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As has been stated elsewhere on this website, sitting with bad posture causes more stress on the intervertebral discs of the spine than any other body position.
In the lying position the stress is least. However, the spine still needs support. A very soft mattress allows the spine to sag out of position. Too hard a mattress will support the shoulder blades and buttocks, but not the lumbar spine.
When choosing a mattress lie flat on your back on the mattress. Your shoulder blades and buttocks should sink into the mattress. Try sliding a hand between the mattress and your lumbar spine. If you experience some difficulty in doing this it means your spine is being supported. In general avoid a so called orthopaedic mattress that tends to be very firm, supports the buttocks and shoulder blades, but allows the spine to sag unsupported, putting pressure on the discs and may cause pain.
The Back Shop Memory Mattress, made from visco elastic, a revolutionary new material, is the ultimate in mattress technology.
My name is Colm Campbell, an engineer, who had a serious back problem. I have been running The Back Shop in Exchequer Street for over 25 years.
I am now totally pain free, thanks to my invention, Spinal System-S, which gives the information to manufacture custom made office, home and car seats that guarantee perfect posture. Some ten thousand back sufferers have used the System-S, and are now sitting without pain.
I am pain free because at no time during the day does my spine go out of its own unique S shape. Lying in bed has always been my problem. I have spent many years experimenting with various types of mattresses, trying without success to find one that would give pain free sleep, with no aches in my joints the next morning.
Over the years no matter what mattress I used my wife complained that, when I got out of bed, the bedclothes looked as if a herd of elephants had been trampling over them, the result of continuous tossing and turning in a vain effort to get rid of niggling back pain.
I solved my problem some five years ago by placing a two-inch layer of pressure relieving visco-elastic on top of the mattress. Visco-elastic was invented by NASA to relieve the incredible G-forces experienced by astronauts during take-off.
Since then lying in bed has been bliss, and when I get out of bed every morning the bedclothes are in pristine condition, the result of hardly moving my body position throughout the night. The combination of visco-elastic and the conventional spring mattress results in my spine always being in its correct sleeping posture. The disadvantage is that the two inch layer of visco-elastic creeps and has to be adjusted back into position before a night's sleep. We have now solved this problem.
The Back Shop Memory Mattress (see drawing) duplicates the sleeping system I perfected over the last five years.
The mattress consists of two layers. The top three-inch layer is visco-elastic, the bottom a six-inch layer of special springs, which prevent rolling into the centre This combination results in perfect posture, and the feeling of the body being suspended in space.
One of the characteristics of visco-elastic is that it is temperature sensitive, and softens with heat. Lying on your back, or side, results in the top layer of the mattress slowly attaining body heat, softening, allowing the body to sink into the mattress, until eventually it takes up an exact imprint of your body. Your bottom and shoulder blades slowly sink into the mattress thereby guaranteeing correct support for the lumbar and upper spine.
Similarly, lying on your side, the hips and shoulders sink in, giving lateral support to spine.
Moving position results in the mattress immediately starting to lose the imprint of your body and coming back to its original shape. It remembers where it should be; , hence we call it "The Memory Mattress".
Another characteristic of visco-elastic is that it immediately collapses when pressure is applied. This can be demonstrated by placing a large bunch of keys on the mattress. Sitting on the keys causes the visco-elastic underneath to immediately collapse, resulting in the keys sinking into the mattress, and the person being totally unaware of the keys being sat on.
The practical application of this is that where bony parts of the body (ankles, heels, knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, shoulder blades) touch the mattress it immediately collapses. Pressure, the cause of bedsores, aches and pains etc., is removed from the joints and distributed over adjoining areas.
The combination of visco-elastic and coiled springs creates "bounce", allowing the body to move position more easily.
The Back Shop Memory Mattress is the best mattress I have ever slept on. It is available in most sizes. You are welcome to call to the shop and try it for yourself.
We are so confident of this claim that we offer a no quibble ten-day money back guarantee.
The Back Shop Memory Pillow is made from the same visco-elastic as the mattress. It also softens with body heat, moulds itself around your neck, resulting in the natural curve of the neck being correctly supported throughout a night's sleep.
The following extract from a letter typifies many responses:
"For the first time in months, since I had back surgery, I am at last getting a full night's sleep. This mattress gives my back support at all times, resulting in a great feeling of comfort. Before that I found each mattress either too soft or too hard, resulting in restless painful nights. Now with the Memory Mattress, not alone do I get a good night's sleep, but also my back is vastly improved. In fact it is only when away from home and sleeping on another mattress I realise just how good and how much support to my spine the Memory Mattress gives."