It's sometimes tough to get that oh so needed good nights sleep we all enjoy, often times it can be our bed or mattress keeping us from enjoying a good nights sleep, how ever you can't afford a new mattress. Coming up with the several hundred to thousand dollars it costs today to get a quality mattress is down right impossible for most of us, so is there an alternative solution to this problem?

You can make your old bed feel like new to you, even if you have a conventional spring mattress. Consider a memory foam mattress topper, also known as a pillow top. With this you can enjoy the comfort and good nights sleep of a new mattress but at a fraction the price.

The material used in these foam mattress toppers, known as memory foam is designed to contour around the curves of your body providing superb support that's needed in the back and hip area. Watch as you get up off of your bed in the morning, and the memory foam springs right back to it's original shape, truly a wonder material.

While there aren't an immense amount of features to a foam mattress topper there is one that's most important. The thickness of the pad is what will make the difference between, feeling better or the same as your old mattress. The thicker the pad, the more support you're going to have in the needed areas around your back and hips. Also the density of the foam can play a role in how much it sinks to contour around your body. A 4 lb density is wonderful but might be tough to find. Many memory foam mattresses come with a 4 density rating, how ever a topper is meant to give your bed a new feel not replace a new bed all together.

Foam memory pillows are also being offered by manufactures to give the added support to the head and neck area. These types of pillows usually don't wear as quickly as the topper or the mattress.

A great addition if you're purchasing a memory foam mattress topper are memory foam or latex pillows. They provide your neck and head the added support it needs through the night to help keep your spine aligned for a great nights sleep.

Disadvantages of Foam Mattress Toppers

The topper itself from a comfort stand point doesn't really have any downfalls, how ever they don't breath really well. Meaning on warmer evenings you'll tend to sweat more, and you might find yourself needing to sleep more to feel refreshed. Also depending on the thickness of the topper you purchase you might potentially require new sheets to fit over your mattress and the topper.