h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Anyone who has had the staying power to read my PS and journal entries will know that my biggest nightmare on a day out isn't a twisted ankle, it's a puncture.

One of the problems with spinal injury is that the legs can go into violent kicks, especially in the early days before it can be controlled by medication, usually at night in bed.

This happened to me and resulted in deep gouges where my big toe nails carved bits of flesh out, result - leg ulcers.

We just about have them beaten after nearly two and a half years and the help of Manuka Honey but some nights I have terrific pain and sit up for hours, pain killers have little effect, something to do with 'surface nerves' whatever they are.

The upshot of all this is that even the best mattresses (Sealy, Silentnight) tend to break down where I sit for hours, we have got through two during this period and needed a new one. I searched the web having heard of mattresses made of this new space age 'visco-elastic' foam, designed to help Astronaughts survive the 'G' force of take off. I found a dealer supplying them and placed on on order. Waiting period - no way, overnight delivery at zero charge and it arrived this afternoon, how's that for service?.

When it came it was in a less than impressive box just over 4'6" long (the width of the double bed) and about 18" square, Vacuum packed, Hmm, thought I.

Placed on the bed base and the sealed package sliced, it unfolded with great purpose, I haven't seen anything so determined since I was 18yrs old (I wonder if they do implants).

Within seconds a full size, full depth mattress which felt as hard as a brick until you sit on it and begin to realise that it is shaping to your Bum and you can't feel any pressure.

Looks promising, I'll let you know. Anyway it has a 12 year written guarantee.

It's nice to know that life is improving for good old TQ.

The thought of a mattress unfolding "with great determination" just tickled my funny bone!!

It sounds hopeful - let us know the verdict.

Take care UG

hehehe...I enjoyed reading that too

I hope it helps...I've been thinking about getting something like that too, nice to be warned that it comes packed in a tardis seeming box.

*chuckles*

Pleased I gave you guys a chuckle

I used to get critisised for my use of 'Flowery Language' by the grey Suits, surely the point of descriptive language is to implant a vision in the mind.

Four nights, so far so good, less aches and pains, no problem with pressure points, well pleased. We both noticed that when we observed the other sleeping, breathing seemed a lot more relaxed and quieter.

They are supposed to reduce tossing and turning by about 80% and I can certainly vouch for that, even though I didn't move much before due to my incapacity. Our neighbour helped us to install it and had a test lay on it, she described it as like 'laying on warm plasticine', when she gets paid at the Month end I am getting one for her!.

I did a bit of research about this visco-elastic foam stuff, it differs from ordinary foam in a significant way:-

Ordinary foam will compress where the pressure points are and allow the surrounding areas to take more of the weight, but the foam under the pressure is still all there but squashed and therefore less resilient, so the effect is lessened.

Visco-elastic foam 'relaxes' under warmth and pressure, allowing the body to sink in until the whole contact surface gives equal support until such time as the heat/pressure is removed, it then recovers completely ad infinitum.

Mattressess are made like a Lasagne with a centre core of high resilience foam for basic support and topped off with a layer of this stuff either side (if it didn't have the central core wou would sink right through it!!!). This one has a wool padding on one side for Winter and a cotton padded one for Summer at the other. They 'breathe' but are surprisingly warm.

Excellent for Asthma sufferers (also me), they do not support bed mites.

If you want to spend money you can spend £1,000 plus, we got the standard one for £199.00 incl everthing.

Personally I think the days of the sprung mattress are over, they certainly are in Quack Towers.

Hope this is informative.

Quack..

I'm lucky - I can sleep on just about anything clean that can be described as a bed (except for the sea bed, a bed of rocks, a bed of flowers - things like that)

What! with your inebriate habits, you've never slept in a flower bed Alex, clearly you are leading us on

Where exactly do you suppose I would find a flower bed around here...

Do you mean you get pi**ed in the Hospital?

Err, yeah, sounds about right

Aren't we getting threads mixed up, this was supposed to be intelligent and infomative?.

There is a bar at the hospital, but I tend to get 'p****d' elsewhere. Fact.

Oooh! An intelligent person "of a certain age" who knows all about the Bad Leg Stuff; yippeee!!

I shall with great interest around your space! feel free to do likewise!

zdt