Core memory: those old-school mattress commercials where someone jumps on one side of the bed and a glass of red wine stays upright on the other. To my kid-eyes, the glass’s lack of wobble seemed like magic. In reality, it was thanks to memory foam, a polyurethane-based material that conforms to your touch and absorbs the vibrations caused by movement.
Mattresses made from this material tend to be softer and less bouncy than hybrid mattresses or traditional innerspring options. They’re known for being squishy, and for allowing your body to sink down into them—famously, your body leaves behind an imprint when you get out of bed. According to , a spine specialist with the Hartford HealthCare Connecticut Orthopaedic Institute, memory foam mattresses can help alleviate night-time aches and pains and prevent morning stiffness.
This is because the responsive materials help distribute your body weight more evenly, he tells SELF. There are a lot of types of memory foam that can wind up in your mattress. Those include gel, which has natural cooling properties; open cell, with pockets for air flow; and more.
Most will have these layers: A supportive base foam for stability A transition layer to provide a buffer between the base and comfort layer A pressure-relieving foam on top for comfort Sound dreamy? To help you decide on the best mattress for you, we tapped a range of experts, including spine specialists and an allergist, to learn what qualities and features to look for when .