How To Choose A Mattress – The Mattresses Guide
For maintaining, a healthy life, good night sleep is a must. If you don’t sleep well, you’ll feel tiredness, dizziness all day moreover you won’t be able to think correctly, and it will lead you towards making bad decisions. For a peaceful, comfortable sleep, the mattress is one of the most significant factors. But often people overlook the importance of mattress and buy a bed that cannot ensure comfort and support.
Buying a mattress should bethink as an investment. And like all other investments, here you should have the knowledge about mattress and think about either it is a good investment or wrong and choose wisely.
In this article, I will help you to understand every necessary information you should know about mattresses and which factor you should consider while buying a new mattress. The knowledge you get from here, you will be able to buy the best mattress suitable for you.
Types of Mattress
When you went to buy your current mattress, you must’ve noticed there are many types of mattresses. And you felt dizzy about which one to choose. Don’t worry; your next buyer will be more comfortable after reading the article.
Almost every mattress can categorize as foam, Hybrid, latex, airbed or innerspring. Though innerspring mattresses are more popular and traditionally accepted, the popularity of other beds is increasing day by day.
With the expansion of the online mattress business, these other mattresses are becoming affordable and accessible and getting popularity by offering more dynamic features and performance.
Let’s know some basics about these mattresses, and this will help to find the best one while buying them.
Foam: Without using coils, the primary material for these mattresses is foam. Usually, memory foam mattresses are the most popular in this category, were memory foam used as material. These mattresses offer motion isolation, pressure relief and above-average contouring to your body. It can be the right choice for couples and side sleepers.
Hybrid: Hybrid mattresses mostly made of two main elements. One is a substantial foam comfort system, and the other is the innerspring support core. The comfort layer may contain latex or foam, even a shorter segment of coils which is also known as micro-coils. This type of mattress provides a mixture of bounce, contouring and retain low heat. It is a perfect fit for those sleepers who sleep in various positions.
Latex: Also known as true-latex or all-latex because of all layers of this type of mattresses made of rubber. These mattresses are bouncy and durable with average contouring. In case you are looking for an eco-friendly futon, then there is some manufacturer who use organic and natural latex to manufacture the mattress.
Airbed: The support core of these mattress has an air chamber. That’s why they are called airbeds. You can add or remove air from the bed by pushing a button because there is a built-in pump that can be controllable by a remote or your smartphone. This one let sleepers to enjoy firmness flexibility. This type of mattress is popular among couples because they can set different levels of firmness for each side of the bed.
Innerspring: These mattresses built with a coil-based support system and few other layers. These mattresses are budget-friendly and comparatively cheaper than others. The coil system may offer some support, but most of the time, it lacks in pressure relief and has limited motion isolation. However, the surface of the mattress is very bouncy.
Firmness of Mattress
Firmness indicates how much soft or hard your bed feels. Comfort varies from person to person. It is tough for you to find the perfect durability, which is suitable for you. We can use a scale to describe firmness and who is suited for which level of stability. Although it is not scientific, we can use the range for finding suitable durability for us.
Here I will give the level of firmness and who is best for that level.
Extra soft: It is best for side sleepers who are less than 130 lbs. We can scale it as 1-2.
Soft: This is also good for side sleepers less than 130 lbs. We can scale it as 3.
Medium Soft: These mattresses are best for sleepers less than 200 lbs. It will get four on our scale.
Medium: This is best for side and back sleepers who are between 130lbs and 200lbs. We can scale it as 5.
Medium-Firm: This is perfect for sleepers between 130lbs and 200lbs and side sleepers more than 200lbs. It can scale as 6.
Firm: It is suitable for side sleepers more than 200lbs and stomach and back sleepers who are more than 130lbs. We can scale it as 7.
Extra frim: This firmness is best for stomach and back sleepers more than 200 pounds. We can scale it as 8-9.
This scaling can help you to find the perfect firmness for you. But this list is not a universal truth. You can choose any level of stability based on your comfort.
In case if you are not sure which level of firmness will be perfect for you, then follow the steps given below.
- At first, measure your weight then find the sleeping position of yours to shorten the range.
- Now compare your current mattress with recently visited hotel’s mattress. Are you happy with the current firmness level of your mattress? Or you want more firm or softer?
- At last, go to the nearest mattress store and trial the bed for fifteen minutes to understand the firmness.
Now you can choose which firmness level you want in your mattress.
Mattress In Case Of Back Pain
The potential causes for back pain are many, and one of them could be the unsupportive mattress. Beautiful people can buy mattresses which will prevent back pain, and people with back pain can buy the best-suited mattress for proper comfort and cushioning, which will lessen the back pain.
It would help if you chose the mattress by considering your nature of the pain. Back pain can be two types. If you’re suffering from back pain for a short time or suddenly appears, then it is acute back pain. If you are suffering for a more extended period, then it is labelled as chronic back pain.
Acute back pain can be treatable by not using your current mattress for some days, or you can use extra cushions or adjusting sleeping position. In the case of chronic back pain, you should choose the mattress which has the right level of comfort with pressure relief. That can help you to place the spine oriented adequately during sleep.
