The Best Mattress for Back Pain Treatment: How to choose the right Mattress
Comfort is a trait that everyone craves. Whether it is the seat on which you sit or the mattress you sleep on, you look for comfort. Yet, any interference with your body’s natural shape, while looking for comfort, can cause inconvenience in the long run. So, the sinking feeling you get on lying on a super soft mattress may be tempting for now. Yet it may lead to severe back pain later. Besides, it is also not wise to opt for a firm mattress assuming it can treat back pain. Everyone needs differing levels of mattress stiffness for sleeping peacefully. There is no one-type-fits-all mattress.
If you have lower back pain and are looking for the best mattress for back pain, Brownies Mattress Direct can help you. We will isolate the cause of back pain and understand what kind of mattress would suit your sleep better.
How Mattress can Help End Back Pain
Everyone knows that your body goes into repair mode while you sleep. It repairs any damages and heals any fatigued muscles. Yet, to do so, the body needs to remain stationary and relieved of any pressure. When you lie on a mattress that is either too soft or too firm, it doesn’t offer the correct sleeping position. In a soft mattress, the spine begins to curve in the shape of a hammock. Whereas lying on a stiff mattress will cause the spine to take up an inverted S-shape.
In either case, you end up straining the back muscles. The muscles can no longer keep the spine in its natural position. The adjoining vertebrae rub against each other and cause the nerves to fire randomly. Medical professionals term this as a herniated disk. It is the leading cause of lower back pain.
When the mattress provides the correct support form, the spine remains straight. The firmness relieves you of any pressure. So the body can heal the back pain or prevent it altogether.
Here are some of the signs that your mattress is the culprit behind your persistent back pain.
Signs of Back Pain due to mattress
Too much tossing and turning
When the mattress resists the natural spine alignment, you will subconsciously change your pose in the quest to find comfort. This may cause you to toss and turn. This can also cause the mattress to move about and disturb your partner’s sleep due to low motion isolation.
Waking up often
When your muscles remain tense, your brain finds it difficult to switch to the R.E.M sleep mode. This would lead to you waking up at the slightest disturbance.
Stiffness in morning
Due to your muscles being tensed throughout the night, lactic acid builds up. This results in inflammation and soreness when you wake up in the morning. Also, the spine tries to remain in its natural shape, but the surrounding muscles offer resistance. So, when waking up, the spine takes time to return to its original form.
Sagging in the middle portion of the mattress
You observe a sag in the mattress even when nothing is on the top. Usually, it signifies that the mattress offers zero lower back support. The sag will cause your body to sink in and compromise your natural sleeping posture.
Depending on the severity, you may need to shop for a new mattress or get your existing mattress repaired.
How to Select the Best Mattress for Lower Back Pain?
As we said earlier, no one mattress fits all requirements. The ideal mattress for you relies on certain factors:
Sleeping Position
Different people sleep in their unique way. Some find it comfortable lying on their backs or stomach. Others see a good night’s sleep when lying sideways. Some people mix it up and sleep arbitrarily. Depending on your sleeping posture, your spine requires the proper support. Stomach sleepers prefer firm mattresses. Back-sleepers need lesser firmness for adjusting to the curvature. Those sleeping on their sides need a softer top layer with appropriate support underneath. The contour effect allows those lying on the mattress to keep their normal posture without compromising on the support.
Pillow or No Pillow
Those sleeping with a pillow have a slightly altered resting position. The inconvenience of a heightened pillow is further modified by the sleeping posture. The mattress needs to be soft enough to compromise the curvature change owing to the pillow elevation.
Total Weight
The firmness offered by the mattress is subjective to the total weight of people sleeping on top of it. Every mattress has a tolerance level of the amount of weight it can bear without losing its firmness. Any weight above or below the tolerance level would find the firmness inadequate. This is to say that someone of 90kgs lying on a mattress supporting 80kgs might feel like sinking inside. Similarly, anyone of 60kgs might find the same mattress very firm.
Mattress Type
There are three most common types of mattresses available in the market.
- Foam Mattress
- Spring or Coil Mattress
- Hybrid Mattress
A foam mattress has two or more layers of foam or latex of varying firmness. So, they provide a body-hugging effect ensuring natural posture.
Spring or coil mattress has a base of interconnected springs (Coil) or individual coils arranged in a grid (Pocket spring). The coil winding determines the firmness of the mattress. The top layer is usually a soft fabric or thin layer of foam for cushioning.
Hybrid Mattresses are a result of taking the best of spring type and foam mattress. The base is a coil with a memory foam top layer.
From a comfort level, hybrid and foam mattresses are the best choices. A pocket spring mattress offers the same comfort level as a foam mattress without the ‘sinking effect’ of the latter.
Cost-wise, the continuous coil mattresses are the cheapest, and hybrid pocket springs are on the expensive side. Another set of differences are observed in the heat retention of each material. Foam is body-hugging and hence tends to heat up from the body temperature. Whereas, spring mattresses have enough airflow to keep them cool throughout.
How to improve your general sleep
Besides your mattress, how you prepare your room for sleep is also crucial for a good night’s sleep. Here are some of the tips to improve your overall sleep:
- Have consistent bedtime and wake-up timing. This helps set your circadian rhythm.
- Avoid having caffeine and nicotine before bedtime.
- Ensure the room temperature is around 18.3oC
- Avoid alcohol consumption
- No electronics 1 hour before bedtime. Read a novel instead
- Have a warm bath
- Pamper yourself
Wrapping Up
Lower back pain can really make your day go for a toss. What started from the wrong sitting posture, may intensify with the wrong mattress. We hope the above article allows you to gain insights on the best mattress for back pain and helps you choose one. You can also try the Brownies bed selector tool to get valuable suggestions.
Author Bio
Author Name: Dean Brownie
Dean Brownie is general manager at Brownies Mattress Direct.