Does a Memory foam mattress cause Neck pain?
Yes, memory foam can also cause neck pain because it is thick and heavy, so you sink into it. Moreover, its age, heat-absorbing quality, and wrong sleeping positions can also hurt your neck.
Everyone knows memory foam is a common mattress choice, especially among people with back pain. They believe that memory foam will relieve their burdens. However, memory foam can cause you some sleep issues, including neck pain.
Yes, memory foam can also cause neck pain because it is thick and heavy, so you sink into it. The problem is that your neck muscles are weak and you are not used to using them because a pillow usually supports your head.
While it sounds good to have a soft surface on which to sleep, a memory foam mattress does not give back support to your spine. This forces your body to work harder, which is why you wake up in the morning feeling less refreshed.
If you’re a back or neck pain sufferer, this article will surely help you and guide you about the reasons for neck pain due to memory foam mattresses.
How Can a Memory Foam Mattress Hurt Your Neck?
1. Softness and Firmness
Memory foam is a healthier, more comfortable mattress material for sleepers than springy coils or bouncy latex. It’s also supposed to be much easier on your joints and help relieve aches from arthritis or soreness from an injury. However, many people with chronic neck pain have reported that memory foam mattresses caused their pain.
Memory foam is great for accommodating different body shapes and sizes, but it’s not the best choice if you tend to toss and turn during the night and prefer a softer surface that conforms to your body.
Memory foam doesn’t always give enough for side sleepers. Since memory foam works well with more weight, it can push down too hard against the shoulder of a sleeper who’s moving around in his sleep.
This constant firm pressure can cause muscle strain in the neck and shoulders, creating pain in the morning when you wake up.
In addition to being too firm, memory foam can also be silky. Sleepers who like plush, pillowy mattresses tend to like memory foam because it absorbs pressure well and molds around their body. But this comfort comes at a cost: unlike firm mattresses that keep the spine aligned properly while a person is sleeping.
2. Neck Alignment
The problem with memory foam mattresses is that they lack good neck alignment. Memory foam mattresses can cause your head and neck to sink lower than the rest of your body as you lie down on them.
When you sleep on your back, this can be less of an issue because gravity will pull your head up; but when you are lying on either side, the force of gravity will be pulling more on your head than your shoulder, allowing your head to sink into the mattress instead of being propped up by it.
3. Sleeping in the Wrong position
If you’ve woken up from a deep sleep with a stiff neck, it might not have been entirely due to the lumpy mattress you were sleeping on. The problem is that sleeping in the wrong position is easy and causes neck pain.
And if you’re the type who doesn’t wake up with a stiff neck, that means you’re sleeping on your side instead.
You’d think it would be easy to avoid sleeping in the wrong position, but when we’re exhausted at the end of the day, we tend to fall into our favorite positions. Unfortunately, those favorite positions are often causing us pain or discomfort when we wake up (if we even wake up at all).
Turning your head and resting it all on one pillow can be tempting if you’re rolling over onto your side. When doing this, you’ll find that your head is suddenly too high up for your pillow, so your neck will naturally bend back awkwardly.
4. Sleeping on a Faulty or Worn-Out Mattress
Sleeping on a memory foam mattress is a lovely experience and feels like sleeping on a cloud.
A mattress that has been worn for too long and has not been taken care of properly can have the opposite effect. Sleeping on an old mattress or one with a faulty design can cause neck pain.
It is a well-known fact that the quality of the mattress you sleep on can profoundly affect your sleep and overall health.
Unfortunately, many people suffering from neck pain are unaware of the connection between their pain and the state of their mattress. When you sleep on a worn-out or faulty mattress, you will likely wake up with neck pain and other aches and pains.
To eliminate neck pain, start investing in a high-quality memory foam mattress. A new Memory foam mattress provides comfort and support according to your body’s needs for a good night’s sleep.
5. Memory Foam Absorbs Body Heat
If you sleep in the same position for hours, your body heat will gradually be absorbed by the mattress. The memory foam mattress has a larger number of cells that can absorb more than 80% of human weight, making it more likely to cause neck pain.
6. Sleeping in a Hot Room.
Temperature directly impacts sleep and thus your general health. When you’re sleeping in a hot room, your body will naturally sweat, so your neck will be wet and sticky when you wake up.
If you’ve ever slept on a memory foam mattress and woken up with neck pain, there’s a good chance the moisture from your skin caused it.
According to a recent Harvard School of Public Health study, people who reported sleeping in hot rooms were more than twice as likely to have neck pain than those who slept in cooler rooms.
Conclusion
Overall, the consensus is that memory foam mattresses are generally more comfortable for most people, as long as you are aware of the potential health problems. In this regard, no one can deny neck pain because memory foam mattress is the most hectic.
Several reasons have been explained above to illustrate the facts.
You may deny it, but Memory foam is the best foam mattress. And with some little cons, you can pick maximum benefits from it.
