Important Mattress Features for a Great Night’s Rest
Most people spend approximately one-third of their lives sleeping on their mattress at night, and that means you need a mattress that is very comfortable for you personally. If you don’t have that, you simply won’t be able to get a good night’s sleep, and you’ll end up being out of sorts every day because you didn’t get enough sleep. This can quickly lead to a state of continuing restlessness, because you never really catch up on all that lost sleep. It isn’t hard to see the importance of choosing a mattress that will deliver a restful night’s sleep, and it can even have major health consequences. When you’re looking for just the right mattress, here are some of the features you should be aware of.
Firmness
The firmness of a mattress is so important that there’s actually a scale set up for determining exactly how firm your mattress is, with 1 being extremely soft and 10 being extremely firm. If you have a mattress that’s too soft, it will cause you to sink in and lose support, but if you’re laying on a mattress that’s too firm, it can exert undue pressure on the sacrum, the shoulders, and the back of your neck. A mattress which has medium firmness is right for a great many people, as it delivers just the right balance of cushioning and support.
Types of mattresses
Adjustable beds can be just the ticket for someone who has COPD, or any other kind of breathing problem. You can also prevent night-time heartburn by elevating your head, so acid doesn’t travel upward through your windpipe. Adjustments can also be made to your bed so they keep you knees and hips oriented at 90 degrees, thus relieving any pressure on your joints. Hypoallergenic beds are marketed featuring their so-called ability to prevent allergies from interfering with your sleep.
These claims are unsubstantiated by scientific evidence, so you might be just as well off to slip on a washable mattress casing. This will do just as good a job at keeping allergy triggers out of your bed, so you can enjoy a good night’s sleep. It will also form a kind of shield that prevents dust mites and bed bugs from getting to you. Any mattress that claims to be free of mites is exaggerating its effectiveness, because the truth is that mites will appear wherever there’s a food source, and that food source is your dead skin cells.
There is some evidence that memory foam mattresses can help relieve pain and discomfort while sleeping, but the advantage gained from using memory foam is not all that significant. The bigger benefit gained from sleeping on memory foam is when you have a sleeping partner who is very active at night. There is far less motion transfer on memory foam mattresses, and that means your active partner won’t be keeping you awake at night with all their shifts and re-positioning.
Durability
You should choose a mattress that you know will last a long time. After all, you’ve made a significant investment and you’ll want that mattress to last a while so you don’t have to repeat the process in a year or so. You are entitled to some quality with your purchase, so read some customer reviews about a product you’re interested in to see what kind of usability other customers got out of the mattress.
Size
Obviously, you’ll need to buy a mattress that is big enough to accommodate your physical size, as well as your sleeping partner. If either of you happens to be a tall person, you may need to buy an oversized mattress, so you don’t have your feet dangling over the edge. If you or your partner are fairly active at night, you may want to purchase a larger mattress so you have room to be comfortable.
Warranty
To protect yourself against getting burned, make sure that any mattress you’re considering has a good warranty. That will ensure that you don’t purchase a mattress that doesn’t perform as expected, and you can return it for one that is more comfortable. When you find a mattress that satisfies you on all these points, that’s the one to buy.