Mattress for Lower Back Pain
Back pain in the lower part of the body is widespread back pain also the reason why most uk people go to the doctor. The twisting and bending of the lower back may cause harm to the muscle and spine. The rights of lower back pain can be sleeping in the wrong position. Or your hips and shoulders aren’t supported or if your mattress is too firm or too soft.
Side sleepers can avoid this by looking for soft or medium-firm mattresses, and stomach and back sleepers can go for a medium-firm or firm bed if a user is facing lower back pain.
Upper and Middle Back Pain
This kind of pain is not so common. If you are facing this problem, then consult with the doctor as soon as possible. Although bad posture may create tension in this area, a mattress with pressure relieving and spinal alignment features can lessen the risk of happening this problem.
You should use an adequate amount of pillow so that your upper spine and neck have enough support.
Sleeping in Different Positions
People sleep in various positions. It varies from person to person. The sleeping area decides which body part needs more support.
So, choose the mattress that can significantly support your that body part then you can get maximum comfort out of mattress. Here I will discuss the various position and which mattress suits them most.
Side Sleepers
Side sleepers need support at their shoulder and body. They have sharp pressure points at the shoulder and hips. For keeping the spine inline side, sleepers should use medium-soft to a medium-firm mattress.
Back Sleepers
If you are a back sleeper and you are using too soft mattress then the lower part of your body creates a U -shape with your upper body as you put your pressure point at your lower part of your body.
If your mattress is firmer, then it won’t make any curve. So, the best option for you is medium-firm to a firm mattress.
Stomach Sleepers
They are similar to the back sleepers, and the pressure point of this kind of sleepers is on the lower back spine. The firm mattresses are best for them.
Combination Sleepers
They continuously change the position throughout the night and pressure point changes along with that. If you are a combination sleeper, then choose the mattress considering the most favorite place of yours. If you don’t know that, then select a medium-firm bed.
Mattress for Various Body Types
The body shape, weight, tallness etc. vary from person to person. Which mattress is right for which types of the body given below.
People less than 130 pounds: These people don’t submerse as much as the more massive people into the mattress. They can get perfect contouring from the softer mattress. So, they can go for a soft mattress. Although the innerspring mattress is not too sweet, they can go for a hybrid or foam mattress.
People in between 130lbs and 200lbs: They can choose any mattress that suits with their sleeping position from the information mentioned above. Latex, foam or Hybrid can be the right choice for them.
People more than 200lbs: These people submerse deep into the mattress and make a curve with various body parts, and that can lead to back pain. For that reason, they should choose a firmer and more responsive mattress made from high-density material. Latex and Hybrid could be a better option.
The size of the shoulder and hips has an essential role in choosing a mattress. People who have a broader shoulder or hips need soft cushions. Also, taller people should take a look at the dimension so that they can be sure that they can stretch their legs properly.
Price Of The Mattresses:
The amount of beds varies due to various factors. Here I will give a brief idea about the price range of different types of mattresses and why the cost that much.
Foam mattress cost around £1000 -1300, Hybrid costs £1500-2000. Latex is around £1600-2000. Airbed costs £2000-2400, which is pretty expensive. And last but not least Innerspring costs around £600-1100, which is the cheapest type of mattress.
The price of the mattress depends on various factors. Let’s have a look at some of them.
Material: Some mattresses use costly materials like latex. Also, some organic, hand-crafted unique material can increase the price.
Construction type: The more layer added to a mattress, the higher the cost will be.
Manufacturing location: The location of manufacturing affects the price of the mattress.
Selling Location: If it sold in developed countries, then the mattress will cost more money than the least-developed countries.
Brand: Brand value can increase the price of mattresses.
Think it as an investment the rest will be easy. The higher the price range, the greater the features are. However, it cannot be right for all types of mattresses. The price mentioned above may vary because of discounts or promotional offers.
Choosing a Mattress For Children
For childhood development, selecting the perfect mattress for a kid is very important. The main factor of buying a mattress should be safety. Though there of other factors and they may overlap with elements of adult mattress buying.
Safety: Make sure the safety standard size guidelines match with Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The minimum size should be 27.25*51.25*6 inches.
Easy Cleaning: Mattress which are easy to clean should choose because kids could be messy—for example, waterproof surface.
Weight of mattress: The importance of the mattress should be light because, for cleaning, you may have to lift the crib.
Mattress Types: Foam or innerspring can be the right choice for kids. Although some companies manufacture mattresses especially for kids.
Reversible Firmness: Many companies offer reversible firmness where firmness varies on different sides of the mattress. It will be beneficial for kids.
Choosing Mattress Topper
If you don’t have enough money to buy another mattress, then you can go for a mattress topper. Though mattress toppers are not long-lasting, you can use them for temporary use.
Almost every topper is 4-inches thick. The steps for choosing a perfect topper are practically the same. Before buying a mattress topper, you should consider,
- Sleeping position
- Body shape
- Material which suits most
- Firmness
- Budget
Although topper will not give you service like a new mattress, it will make you happy for a short time. You should keep in mind that if your mattress already is worn out, then toppers won’t help you that much. The topper will start sagging fast.
Last Updated on 2nd January 2023
