do sell just a mattress for under $1000, this is without the pressure relief recess and is just a memory foam mattress without the hole!
However, I saved up for my bed as there is nothing better than having somewhere to go when I have immense pain and this was happening on a regular basis, for me it is money well spent as I feel great every morning and I can sleep throughout the night - this was not something I could do pre memory foam.
I also think that our backs need as much help as they can get, even if you don't have Scoliosis - my husband sleeps on one also and for that reason (forgetting Scoliosis for a moment) alone I would have bought this bed any day of the week.
Our backs are very important and we should take great care to look after them, only the best will do! :)
I am pleased to hear that you have found a solution for sleeping, until such time that you can afford a decent mattress, being able to sleep without the pain killers is a real bonus, I used to need a Valium every night, pre memory foam, I ended up hooked on the stuff and then had to go cold turkey to come off them - not good and a bad vicious circle to get into.