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How To Choose A Mattress?

Eight hours of sleep every day is almost one-third of the 24 hours you have, which means that you spend approximately one- third of your life on your bed. And doesn’t it make sense to buy a good surface to spend that amount of time on?

However, as much as you might want to buy a good mattress, it always isn’t that easy. With the vast number of offerings from various companies and the tens of varieties of mattresses available in the market, it can become pretty confusing for anyone wanting to purchase a good mattress.

Noting this dilemma, we have decided to compile a list of certain tips which can help you choose a great mattress for yourself.

1. Identify When You Need to Choose A New Mattress:

The first thing that needs to be done is to understand the warning signs and realize that you need to change your mattress. As with everything else, even mattresses have a fixed life after which the support it provides starts failing, the shape gets distorted and lumps begin to form.

While this might not seem like a big deal for most people, especially those who are used to using their mattresses for several years together, it does matter to a large extent.

As we mentioned above, you spend almost one- third of your day on your mattress, and it supports your entire body. As such, the function of the mattress is to provide your body with the necessary support to ensure that every part gets the required support and comfort required to recover from the day’s ordeal. When the mattress fails to perform this function, you end up losing out on a peaceful sleep which affects your body’s ability to recover from this situation.

Gradually, over a period of time, this lack of rest starts to build up resulting in a plethora of health problems. It is not just lack of sleep which causes these issues. Your spine and neck are in a constant state of alertness throughout the day. Even when you sleep, they take the support of the mattress to get back to their natural state. If the mattress cannot allow them to get back to their original positions and causes them to stay in unnatural positions for long durations, then it obvious that pain, sprains and other issues will follow.

Hence, your body itself the best indicator of the time you need a new mattress. If you wake up with a sore back or with a slight pain in your back, and that discomfort or pain is gone after a few minutes of stretching or normal work, then it is a sure shot indicator that your mattress needs to be changed. If the reason were to be something different, the pain would not vanish a few minutes after waking up.

2. Talk To Your Doctor Before You Pick A Mattress:

This is perhaps among the most important steps you should follow, but one which almost everyone ignores. Everyone’s body is different, and so is everyone’s medical history. Age also plays a major role in what type of mattress a person should be using. A normal person will not be able to make an informed decision on these factors. But a doctor with an intimate knowledge of what every person’s body requires based on their medical history can help you understand whether a soft mattress that lets you sink into can provide the necessary support for your bad hip, or if a memory foam, which is known to be warm, is good for your skin condition in the summer! A doctor’s advice can help you choose a good mattress easily.

There are several variations to choose from including but not limited to memory foam mattresses, hybrid mattresses, spring mattresses, latex mattresses etc.

3. Research Online Before Buying Your Mattress:

Once you’ve asked your doctor to help you out and narrowed down upon the type of mattress you want, you need to scout the market to know the offerings across various brands for that specific type. While visiting every store around you is a huge pain, there is an alternative.

You can now easily look up different brands online, read about their features, reviews, cost and long-term performance to understand which ones you actually want to shortlist and purchase. This helps you weed out mattresses that don’t perform as well, understand what kind of budget is required and find the best place to purchase these mattresses.

It is always recommended to physically analyze the mattress before you purchase it, hence purchasing your mattress online is not a good idea unless you have already seen it beforehand and are getting a great price online.

4. Don’t Fall For False Advertising:

It is not uncommon to come across mattresses that claim to be the ‘Medically Approved’ for some disease or the other or ‘Certified Orthopedic’ by some random association. You would do well to understand that there is no medical organization that offers such certifications to mattresses. Hence, any company using these tags is lying through their teeth.

However, it does not mean that they are all bad. They may actually be designed in a way to provide comfort to your back or specially developed for people with orthopedic disorders and be beneficial for them, as they claim. They may be using those tags to attract your attention to their benefits. However, just remember not to blindly trust such labels and always verify their claims before you decide solely based on their ‘certifications’.

5. Test the Mattress Before Choosing:

It might be embarrassing to do this, but a mattress is a big investment and you have to literally live with your choice for several years. Hence, make sure that you take your time and literally lie down on the mattress for at least 10- 15 minutes before you make any decision. If you have a significant other, it is recommended that you both test the mattress together to ensure that it is a good fit for the both of you.

This is very essential since it is not possible to understand what a mattress feels like in less than the time prescribed above. Additionally, we would also recommend you to carry your sleeping pillow along with you to give you an exact simulation of how it would actually feel to have that mattress at your home since pillows affect the experience significantly.

However, remember that you should not buy the mattress now. This is only a step in choosing a mattress since you can physically test out the mattress here. Finding the right mattress is only one step. We still need to be able to find a good deal and warranty for the mattress you have decided upon, and physical stores tend to be slightly costlier due to higher overheads and operating costs. This is one reason why buying from brick and mortar stores is not always a good choice.

6. There Are No Absolutes When Buying Mattresses:

While there are certain stereotypes that have cropped up due to some reasons, not all stereotypes with regard to mattresses hold true. And this is all the more highlighted due to the development of hybrid mattresses and the research and development on various materials to overcome their inherent drawbacks.

Always remember that every hard mattress is not good for your back. In fact, research suggests that a combination of a hard and soft mattress is necessary to allow the mattress to mould itself to your body and provide the required support to hold it that way.

Also, every soft mattress is not bad for your back since latest materials which provide superior comfort, as well as support, have been devised which are good for your back as well.

All these aspects depend upon your body type and personal requirements. For example, underweight or very light weighted people do not require thick pillow top mattresses, since they may never manage to compress the foam to even engage the underlying coils or springs. Heavier people, however, need the extra cushioning to ensure that there is some cushioning present between the body and the coils.

7. Be Warranty Wise:

As with any other major investment, make sure that your mattress has a warranty of at least 10 years. This is a standard duration which protects you from low-quality materials and bad mattress that can affect you physically.
Make sure that you analyze the terms of the warranty as well to guarantee that the terms are reasonable and don’t require you to bear unnecessary costs or some loophole doesn’t render your warranty obsolete. This is one reason why reading the fine print is important. Even though laws protect you from malpractice of such sort, it never hurts to be careful.

8. Purchase From Online Stores Specializing In Mattresses:

Now that you have been able to choose a mattress that is the best fit for you, and you have also tested it out physically, it is now time to look for online stores specializing in mattresses . This is essential because online stores have a lot lesser overheads compared to traditional stores and offer a lesser rate. Choosing a website that specializes in mattresses can also help you get much better deals and warranties since these websites tend to have special tie ups with companies and can also help you choose a mattress wisely.

Conclusion:

The decision to buy a new mattress may seem daunting given the huge variety and confusing variants being offered. However, if you follow the required steps and cover all your bases, there is no reason why you cannot find the perfect mattress for you.