Mattresses

The Big Question!

There is one question I am asked more than any other question my patients ask. Are you ready for it? Here it is, “What is the best kind of mattress?” Of course that is a personal preference because what is best for one may not be best for another, but I am going to give you some insight so you can look for your next mattress well equipped with information.

First let me preface by saying that I fell for the ol’ professional chiropractic endorsement on a mattress that I bought. Was I ever excited because I even got a discount since I was a member of this organization. I just knew this mattress was going to be the perfect mattress to replace the water filled tube mattress that made me ache all over. Boy was I wrong!  After two years of proper upkeep the mattress began to sag and make me ache all over. Finally I learned enough about mattresses to understand the basic differences between them.

The first thing a mattress needs to do is to be supportive in all the right areas for long enough to make the purchase worthwhile. Yes, waterbeds can last a long time, but they give a hammock effect which creates your torso to sink and your head and feet to be raised up. This is also the case for air mattresses. There are some very expensive easily adjustable air mattresses on the market that can also give this effect if not enough air is in them.

Too much air causes the support to be off in a ‘reverse hammock effect’ where the hips are too high in the air and the head and feet are hanging.

In a conventional spring mattress, the springs tend to wear and sag quickly creating the effect of no support in the correct areas. On the flip side, sleeping on the floor tends to flatten everything out in your spine.

There are some great mattresses that conform to your body’s contours quite well providing for a comfortable nights sleep for many years. One of these uses “space age technology”, but they entrap a lot of heat. Another mattress in this category is the latex mattress which has a guaranteed life span of 10 years, but can last as long as 20. I knew someone who was obese and told me she had a latex mattress for 20 years and loved it, but threw it away because it was very dirty after all that time.

Anyway, the choice is yours. Do as much research as you can for your condition before you go to buy the mattress so you are well prepared for whatever the salesperson may tell you!