If you are shopping for a new bed and are wondering what type of mattress would suit your needs best, then you'll find several options out there. The majority of choices will involve spring mattresses, but you may also look at alternating pressure (a very sophisticated form of air mattress), or even foam. Be sure to check mattress review websites for each different kind, to get a good idea what's out there. And when looking into foam, don't forget to read up on the visco memory foam mattresses.

Spring mattresses have been the North American standard for so long that other kinds regularly get compared to them. A mattress review site will demonstrate that, even if the reviews are for mattresses of memory foam, and certainly the air flow mattresses will be the same. Even people who have spring mattresses often want the give of springs, so they "cheat" and buy a memory foam topper to lie over their existing bed. This way they still get the slight bounce they're looking for, but get the added softness and support of the foam.

Springs can lose their shape eventually, but foam mattresses may also do so. Various types of reviews on mattresses will point out the difference between ordinary foam and memory foam. The latter is much denser, with millions of tiny cells that soften with body heat but "remember" their original shape as they cool. So a mattress made of ordinary foam will flatten much sooner than one made from memory foam.

Another comparison you might find would be between memory foam and the alternating pressure mattress. This mattress has small air cells inside that are inflated and deflated with electric controls. Studies have shown that both the visco memory foam mattress and this air mattress give better support than other types. Yet it was the alternating air pressure mattress that did the best job of preventing bedsores, because the force pressing on a person's body differed from time to time.

With so many different types of mattress out there, and so many options within each category, mattress review sites will provide invaluable information for you, and can provide a lot of tips. You might decide that a good spring mattress is exactly what you want, or perhaps you'll look into an air mattress. Whether you choose one of those, or go for a 2, 3 or 4 inch memory foam mattress, these reviews will definitely give you plenty of information.