Are you worried about how your sleeping? A new mattress can help. Health experts often define three pillars towards good overall health. They are nutrition, exercise, and sleep. Sleep is something you might actually spend a third of your overall life doing.
While your mattress might not get a lot of your conscious thought and attention, it plays a huge role in how you feel every day.
Research has looked into this. A University of Oklahoma study focused on 59 adults who were generally healthy aside from compromised sleep issues and minor pain related to sleep. They recorded data from 28 days on their older mattresses and then 28 days on newer mattresses. The average mattress removed was 9.5 years old, whereas the newer mattresses were all medium-firm. The new bedding seems to cut back pain in half while boosting sleep quality by 55 percent.
Duke University also conducted a research study where people slept on seven different mattresses with a variety of firmness. Sensors were used to measure tossing and turning, as this is a sign of good sleep quality. Less movement is considered better. When everyone found the right mattress for their bodies, they woke up in better moods and with less pain.
Medium-firm mattresses seem to offer the best balance between support and comfort. Spinal surgeons assume that bad mattresses won't hurt your back, but they result in bad sleep and soreness when you get up.
Proper support for your body happens when your mattress keeps your physical spine in a neutral position where it is properly aligned. In fact, it will minimize curves, almost like you were standing up with great posture. Finding the sweet spot is where you want to be, but it's not the same for everyone.
1) Deep Sleep Is Relaxing:
Having the right mattress isn't just about physical sleep quality. It's also about enveloping you in positive energy. Resting in something old and uncomfortable might stress you out, and if you keep getting poor sleep, you might wind up feeling tense, confused, and anxious. Long-term stress and chronic sleep disturbances can result in psychological issues like depression.
2) Relief From Your Aches and Pains:
Anytime you lay down in one position for a long stretch of time, you're caught between downward gravity as well as upwards resistance from your mattress. This results in physical misalignment and pressure points. eventually, you'll get sore, and when you move your joints, you'll aches. You might not have lower back pain, neck pain, or hip pain when you go to bed, but if your bed is lousy, you might just wake up with them. In time, a new mattress can relieve you of such aches and pains, given effective cradling and even weight distribution that eliminates undue stress at particular points.
3) Allergy Risks:
Older mattresses are a haven for dust mites that might be feeding off body oil, particles of dust, and dead skin cells while lodged inside the mattress foams. Dust mites are a leading cause of skin allergies and asthma. A newer allergen-free mattress can reduce dry skin, runny nose, nasal congestion, and pimples.
4) Chronic Back Pain:
If your spring mattress creaks, then it's not supporting you enough. Coils eventually lose their ability to support you, resulting in distortions in your spinal alignment. This puts stress on your body that can turn into aches and pains.
5) Marriages At Risk:
A great mattress helps your productivity, performance, and memory, all things crucial to a high quality of life. On the other hand, a bad mattress can lead to snoring, which can range from annoying to something that leads to sleeping in different bedrooms and destroys marriages.
6) Sleep Deprivation:
Your circadian rhythms rely on great sleep. Without it, you have less metabolism, and that leads to weight gain before obesity. Your whole life might be turned upside down just by changing the mattress you sleep on every night. When you get more energy from your sleep, you're less likely to get it from binge eating. Can you remember the last time you rocketed out of bed with a zest for life and excitement about the coming day? It might be time to change your mattress.
Knowing you need a new mattress is one thing. Finding one is another. However, there are five steps you should take in any mattress-shopping situation:
Try Them: Even though you can buy mattresses online, there's no way to get around trying one out for yourself in person. Doing this will help you quickly winnow the field in terms of what you do and don't like.
Talk About Them: Look up reviews online. Professional reviews are a good place to start, but so are consumer ratings. Also, make it a point of conversation with family, friends, and even colleagues. They'll likely have good brand recommendations, especially if they know anything about how you sleep.
Take Your Time: If you do try a mattress in person, do so for at least 15 minutes. Stay in your normal sleeping position for an accurate test. If getting jostled around by bed movement is important to you, then have a friend or family member sit on that bed. That way, you can see if any motion on their part transfers to you when you are lying down.
Look at Long Sleep Trials: This one is important if you buy a mattress without trying it out. That can happen if you buy online or just don't want to lay on mattresses in a retail store due to pandemic concerns. Buy from someone that lets you try it out for a minimum of three months.
Read the Return Policy: You should know what's involved with a potential return before you buy the mattress. Sometimes, the customer is obligated to dispose of or simply donate the mattress they don't want and then offer proof if they're going to get a refund. Other times, the mattress seller might provide an exchange for a different mattress rather than refund you.
Author: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice regarding health or finances. It is not intended to endorse any individual or company. This article is AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies or unreliable information. Readers should consult a qualified professional for personal advice.