Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life, and a good night's rest starts with a good mattress. Experts recommend getting a new mattress every 7 to 10 years, but there can be other warning signs that it's time to replace your mattress. Waking up in pain? Mattress a little lumpy? Do you find you sleep better in other beds, like when you're on holiday?
To make the task of choosing the right bed from your local bed shop a little less daunting, we're sharing a few questions you can ask yourself when you're trying to decide. WHAT IS YOUR SLEEP POSITION ON YOUR STOMACH If you sleep on your stomach, you put extra pressure on your neck and spine, so the right mattress is crucial. You'll need a supportive mattress with enough pushback to keep the spine from sinking too far into the mattress and getting pulled out of its natural alignment. A firm foam or dense innerspring mattress would be your best choice, and if the bed feels too hard for you, you could add a plush mattress topper to make it feel a little softer. ON YOUR SIDE Most adults sleep on their sides, and experts say it comes with a range of benefits – from improved digestion to better breathing – but the wrong mattress could still mean you don't get a proper night's rest. A surface that supports your body weight keeps your spine in a healthy alignment and provides pressure relief for joints is the perfect fit for you. A memory foam or hybrid mattress with a soft top layer will help to equally distribute your body weight and prevent soreness. Innersprings also provide more pressure relief than foam or latex mattresses, but a soft foam mattress or one with built-in pressure relief points could work well too. ON YOUR BACK The back sleeper's ideal mattress will provide support for the spine while helping to maintain the natural curve of the back. The wrong mattresses could leave you with neck and spine problems, so choosing the right mattress is still important. Any mattress could work for you, but we recommend trying out a few options in-store to see what feels best. Start with a surface that supports, but has enough softness to conform to the body and the arch of the lower back. COMBINATION If you go to sleep on your back but wake up on your side, you are a combination sleeper. You'll need a dynamic mattress that can provide comfort across the back, side, and stomach. A medium-firm mattress is a great choice for combo sleepers as they are soft enough to provide pressure relief to the shoulders while sleeping on the side and firm enough to support the hips while on your back. Also vital is that you are able to easily adjust your position so consider a latex or hybrid mattress. WHAT FIRMNESS DO YOU NEED? Firmness describes how hard or soft a bed feels. To make it easier to choose the right mattress for you, they are scored on a firmness scale with a range from 1 to 10 – from soft to firm. SOFT A soft mattress falls between 1 and 2 on the mattress firmness scale. They provide the least amount of support and will conform to your body and hug it when you lie down. They're typically made with cushioning materials like quilted pillow tops or thick sections of memory foam in their top layers, known as “comfort” layers. Soft mattresses are best for side sleepers or people who have problems with shoulder or hip pain when sleeping on a firmer mattress. MEDIUM-SOFT Medium-soft mattresses fall between 3 and 4 on the firmness scale and will still contour to your body, but you won’t sink into it as deeply as you will a mattress with a softer firmness rating. Ideal for people needing a softer comfort layer for pressure-point relief but who need a little bit more core support. Made from slightly sturdier materials like firmer memory foam or latex, so slightly more durable than a soft mattress. MEDIUM-FIRM Medium-firm mattresses fall between 5 and 7 on the firmness scale and provide an excellent balance between contouring comfort and support, with an ample amount of pushback. Unlike softer mattresses, they will have a small amount of bounce. A great fit for a wide range of body types and sleeping positions, including combination sleepers who need a mattress that feels comfortable no matter which side they sleep on. Made from more dense and durable materials, so they tend to have a longer lifespan than softer mattresses. FIRM Firm mattresses feature comfort layers and a support core designed to keep you sleeping on top of the mattress. These mattresses fall between a 7 and a 10 on the firmness scale. Heavier sleepers and people who suffer from back pain enjoy the high level of spinal support firm mattresses provide, and it allows for maximum airflow which means you stay cooler while you snooze. These mattresses are made with solid, sturdy materials, so they last longer than mattresses of other firmness levels. WHAT TYPE OF MATTRESS DO YOU PREFER? There are 4 main types of mattresses to choose from – foam, innerspring, hybrid or latex. Knowing the basics of these mattresses can help you in the process of choosing the right bed for you. Foam:
Innerspring:
Hybrids:
Latex:
WHAT IS YOUR BODY TYPE? Body shape and weight can also influence your mattress choice in terms of the levels of spinal support and comfort you require. LIGHTER TO AVERAGE SLEEPERS Thinner body types that weigh under 60kg won't sink as far into a mattress, so a softer mattress is a good choice to get sufficient contouring. Foam or hybrid beds are good options. For people between 60 and 100kg, sleeping positions may play a bigger role in making a choice, but soft to medium-firm foam, hybrid and latex mattresses can be selected based on their specific features. HEAVIER SLEEPERS Sleepers who weigh over 100kg will place more pressure on their mattress, so should avoid soft mattresses. A firm mattress can contour to the body for pressure relief and ensures the heavier sleeper won't sink too deep into the bed and misalign their spine. Firmer mattresses are also made from sturdier materials, so is also more durable. WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET? Pricing is also an important factor when deciding on the right mattress for you. All the above is most certainly helpful if you’re planning to shop around to find the best bed for you. There’s a life hack for this too… Bed King offers, and is the only bed shop that currently offers, innovative technology to recommend the best bed for you based on all the above and more...it’s called the Comfort Solutions Lab. More on that another time... . . . Article from https://www.houseandhome.co.za/
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