Do you know those moments when, even if you got a full 8-hour sleep, you still feel tired? And your back is killing you every time you get out of bed? If you’re going through something similar it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a bad back; it may mean it’s time to reconsider your mattress choice.
Yes, the wrong type of mattress can hurt your back and if you don’t take measures on time, the damage to your back can be for long term. Even more, the ideal mattress for your needs can help alleviate some of the back pain brought by a bad back.
Why is a good mattress so important? Well, during sleep, our body is in a state of rest and the spine gets a chance to decompress and even lengthen (you are taller when you wake up than when you go to sleep). So, if your mattress doesn’t offer the proper support and you sleep in an uncomfortable position, it’s absolutely normal for the muscles to suffer. This translates into pain on your back and can be one of the reasons why you have a bad posture through the day.
Also, painful back problems will not allow you to have a good night sleep which means you’ll be more stressed and anxious during the day. It all leads to a vicious circle that only ends with the mattress that supports your spine the right way.
However, according to experts, there is no one mattress that works for everyone. For instance, some people feel better on a more firm mattress, while others prefer a medium-firm one. It all adds up to your needs and preferences. Most specialists will recommend an ergonomic mattress, but you should consider testing a few before deciding on the one that will be your long-term choice.
But one thing is clear: if you feel any back pain when you get out of bed (that doesn’t have any other explanation), it’s time for a mattress change. The right mattress will help in getting rid of lower back pain and helps in keeping your spine properly aligned. It’s also a great solution for a good sleep position, which is very important if you consider we spend, on average, about one-third of our lives lying down.
So, what type of mattress is best for back pain? To answer this, I need to first show you how to choose the one that will fit your needs.
How to Pick a Bed for Lower Back Pain?
The lower back area of our body gets a lot of abuse these days. Not only we spend most of our lives sitting down, but we also tend to neglect our sleep position and standing posture. So, if you have lower back pain during the day (usually from your desk job), you have all the chances in the world of making the matter worse with a bad mattress.
Just to give you an idea of the things that happen when your mattress doesn’t offer the proper support, you should know that a poor sleeping posture will not allow your spine to be well-aligned and this will lead to strained muscles and, in the end, lower back pain.
On the other hand, a high-quality mattress, that fits your needs, will be able to offer the right support, allowing the structures in your spine to align correctly. However, choosing the right queen or king mattress may seem like a challenging task if you consider the plethora of types, designs, and materials available on the market. That’s why I prepared a short guide that will help anyone choose a mattress for their needs.
#1: Consider your preferences
I can say from experience that, when it comes to mattresses, your personal preferences are extremely important. It doesn’t matter if a mattress is highly recommended by specialists if you can’t accommodate to it, so you should first look for a product that fits your needs.
As an early conclusion, the best mattress for back problems is every mattress that allows you to sleep without pain and stiffness in the lower back area.
#2: Get Familiar with the Terminology
If you’re currently looking for a mattress, you already know that each producer comes with fancy names and materials to define a so-called new concept. However, when you get familiar with the type of materials and general terms, you will see that the plethora of big words tends to mean the same thing (or almost the same thing).
All you need to know is that the inner structure of a mattress is the element that provides support. And, in order to have the best support possible, you need to make sure you find one that has inner coils (or springs). This type of support is one of the most recommended when it comes to lower back pain, but I think it’s best to consider all your options before making a choice.
You should also know that different mattresses come with different arrangements of coils and even different numbers of springs. Still, the important aspect is the presence of these coils inside your mattress.
The next element to choose is the padding on top. This is the layer you will be sleeping on so it must match your needs. Besides the material you want, I also recommend choosing a thickness that suits your body and fits with the idea of a good night sleep.
To conclude, the three elements that matter when you choose the best mattress for the lower back pain or a neck pain are: the inner structure, the padding on top, and the total thickness of the mattress (or depth).
#3: The Back Support
The final step in finding the best surface for sleeping is the back support. This means that the mattress will provide support for the curves of your body regardless of your sleeping position.
The back support is measured in the firmness of the mattress and is different for each one of us. However, according to recent studies, a medium-firm sleeping surface will provide the correct back support for most people and helps in releasing the bad back pain.
What Causes Bad Backs?
Back pain is one of the most known affections in today’s young population (people under 45) and it affects our daily performance at a wide range of levels. Besides the fact that it is annoying, it causes lack of quality sleep and can lead to serious complications if not addressed properly.
