Making sure you get your full eight hours of rest is imperative for your overall health. It helps you stay invigorated throughout the day, improves your immune system and boosts your memory.
That said, the foundation of a good night’s sleep lies in the quality and comfort of your mattress.
To meet your needs, mattresses are available in a wide variety of materials from latex to spring coils or memory foam and many more, each with a distinct firmness and features to suit every individual and achieve great sleep night after night.
Importance of a good mattress
It has long been established that the wrong mattress can affect your ability to fall asleep and cause significant back pain. A suitable mattress is one that supports the pressure-sensitive parts of your body when you lie down - your shoulders, ankles and hips.
Moreover, you want a mattress that provides sufficient cushion so that your body is comfortable, whilst taking into consideration individual characteristics such as sleeping position and body weight.
A poor mattress that does not fit the above criteria can result in numerous body ailments. The most notable of these being back and neck pain, which typically occurs when a mattress sags in the middle. This results in your spine receiving insufficient support, which can have long-lasting negative effects on your health and wellbeing.
Spinal pain also occurs when you sleep on a mattress that is too soft or firm. To this end, memory foam mattresses alleviate this problem by redistributing your body weight during sleep, removing any unnecessary pressure on your spine and joints.
How comfortable a mattress feels will thus depend on the amount of proper body support it offers.
Common mattress types
Even though the process of selecting a mattress essentially boils down to your personal preference, there are a myriad of mattress types and styles available on the market with the most common materials being foam, innerspring, pocketed spring and latex mattresses.
Knowing the basics about each mattress type will help you whittle down your options and avoid being overawed with options when shopping in store.
As its name implies, foam mattresses are made entirely of foam. They are known to contour the body perfectly, alleviate pressure and offer good motion isolation. This makes them ideal for light sleepers. Out of all form-made mattresses, memory foams are the most sought after due to their ability to absorb any pressure on the joints.
Spring mattresses primarily incorporate coiled springs as the mattress foundation. While the innersprings do lend some support to the body, they fall short in terms of pressure relief and are not as effective in absorbing bed movement. However, they serve as a bouncier option to a foam finish which oftentimes can feel a bit too solid.
Perhaps the more advanced of spring-base mattresses, a pocketed spring mattress has up to 3000 springs interwoven into each fabric pocket. They can be custom-built with different firmness on each side, allowing your body weight to be evenly spread out for maximum support.
The separate springs also mean that the mattress can provide equal support to a couple sleeping together despite their differing body weights. The open-spring formation promotes air movement, and can be adjusted to soft, medium or solid tensions depending on how you like your mattress.
Mattresses made of latex are generally durable and ideal for individuals prone to allergies as they prevent dust mites from collecting. If you want that extra bounce in your mattress, latex can be a good option.
While comfort is ultimately in the eye of the beholder, understanding the different kinds of mattresses equips you with the foundational knowledge to choose the right mattress for yourself.
Ideal mattress firmness for your sleeping position
Because comfort is often subjective, it is crucial to find the mattress that feels right for you.
Firmness describes how soft or hard a mattress feels. Some people prefer a softer mattress they can sink right into, while others prefer a firmer mattress for additional back support. If you are unsure what firmness level is right for you, consider your weight and sleeping position to narrow it down.
Knowing your favourite sleeping posture can bring you another step closer to identifying your ideal mattress. This could be the position that helps you fall asleep and the position you find yourself waking up to.
Depending on how you sleep, some parts of your body require additional support to keep the spine well-aligned with the entire form. Ideally, you want a mattress that is firm enough to elevate and hold up your lumbar spine, but also soft enough to curve against the top of your thoracic spine and pelvis.
This is fundamental to maintain comfort and helps avoid aches and pains when you lie down.
For example, a mattress of firm to medium firmness with soft contouring work best for those who tend to sleep on their backs. It stops the torso from contorting into an uncomfortable U-shape and provides outstanding support for your spine, lower back and neck.
The U-shaped bend is also common among stomach sleepers. In this case pressure is largely exerted on your lumbar spine and a firm mattress is recommended to help alleviate pain in that area by keeping the spine aligned.
With side sleepers, the impact of their weight is mainly concentrated on the broader parts of the body such as the shoulders and hips. A medium soft to medium firm mattress will alleviate the pressure from these sharp points, as it provides support and contouring for your body’s curvature.
Nevertheless, which mattress you choose will ultimately depend on your personal preferences, although your sleeping posture can be a good indicator of how soft or firm you want your mattress to be.
Effects of a good mattress
Given the amount of time you spend in bed, you want to do whatever it takes to ensure that you are comfortable and well-rested for the day ahead.
The right mattress allows you to rest easy and avoid unnecessary neck and back pain. This can be achieved through careful research and consideration of factors such as your sleep style.
Having a well-suited mattress is almost certain to promise you a good night’s rest. Quality sleep is in turn an underlying contributor to great health. This is conceivably the ideal way to assess the health-mattress nexus.
Since comfort is subjective, in choosing the right mattress, you have to pay attention on what you personally need. Despite all the shopping limitations that we experience nowadays, shopping for different types of mattresses online is now made convenient. Connect to Mega Furniture's team to assist you in getting your perfect match.