My wife and I bought a Tempur Pedic mattress back in the early days when most people hadn't heard of memory foam mattresses. We've slept on it for some years now and, I feel, I can hive an honest opinion of the Tempur Pedic mattress and or memory foam mattresses in general.
We live in an old period house and for many years we slept in an antique French Empire bed. Because antique beds were never made to standard measurements, we had to have the mattress specially made to fit the bed. The mattress was made from inner-springs and horsehair, I believe. The mattress has lasted many years, and is still going strong. To cut a long story short, we redecorated another bedroom, and we did it in the modern style. It is now our new bedroom; guests now sleep in our old bed.
For the new 'modern-look' bedroom we bought a low, Japanese style bed. When looking for a new mattress for the bed, our supplier recommended the Tempur-Pedic mattress. Neither my wife and I had heard of it nor of the 'amazing' new visco-elastic material it was made from. Not adverse to trying something new, we both went to a large department store, which was one of the few places back then that stocked the Tempur mattress; unlike now, where every bedding store sells memory foam mattresses from Tempur Pedic and other.
If you've never lain on a memory foam mattress, I can only say it feels like no other mattress you've slept on before. I can still remember how firm it felt when we initially laid down on it, only to feel it give way and mould itself around us; like a big, soft, lazy sigh. A Tempur Pedic memory foam mattress doesn't have the springiness of traditional mattresses. But that doesn't mean to say it doesn't support you either, on the contrary, my wife and I both find the Tempur mattress to be extremely supportive.
Anyhow, despite it's initial strange feel, we decided to buy it. We were also influenced by the advice we were given by the sales person. We were told how the Tempur Pedic mattress gave unparalleled support because it moulded to your exact body shape; helping to avoid pressure points. The rep also went on to explain how memory foam was the best sleeping solution for sufferers of back pain. I had suffered from back pain before - nothing too serious - but the idea of a mattress that offered relief from backache sounded very appealing.
Finally, the day came when the mattress arrived. The first thing that struck me about the Tempur Pedic mattress was how heavy it was - about the same weight as our horse hair and spring mattress. I couldn't understand why the mattress was so heavy, as it was just a lump of foam with no springs or anything!
Sleeping on the Tempur mattress felt a little strange at first; the lack of springiness and that feeling of gradually sinking into the memory foam. But it didn't take all that long to get used to it and we've now been sleeping on the Tempur mattress for 6 years. And now that I've got the Tempur Pedic mattress, I can honestly say I would never have anything else but a memory foam mattress - quite possibly another Tempur Pedic. When we do sleep on a conventional mattress in a hotel or relatives house, we both notice how the more traditional mattresses don't give the support that memory foam does - we're memory foam snobs.
The biggest plus point about memory foam for me - and my wife - is that there is no mattress movement when one of us moves. I toss and turn a lot during sleep, which used to disturb my wife' sleep; when I turned, a wave motion went through the mattress and my wife suffered the consequences. Now with our Tempur Pedic memory foam mattress there is no movement of the mattress when I toss and turn during the night. And incidentally, I believe my backache has been greatly improved since sleeping on a visco-elastic memory foam mattress.
I've heard and read about some of the negative comments some people have made about Tempur Pedic, or memory foam mattresses in general.
The first negative point many seem to raise is the smell of the mattress when they first take delivery. It's true the mattress does have a slightly 'chemically' smell to it when it first arrives. But after a few weeks, the smell goes away. I can honestly say that the Tempur Pedic mattress we bought was less smelly than the old spring and horsehair mattress we had - and that was a very good quality, expensive mattress from a well-known manufacturer.
Also, some have claimed that the Tempur Pedic mattress looses its shape after some time - dips appear, thus loosing any support you are supposed to get. Well, again, all I can say, is that we've had our Tempur Pedic mattress for some years, have never turned it and it is still as flat as the first day we got it. Perhaps, if the couple, or person sleeping on it, are of a heavy build this might happen. I weight between 190 to 200 pounds - my wife is lighter.
All in all, my wife and I love our Tempur Pedic mattress and would highly recommend Tempur Pedic, or another brand of memory foam mattress - though of course, we're biased and believe Tempur Pedic is the best memory foam mattress you can buy.
Visit bestchoicemattress.com for mattress ratings to find the best memory foam mattress. You can get advice on buying a Serta, Simmons, Jamison or <a href="http://www.bestchoicemattress.com/tempur-pedic-mattress.phpTempur Pedic Mattress.