Sleep is incredibly important for your overall health. Getting quality sleep may help you lose weight, promote concentration and productivity, strengthen your heart, and enhance your immune system. That implies that the quality of sleep can directly impact your health.
Sleep needs vary from one person to another. For instance, most adults require between seven to nine hours of quality sleep per night. Surprisingly, most people don’t get enough sleep.
If you’re one of these people struggling to sleep well at night, your mattress could be the main cause. A bad mattress can cause discomfort, thus making it difficult to fall asleep. Poor sleep quality will negatively affect your mental and physical health. For that reason, you must ensure you use a mattress that promotes comfort. To make things better, consider investing in a quality adjustable bed.
Compared to a regular or an ordinary bed, an adjustable bed smoothly aligns with your body. This feature helps support your spine to improve your posture, make you feel comfortable, and help you have a restful night’s sleep.
That said, here’s how your mattress affects your sleep and health.
- Your Old Mattress Could House Dust Mites
Dust mites are microscopic creatures that live in humid climates. You might think keeping your house clean will keep them away, but that isn’t the case. They can find their way and make their home in your house.
Dust mites love warm areas like old mattresses. If you’ve got an old mattress, you could host these microorganisms. And when you come into contact with them, you’ll likely develop some allergic reactions like sneezing and coughing. And that affects not only the quality of your sleep but also your general health. That’s true since such symptoms can lead to chronic chest pain and asthma.
To avoid this, you can vacuum clean your mattress to eliminate dust mites and avoid allergic reactions. However, if it’s too old, consider replacing it to completely eliminate dust mites in your bedroom.
- A Bad Mattress Can Lead To Back Pains
Do you usually wake up in the morning experiencing some back pains? If yes, your mattress could be the culprit. A bad mattress provides little to no support to your spine, making you sleep in the wrong posture which could lead to spinal injuries and back pains, and prevent you from getting enough sleep. As noted earlier, a lack of quality sleep could hurt your overall health.
If that’s the case, you should consider replacing your mattress with a good one. It’ll help support your body and align your spine to prevent back injuries and pains.
Consider using a sleep pillow when sleeping. This is a cushion you can use to support your body and enhance your comfort. However, you must invest in a pillow that best suits your sleep position. If you like sleeping on your stomach, find a stomach sleeper pillow. Otherwise, other types of pillows won’t add any value to you and your sleep.
- A Bad Mattress Can Promote Snoring
One of the many things that can hurt your sleep is snoring. Although other things like alcohol consumption and nasal health issues can cause this problem, it mostly occurs due to poor sleep position.
If your mattress isn’t providing enough support, you’ll likely sleep in the wrong position. As a result, your airways will get blocked, which leads to snoring.
There are many effects of snoring. For one, it can interrupt your sleep. It can also lead to other health problems like decreased blood oxygen levels, heart attacks, high blood pressure, stroke, and type II diabetes.
You can do many things to reduce snoring at night. One is to find a more comfortable mattress that will help straighten your body and ensure enough airflow openings. Additionally, you can raise the head of your bed to change the angle and promote your airflow. You can also consider purchasing a snore-reducing cushion to keep your head and neck in the correct position when you sleep.
- A Bad Mattress Can Lead To Stress Buildup
As discussed in the previous sections, a bad mattress leads to inadequate sleep. And when that happens, you can develop mental issues like anxiety and stress. Long-term sleep disturbances and stress may lead to other cognitive health problems like depression.
You can avoid stress buildup and other psychological problems by replacing your old mattress with a more suitable one. You can opt for a comfy one that will provide restful sleep. That goes a long way in enhancing your mood, promoting calmness, and maintaining peace of mind. That way, you can deal with stress and have nights of quality sleep.
Finding A New Mattress
As you’ve seen above, an old or bad mattress can hurt your sleep and health in many ways. So, it makes perfect sense to invest in a new mattress. But with so many options to select from, buying a new mattress can be daunting. Fortunately, there are some simple tips you can adopt to ensure you make the right choice. They include the following:
- Consider What Your Doctor Recommends
One of the most important steps to take to find a mattress that enhances your sleep and health is to talk to a healthcare provider. For instance, if you’re looking for something that can help deal with back pains, no other person can provide the best advice like the doctor. So, talking to one is necessary to hear what they think.
Doctors aren’t experts in matters. However, they’re professionals in health and wellness. Therefore, they may provide good recommendations from that point of view.
- Visit Shops to Try Out the Various Mattresses
This is one of the most practical approaches to finding a good mattress for your needs, but most people ignore it. If you really want something that accommodates your needs, walk to all the shops on the market and lie down on your preferred mattress for about 30 minutes. That’ll give you a clear picture of what you’ll experience when you sleep at home. Besides, it’ll help save time, as buying the wrong mattress may force you to return it to the seller after a few days.
- Read Reviews from Other Customers
Visiting stores to test out mattresses could be the best strategy for finding the most suitable one. However, that might not work if you’re shopping from online platforms. In such a case, you may want to read reviews from real customers.
Navigate the sellers’ online platforms, like the website or social media profiles, to read reviews. When you visit such platforms, pay attention to what vendors say about themselves, as they’ve to promote their mattresses positively. From there, seek out unbiased opinions from customers who have previously purchased the type of mattress you’re interested in.
If the seller has more positive customer reviews than negative ones, that’s someone you can rest on for a good mattress and you can consider buying from them. Avoid engaging with a mattress seller who has attracted a lot of negative reviews from customers. But if you see mixed reactions from different clients, evaluate how the seller handles negative criticisms. That way, you’ll likely know their genuineness.
- Check the Warranty
Reading online reviews can be a great way to identify a good mattress and reputable seller online. However, a mistake can happen; therefore, you may order the right mattress but receive the wrong one.
Remember that reading review forces you to make your decision based on other people’s experiences and what works for others might not suit you. That’s why you need to check the warranty.
A warranty is a written promise by the seller agreeing to replace the mattress you purchase from them if it fails to serve your needs. Without it, you’ll be forced to use extra money to replace the delivered item. But with a warranty, you can replace your mattress without extra costs. However, you must adhere to the terms and conditions of the warranty. For instance, a seller may require you to notify them or return the purchased mattress within certain hours or days. If you fail to do so, you won’t benefit from the warranty.
- Look For Recommendations Online
Another great way to identify the right mattress for sleep needs and health is to ask for referrals online. You can post on your social media platforms and let friends and relatives know you’re shopping for a new mattress. Remember to include your health details and what problems you want to overcome. Some other people may have experienced what you’re going through, so they can provide the best advice to help you make the right selection.
Takeaway
Having enough good sleep is beneficial to your health. This is the reason why you need to consider having a good quality mattress because it can affect your sleep and health in various ways.
As mentioned in this article, having a bad mattress can attract dust mites, lead to back pains, promote snoring, and stress buildup, among other health complications. For that, you can consider purchasing a new one using the strategies in this article.