But today I won’t focus on the effects of this pesky pain, but on its causes. There are a wide series of causes, but the most common ones are described below.
Muscle strain
The spinal cord is a very sensitive element in our body and has a highly important function: supporting our locomotor system. This means that every wrong move that has the possibility of getting the spinal elements out of alignment will have repercussions on our entire body and will affect the way we move and function in our day-to-day life.
But it’s not just alignment problems that affect the spine. Muscle strain is also a problem that can produce intense pain in the lower back area. This type of pain can be produced by sudden movements or lifting heavy objects, but one of the most common causes comes from the desk jobs. I talked to experts in the medical field and all confirmed my suspicion: prolonged sitting is a common cause of back pain, especially in the lower back region.
However, if you manage to find the best mattress for bad back that will offer the correct back support, the damages produce by a chair during the day can be undone during the night. During the night, the muscles relax and the spine is no longer affected by the gravitational weight. This allows it to extend and let any tension go. But this requires good support and not all mattresses or sleeping surfaces can guarantee that.
Injuries or any other type of damage
If you know you are suffering from a medical condition, you also understand the importance of good back support provided by the surface we sit and lie on.
There are several medical conditions that can cause back pain such as ruptured discs, arthritis, osteoporosis, scoliosis or any other skeletal irregularities. While not all these manifest with pain, there are lots of cases when the pain is difficult to support.
So, besides the treatment recommended by your specialist, I also recommend trying a mattress that will fit your needs. You probably know by now what works for your back problems condition and the type of surfaces that help with pain release.
Poor Posture
We live in a world where a hunchback posture seems absolutely normal. We tend to focus so much on work or entertainment offered by modern devices that we forget about keeping a correct posture.
Even more, kids are taught from an early age that it’s OK to hunch your shoulders and curve your back just to see the phone/tablet screen better. And these kids grow up to be adults that keep the same posture as they work on desks with their eyes pointed at a monitor screen.
Our modern society is affected by this poor posture and the only way to help such a person is to make sure they find a mattress that allows the spine to decompress during the night. A good support during the night is extremely good for someone suffering from back pain because of their general posture.
To summarize, bad back pain suffers can be caused by medical conditions, but, in most cases, it shows up because we don’t know how to take care of our spine. A few flexibility exercises every day, a good posture, and a high-quality mattress are the only things you need to correct your back’s curvature and make sure you are pain-free for the rest of your life.
What Material Should you Pick
The material you choose for your mattress is just as important as the type of support it offers. I am saying this because this is the element that will keep your skin breathing naturally during your sleep time. It is also the element to provide you with comfort and proper temperature according to each season.
However, there are lots of options out there and it may prove difficult to choose a material that suits your needs. It’s also a difficult process because the producers come with all sorts of names and combinations that sound attractive, but in reality are just a marketing trick and the surface you bought isn’t as effective as you thought.
So, if you’re looking for a product that will enhance your sleep, not ruin it, make sure to choose the right material. But, since I know the process can be weird, especially if you’re new to this world, below are the most common materials used to create mattresses:
- Latex foam – this type of material offers more flexibility to the surface and the mattress will be more bouncy than any other designs.
- Gel – the gel is used in combination with a special foam and offers different levels of comfort and heat dissipation.
- Memory foam
- Specialty foams (this type of mattress uses different types of foam to create an inner structure with good back support)
- Polyurethane or high-density foam –this type of material offers a firm sleeping surface with a high level of durability. If you combine it with an inner system of coils, you get a durable mattress that won’t sag even after years of being used.
As you can see, the offer is varied, but today I’ll only bring the Latex and the Memory foam mattresses to your attention.
Memory Foam (Is it the Best Type of Mattress for Back Pain?)
While it may seem (or sound) like a new concept, the memory foam was invented somewhere around the 1960s and its main purpose was to make NASA airplane seats more comfortable. And, like any material developed using military technology, the memory foam proved to be so good that it was released to the general public to be used in mattresses, chairs, and various sitting surfaces.
The memory foam we all know is made of viscoelastic, a material that absorbs energy without being hard. The resulting material tends to take the shape of the body but it is designed by both pressure and heat. This way, the foam takes the shape of your body and offers an equal distribution of your total body weight during sleep. The cool thing with memory foam is that it returns to its initial shape once the heat and pressure are no longer there.
