Air mattress or air bed

There are two types of air mattress.

• The first is the "put me up" inflatable mattress that is used as a temporary sleeping accommodation solution for extra guests, but which offers a short term and comparatively poor quality of bedding. (This type of mattress is not dealt with here.)
• The second is the orthopedic or medical air mattress and this is a very different and much more permanent sleeping solution.

Orthopedic air mattress – the advantages

Air mattresses can be used for back care and they can even play a role in hospitals where their adjustable features can offer precise control over the pressure that is applied to specific parts of the body.

These orthopedic or surgical air mattress products have a clever design that uses multiple independent air pockets that can be inflated, deflated and balanced individually. This is done using a remote control that operates electric pumps that vary the pressure in the various pockets of the mattress based upon the users settings.

These mattresses are divided up into different zones and each zone (a separate air pocket) can be inflated and have its pressure level monitored and changed by the operator.

This can be invaluable if a patient (or any individual) has high sensitivity over certain parts of their body, or if they have surgical wounds or bed sores that would benefit from localized areas of pressure relief.

This kind of air bed may also be a solution for anyone with a chronic physical ailment who would get relief from being able to adjust (either permanently or periodically) the amount of resistance that a mattress applies to various parts of their body.

Air mattresses of this type and specification are neither cheap nor widely available, however they can be a specialist solution for some ailments, injuries and illnesses. Additionally, they can often help while a patient who is convalescing after surgery or injuries.

Whilst there is no obvious alternative to an air mattress, particularly when it comes to varying the pressures exerted by different sectors of its construction, a water bed is probably the closest simulation. Cheap fold way and temporary air mattresses do not make good long term beds solutions and they should not be considered as a permanent bed.

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