Choosing a mattress is a little more involved than simply pointing and saying, “We’ll take that one.” According to the folks at Mattress Battle, there can be at least 5 different things to consider when choosing the mattress that’s best for you.
One of the worst ways to pick a mattress is because a friend recommends a particular brand to you. Every person is unique and what works for one person and is comfortable for them, might feel like sleeping on a rock or being suffocated by a cocoon to someone else.
Bed Bugs
Before we go any further though, a quick word of caution about bed bugs. If you’re in the market for a new mattress because the old one had bed bugs, don’t do anything until you’re sure the bed bugs are completely gone. While bed bugs don’t carry germs and disease per sé, their bites can cause irritation to the skin, causing rashes that can become infected.
They don’t live in mattresses so much as they crawl across them because that’s where their food source is – you. That means there are still bed bugs in the room after you get rid of the old mattress.
You can hire a professional pest control company to clean out the house for several hundred dollars per room or you can learn how to do it yourself. Books written by professional pest control experts will walk you through the process step-by-step as well as save you a lot of money. Such books are well worth the $25 – $30 they cost.
With that out of the way, let’s move on to your new mattress.
A Good Night’s Sleep
One of the best reasons in the world to be careful which mattress you choose is the benefits it can have on your sleep.
(B)Getting a restful night’s sleep will boost your health by eliminating fatigue caused by tossing and turning all night. Sleeping on the wrong mattress can actually make you feel more tired when you wake up than when you went to sleep.
(B)A proper night’s sleep assists your bodies’ self-repair and recovery from injuries or exertion. The right kind of sleep helps your muscles rebuild themselves after a strenuous workout or a hard day of physical labor. Gardening and tending your yard is very rewarding, but it also wears you down. The right mattress can erase all the strain you put on yourself.
Mattresses do this based on your posture and their firmness. Let’s take a look at each one in turn. Keep in mind though they are complementary and interdependent.
Posture or Sleeping Position
Researchers at the University of DePaul have determined that the average person spends about a third of their life sleeping. The position, you sleep in during that period puts differing amounts of pressure on your back depending on the position and the softness or firmness of the mattress.
- Sleeping on your back produces the least amount of pressure on your back. Only about 15% of people sleep in this position.
- Sleeping on your stomach produces the most amount of pressure on your back. You should use a small pillow in this position to keep your head aligned in the most natural position possible.
- Sleeping on your side produces an amount of pressure somewhere between the other two. You should sleep with a pillow between your knees to keep your joints properly aligned.
Mattress Firmness
Mattress firmness is a measure of soft or hard a mattress is. It’s measured on a scale from 1-10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the hardest. To give you an idea of what these numbers mean, 10 is like sleeping on the floor. 1 is very soft. Most people want a mattress that measures somewhere between 4 and 7.
- When you’re sleeping on your back you need a mattress that’s firm enough to push back against the pressure from your spine and keep it in place. The mattress firmness you want is 4 – 7.
- When you’re sleeping on your stomach, sinking into the mattress will force your spine into an arched position all night which isn’t healthy. It can also make you feel claustrophobic. To counteract that you need a mattress firmness between 5 – 7.
- When you’re sleeping on your side, the mattress needs to mold itself around you to a certain extent. For this position, you need a mattress firmness as low as 3 but never any higher than a 6.