Now, according to users’ reviews from all over the world, mattresses made of memory foam are one of the best choices one can make. It’s also one of the segments that thrive as these mattresses became best-sellers very fast. But did you know there are several types of memory foam mattress for a bad back?
The main difference is set in the density level, which doesn’t dictate how the foam feels against your body. This means that denser foam won’t feel more firm. It actually means that a denser material will be more durable and your mattress will hold together for more time. For instance, if you take a 5-pound per cubic foot memory foam mattress, you will have it for 10 years more than you would if you had bought a 3-pounds one.
However, you should be aware of the fact that some producers promote 5lb memory foam, but only for the first inch of the mattress. The rest is 2 or 3lb density memory foam. That’s why I recommend calling the producer and asking for more specs.
Measure your Comfort
Yes, in the mattress industry you can measure comfort! And the measurement unit is mmHg or the mattress’s reaction against pressure. According to specialists, a surface that features 32mmHg or lower is great for pressure relieving. This is valid because you’ll be more still during your sleep due to the fact that there will be fewer press points.
As the mmHg goes lower, the foam is believed to provide better blood circulation during sleep. Still, it is very difficult to get such foam and still maintain a good quality level of density.
You should know that some of the best mattresses on the market implement a multi-layer approach. This means that producers use several layers, each with different levels of comfort in order to create the ultimate feel. The layers combine they features and properties and manage to offer the ultimate level of comfort.
How about Natural Memory Foam?
I already mentioned that most memory foam is made of viscoelastic, but this is not the ideal choice. This type of foam is made of various chemicals and sleeps hot because it keeps the body heat inside. If you like being hot during the night or you sleep at the North Pole, this type of foam may work, but if you’re in a temperate climate, I recommend the natural foam.
This is a more special material, obtained by combining latex and memory foam, which allows the heat to escape offering a cool, comfortable sleep. This creates a healthy sleep environment and increases the chances of you getting a good night sleep.
Latex – Are They the Best?
This type of mattress is durable and will stick with you for years to come. It’s also made using a natural product (latex) and offers a healthier sleep. However, it is not as comfortable as the memory foam products.
A latex mattress uses the natural flexibility and durability of latex (collected and processed from the rubber tree) and removes the internal structure of springs or coils. While a mattress that doesn’t offer the support of springs may seem less equipped for people with back pain, the latex inner structure is more uniform and distributes the total body weight better so it is a good option.
Latex is considered to be the best material to use of mattresses designed to release bad back pain, but they also work great for people who are sensitive to allergens. Rubber is usually very hygienic and doesn’t release any allergens like some of the memory foam mattresses might.
When it comes to mattresses, there are three types of latex used:
- Organic – this mattress will be made of 100% natural rubber but it’s difficult to find them in retail stores because of the steep price. Still, you can find some interesting options online so don’t be discouraged by the brick and mortar stores. This type of mattress is amazing for people with severe allergies as no other material will be used in creating the core
- Synthetic – the latex used is synthetic, made by polymerizing a monomer (usually styrene). The material has mostly the same features as the natural rubber, but it is cheaper and more widely available.
- Blended – this mattress features a mixture of organic and synthetic (in most cases, 80% synthetic with 20% organic). It is a good choice, with durability, build quality and value for the money.
At the end of the day, if you are not allergic and you are looking for a good mattress at a good price, I consider the blended material to be the best choice. However, your search doesn’t stop here! You also have to know the type of surface you want. For instance, with this type of surfaces, you can choose between a combination of latex and foam.
Of course, there is the all latex option, but this is more expensive. However, such a mattress will be the kind recommended by an orthopedic specialist for a good night sleep or for lower back pain problems. Because of the all-latex build, the mattress offers ideal back support and provides good motion isolation.
If you decide to go with a combination of latex and foam, you can choose between foam over latex or latex over foam. The first option comes with a thick latex base which provides both comfort and good support. The second option is a thinner layer of latex on top of a thick foam base (it can be memory foam or any other type of foam). These versions are usually less expensive, but the price goes up with the thickness of the mattress and are great for lower back pain side-sleeper.
Overall if you are looking for the best mattress for bad back pain or neck pain, latex mattresses are a great choice and I recommend everyone to give them a chance. It may seem they are more firm than needed, but a firm sleeping surface will keep your spine well-aligned. It’s also a great product and comes with less trouble than memory foam mattresses.
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