Memory Foam

If you suffer now or have ever suffered from allergies, you know how truly annoying and inconvenient they can be. Even if they are mild, it can still leave you feeling like you’re suffering from cold symptoms but without the relief of knowing they’ll fade in a few days. If you spend most of the spring hacking, sneezing, and dabbing watering eyes, you can at least find some relief at night when you’re indoors and away from these allergens.

But for many allergy sufferers, even this isn’t the case. If you’re sensitive to something like down or other feathers, you can lose some serious sleep trying to stifle the sniffling caused by your comforter and pillow. For people with these symptoms, it’s a great idea to invest in an allergy free pillow. Hopefully, this will give you enough relief to escape the allergens, at least until the next morning!

When it comes to receiving enough sleep appropriate for your body, you can’t fool your brain!  Our brains are a very precise and demanding bookkeeper when it comes to keeping tabs on our sleep quotient.  You are not able to “cheat” on the sleep you give to your body.  Your brain will figure out a way to make you pay it back, which unfortunately may be by making you get sick with a cold or flu and then you have no choice but to rest!

Sleep debt is a term used to refer to the difference between the number of hours slept versus the number of hours a body should have slept.  Staying awake long past the time when your brain told you it was time for bed, causes you to build up sleep debt.

Be obedient and listen to your brain.  Allow your body the rest it needs and why not ensure you are resting properly by purchasing a memory foam pillow.  Memory foam will adjust to your body temperature and weight to relieve pressure as it conforms, shifts and molds to your head and neck for comfort and support.

Most of us awake each morning and rarely remember too much of our night’s sleep nor rarely consider what has been going on inside our bodies during the last 8 or less hours.  We only know if we awake refreshed feeling or groggy!  Let’s take a sneak preview of what really goes on at night…

There are 5 distinct stages of sleep, each serving a unique purpose.  Stages 1-4 are referred to as the non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and the 5th stage is the rapid eye movement sleep (REM).   These stages are repeated between 5-6 times each night.

The first cycle of sleep allows us to spend a long time in deep sleep (stages 3 and 4) and a shorter time in REM sleep.  As the night progresses and the cycles continue, REM sleep periods become longer and the deep sleep periods get shorter.  As the morning light begins to appear, our body approaches wakefulness, pushing deep sleep away almost completely and our brains go between stages 1 and 2 and REM sleep.

Here follows a quick description of each stage:

1. Stage 1 - This is where the brain and body relax, breathing becomes more regular and muscle activity gradually decreases.  This stage mostly serves as the transition between sleep and wakefulness.  It is a very light sleep.
2. Stage 2 - This stage accounts for approximately 50% of all sleep time.  The heartbeat and respiration slow and become very regular and the sleeper’s body relaxes more deeply.
3. Stage 3-4 - These are deep sleep stages.  The sleeper is very relaxed, with a slow regular heartbeat and breathing.  Most of the body’s necessary repair work occurs during this stage.
4. Stage 5 or REM sleep - Most of the dreams occur at this point. Heartbeat speeds up and breathing rate increases and the body actually becomes temporarily paralyzed which prevents the physical acting out of dreams.  This stage is around 20-25% of total sleep time in an adult.

To carry you through all these stages of sleep, our memory foam pillows are here to support and comfort you.

How many of you test your vehicle’s gas-tank to see how low that little red line can go down before your vehicle really runs out of gas?  If you are like me, I like to play it safe because I really do not want to have to walk to find a gas station or be late or just plain be inconvenienced or be stressed while I’m driving wondering when I’m going to run out!  Now, my husband on the other hand, enjoys that little game, and he’ll push it until I’m sure we are on vapours only!  Well no matter whether you play it safe or risk things a bit, we all know that eventually that red line on the gas gauge will drop and gas will run out and the vehicle will stop running.

Similarly we can think of sleep as the fuel that keeps our brain going.  Lack of sleep can put our brains on empty.  There is so much that goes on in our bodies when we close our eyes.  Just read a few of them and you’ll begin to understand better why you need your rest.

