Not all Foams are the Same
By Syd Sharpe Marketing Consultant, COCA

At COCA’s 7^th Biennual Conference some of the Delegates seemed to believe that Memory Foam and Visco Elastic foam are very much alike and this is not totally correct.

Visco Elastic foam was designed by NASA for the comfort of those involved in space travel. It was found that they were becoming uncomfortable when sitting or lying down for a long time and this was affecting their performance.

The similarity between Memory Foam and Visco Elastic Foam is that both will quickly revert to their original shape after they have been compressed and that is where the similarity stops.

Rather than try to present the facts I asked Mark Cohen, a Director of Therapod, to answer the question about the similarity of these two foams and his reply is as follows.

“Memory and Visco foam are similar in that both will quickly revert to their original shape, after they have been compressed or pressured.

However, Memory foam is a ‘solid’ block of foam, and as such can not distribute pressure or temperature.

It ultimately acts like any ‘block’ or ‘moulded’ foam – in that it reflects pressure directly back-up at the source which created it.

Visco foam however, is comprised of hundreds of thousands of ‘open’ spherical cells.

It is through these myriad channels that pressure and temperature can move, and they do so – evenly – throughout the entire surface of the product.

As the foam ‘draws’ the temperature away from the body (ie – on a mattress or an office seat), the foam warms-up and becomes gel-like.

This then allows the foam to mould itself 100% to the shape of the person who is laying/sitting on it.

There is no better support than 100% contact – which is why visco is a superior option in both bedding and seating.

The Therapod chairs endorsed by the College have both an adjustable back support and Visco Elastic foam in the seat making them exceptionally comfortable; surely this makes them ideal for your patients especially those on work cover. You can get all the details on www.therapod.com.au.