You wouldn’t go running a marathon or hiking in the mountains without the right equipment. And yet, even though we spend a third of our lives sleeping, many of us don’t have a properly equipped room when it comes to mattresses.
Yet we are aware of the importance of a comfortable mattress. In a 2011 survey, the American Sleep Foundation found that 92 per cent of those surveyed felt that having a comfortable mattress was important for a good night’s sleep.
You may hide behind your limited budget to justify continuing to sleep on a poor mattress, but if you think a little more sleep can help you lose weight, improve your memory and live longer, can you really put a price on quality sleep?
But a bad mattress – or a mattress that’s simply too old – can explain a lot more than a stiff neck or your back pain. Here are 5 other ways your mattress can affect your sleep, and therefore your health.
Buying a new mattress can take the stress out of your life
In a 2009 study, 59 healthy men and women slept 28 consecutive nights on their regular mattress, followed by 28 more nights on a new, semi-firm mattress.
They were then asked to rate their stress level, based on factors such as worry, constant thoughts, nervousness, irritability, headaches, trembling, etc., and to rate their stress level on the basis of their sleep habits.
According to the study, with the new beds, “stress decreased significantly”, no doubt due to the concomitant improvement in sleep and the reduction in pain associated with the firmer mattress. Depend on what type of sleeper you’re, if you’re a stomach sleeper, you might need to get specific mattress for stomach sleeper.
Or rather, to the dust mites that have taken up residence there. These microscopic creatures feed on the dead skin you naturally lose, many of which is found in and on your bed. The WebMD site estimated that at least 20 million Americans are allergic to these little bugs, which are also a major problem for people with asthma, according to CNN.
Washing sheets and pillowcases frequently in hot water can help rid your laundry of dust mites. And an “anti-allergy” bedspread can prevent dust mites from moving from the mattress to your sheets and pillows. According to the Better Sleep Council, if dust mites are really a concern, vacuum your mattress.
“Semi-firm” is a subjective notion
There is no standard definition of what makes a mattress soft or firm. “A 110 kilogram person will be able to call a mattress soft, while a 55 kilogram person will call the same mattress firm,” writes chiropractor Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute, in a 2012 HuffPost blog. Terms like ultra-soft are enviable, but you won’t really know what’s soft unless you spend a little more time horizontally.
Also, without sufficient evidence, it’s difficult to establish whether you sleep better on a soft or firm mattress – it all boils down to a question of comfort. So make sure you take at least 20 minutes of a ‘driving test’ on a mattress before you buy it!
Turning and tossing in bed may mean it’s time to buy another one
A hole with leaking padding or a protruding spring tickling your lumbar area are obvious signs that the mattress needs to be replaced. But these aren’t the only reasons to go to the store. According to USA Today, if you’re not sleeping as well at home as you used to, it may be time to invest, especially if you’re sleeping better away from home.
Using your bed as a telecommuting location can keep you awake at night.
Experts agree that the bedroom should only be used for sleep and love – otherwise, your brain can start expecting to have to respond to work emails when you go to bed, making it even harder for you to fall asleep. When you are in bed, you should not have any electronic devices at all: the blue light they emit strongly disrupts the brain’s natural bedtime mechanism, and they can keep you awake for a long time.
And how does your mattress affect your sleep? Tell us in the comments below.