• The brain directs the body to heal, repair itself, rebuild damaged or worn out tissues and restore chemical balance
• The immune system develops cells to fight off infection and disease
• The pituitary gland produces growth hormones

Your body may be motionless at night but your brain is definitely active!  It becomes apparent that our bodies require the most comfort at night to ensure a sound sleep.  Consider memory foam pillows for great end of the day comfort.

There’s nothing worse than trying to get sleep while the person next to you is snoring away. It’s particularly frustrating because you’re suffering while the other person is blissfully sleeping, completely unaware of how much they’re disrupting your sleep cycle. This is cited as a common problem among couples, but there are certain ways to solve the issue. For one, the non-snorer can always wear earplugs to bed. This will drown out the sound and allow you an uninterrupted night’s sleep.

But if you’re opposed to that for any reason, you can also have the person try a snore no more pillow. Specially designed, this pillow will help the person’s neck align the way it is intended to. This correct alignment stops the snoring in many individuals. If the problem continues, however, and you simply can’t take it anymore, consider consulting a doctor. The snoring might be the sign of something more serious at play such as sleep apnea.

Did you know that as you get older, the tendency is that you will snore more?  For some of you this will raise the alarms if you are presently dealing with someone who snores quite a bit already!  Why is it that some people can lay on a couch or rest on a sofa-chair no matter what the time of day and within no time you have several “trains” running through your house!  Chances are these individuals are not resting well at night so anytime they can sit, they grab a few “zzz’s!

What is preventing them from a good night’s rest?  It may be their sleeping posture.  If they do not have a firm healthy support under their head and neck, it may cause an unnatural position to lay in which contributes to airway obstruction.  Stress pressure and tension can be caused to vessels, nerves, neck muscles and ligaments.   Not only is there improper rest, but tension headaches, muscle spasms, stiff necks, poor circulation and shoulder pain could be resulting.

The Snore-No-More pillow has been designed to help reduce airway obstruction and improve sleeping posture.

Don’t wait until the snoring increases with age, look after those needs today!

We’ve talked about this before but I don’t think we can hear it often enough,  sleep is important to our health!  It can help ward off heart attacks, high blood pressure, obesity, stroke and mental impairment.  It can aid in the occurrence of injuries due to lack of mental alertness.  These injuries may be in the home, work place or, more dangerous yet, while driving where innocent people may be affected.  Receiving less than 6 hours of sleep a night affects coordination, reaction time and judgment, achieving the same effects as being drunk!

Play it safe and follow these recommendations for a better night’s sleep:

• Maintain regular sleep hours.
• Avoid naps during the day if you are prone to having difficulty sleeping at night.
• Moving to another bedroom or location when you aren’t able to sleep stops the mental block to a particular environment that seems to keep you awake.
• Avoid the added stimulus to your body encouraged by watching television in bed or listening to music.
• Exercise during the daytime but avoid it late in the evening.
• Keep your bedroom for sleep, not watching television or working on the computer, etc.
• Stretching is a good idea before going to bed as a form of relaxation.
• Keep a notepad and pen or pencil by your bed to write down concerns that come to your mind while trying to sleep.
• If you are eating a heavy meal, allow 2 or more hours before you retire to bed for the digestion to occur.
• Make sure you have a comfortable mattress and pillow that encourages proper body alignment. 

In the last few weeks we have included some suggestions to help keep your back in it’s best condition and this week we have our final five to continue to aid in relieving annoying back-pain.

1. Magnesium is known to help maintain normal muscle and nerve function so it may be worth your time to visit your family doctor to determine if you are magnesium deficient.
2. It may be time to consider purchasing a new mattress!  The firmness of your mattress can affect your lower back.  A medium firm mattress is believed to be the best according to a study done in Spain.  You may want to explore the possibility of a memory foam mattress.  You can begin your research with testing a memory foam pillow and once you discover it’s benefit you may want more of a good thing!
3. A regular massage may be just what the doctor ordered!  Massages can reduce stress and loosen up any tight muscles.
4. The power of a tennis ball may surprise you!  If you place it under the part of your back that is hurting, while laying flat or standing against a wall, it will relieve the tightness of the muscle that is hurting as the pressure is placed on it.
5. There are other devices that can be purchased which aid in strengthening and stretching lower back muscles, such as the inverter table.  If you are considering any product, ensure it’s safety for your body.