Quality Of The Mattress
It makes sense that the quality of your mattress isdirectly related to back pain. Dr Smycz explains that how well you look after the mattress is a major factor. You need to make sure the mattress is protected and looked after.
If your mattress is in good condition in terms of quality, age, and treatment you should not be waking up with back stiffness, said Dr Smycz.
Youll know its time to replace your mattress if you feel chronic back pain thatgreets you in the morning.
So How To Choose The Best Mattress For Back Pain
If you blindly follow the mattress recommendations on the Internet, chances are youll be sleeping on a wrong mattress. This may play an essential role in causing more pain and trouble for your back.
Therefore, here are some tips and tricks you can use to choose the best mattress for your particular problem, with a little bit of our help
- Follow your personal preferences if you choose a firm mattress because it feels comfortable and provides pain-free sleep, then go for it. It is important to choose a mattress that conforms to your particular body curvature and back problems.
- Consult a medical professional about the mattress you should use by making additional inquiries and by consulting a medical professional, youre more likely to find the perfect mattress for your back pain.A medical professional will help you understand your back problems and what components a mattress should have to help your alleviate and resolve the back problems.
- Ask for a mattress with back support some mattresses are built with specific attention to back support. When buying a mattress, make sure to ask about the back support components of a mattress, its density, and the ability to conform to the spine curvature.
How The Wrong Pillow Can Affect Your Sleep Position
While the issue is more serious for stomach sleepers, those who sleep on their side can also be pulling their spines out of alignment by using the wrong pillow. Even with the right sleep position, the wrong pillow can lead to major issues that can be a literal pain in the neck. Thats because your pillow is just as important as your mattress when it comes to proper spinal alignment.
Choose a pillow with the right amount of loft for your sleep position. If you sleep on your side, you need a more supportive pillow with a higher loft. For those who sleep on their stomachs, look for a pillow with a lower profile.
Individuals who sleep on their back may sleep on both high and low loft pillows, based on their personal preference.
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Is Your Mattress Causing You Back Pain
Sleep Advisor Disclaimer – Nothing on this website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment… Read more here
There are a lot of different reasons that people experience back pain. Figuring out where your discomfort is coming from can be difficult, especially if you lead an active or challenging life. However, the mattress you go to sleep on at night can play a big part in how you feel in the morning. In other words, its important to find out whether your bed is to blame for your back soreness or not.
Life Expectancy Of A Mattress
How long you can reasonably expect to keep your bed varies depending on who you ask. Mattress manufacturers will tell you once every eight years, but Consumer Reports says a quality bed should last for ten years. Call it paranoia, but it seems like the manufacturers are trying to steer us into replacing our beds more quickly than needed.
That being said, there are a lot of factors that can affect the life expectancy of your sleeping surface:
Type of mattress: Natural latex and high-density memory foam last longer than innerspring and low-density memory foam.
Quality: Usually, you get what you pay for.
Your age and weight: Heavier people will naturally make a mattress compress or sag more quickly. And as you age, you become more sensitive to subtle indentations.
Lifestyle: If you use your bed only for sleeping and take good care of it, itll outlive something that has kids jumping on it or sustains other bouncy extracurricular activities.
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Mattress Type And Materials
So what is the best mattress for a bad back? Mattresses can be made of many different natural and synthetic materials but some materials are better than others when it comes to providing the extra support needed to alleviate back pain.
Memory foam and latex
The most commonly recommended beds for back pain are memory foam and latex. Memory foam mattresses and their natural alternative, latex mattresses, both offer amazing support and contouring. They hug the body and cradle all your natural curves, supporting pressure points like shoulders and hips while relieving pressure for reduced pain. Memory foam and latex also help keep your spine aligned while sleeping, which further reduces stress on the back and lowers pain in all areas.
Innerspring
An innerspring mattress, sometimes referred to as a traditional mattress, is a bed of coils with a foam layer on top. These mattresses were the standard for around a century, but, despite improvements like pocketed coils and better motion isolation, a regular innerspring with a foam top generally doesn’t offer enough support for substantial back pain relief.
Airbed
Airbeds don’t offer the kind of contouring that memory foam or latex does. However, there are beds with air components that can be mechanically adjusted for more or less fill and firmness. The ability to customize your bed can be a great asset when trying to get good support for alleviating upper or lower back pain.
Hybrid
The Winkbed Luxury Firm
The WinkBed integrates layers of soothing specialist foams with a sturdy innerspring for a hybrid design that offers the perfect combination. It has been completely gel-infused. Its individually wrapped coil springs ensure to trigger your pressure points to give you complete pain relief as you sleep through the night.
It is known to be the best for people suffering from back pains and vertebral alignment issues. Also, for the people who tend to change their positions while sleeping, this one is an ideal choice.
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Need More Help With Back Pain
These free resources will help you get on the right track to ridding yourself of back pain!
- Find a mattress to relieve you of back pain with Mattress Match
- Learn about all the options with our Mattress Buying Guide
- Experience the REM sleep deserve with our Better Sleep Guide
- Go from Zs to As in college with this sleep guide for students
- Want to conquer sleep deprivation? Check out our sleeping disorders guide
Which Mattress Firmness Is Best For Back Pain
A scientific study concluded that a medium-firm mattress outperformed a firm mattress in terms of reducing back pain whilst in bed, upon rising, and throughout the day for 313 adults tested over a 90-day period .
However, this study doesnt mean that everyone with back pain should buy a medium-firm mattress because back pain is a highly individualized condition, and the most suitable mattress firmness is dependant on a range of subjective factors.
The best mattress firmness for back pain could be soft, medium, firm, or another firmness variant depending on your body weight, body type, and dominant sleeping position.
This can make choosing the right mattress firmness for your back pain challenging.
And even if you consult your doctor first , you may still be unclear on the most suitable mattress firmness to help with your back pain.
Thats why Ive put together a list of the different mattress firmnesses and provided some guidelines as to which setting is typically best suited to the different combinations of body weights, body types, and sleeping positions to provide some clarity.
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What Are The Benefits Of A Side Sleeper Mattress
Side sleep also has great benefits, including less back pain, better breathing and better digestion. However, side sleepers often experience pain in their shoulders and lower back when the mattress does not support them or is uncomfortable for them. The type of mattress you sleep on directly affects the support and comfort you get each night.
Q: Is A Memory Foam Mattress Good For Back Pain
A: Memory foam can help relieve pain at pressure points, and it evenly distributes a sleeper’s body weight across the surface of the mattress. If you’re experiencing pain in your upper back and your shoulder blades, a memory foam mattress will cushion those spots by contouring to your curves. Like traditional innerspring mattresses, memory foam beds come in different firmness levels, and a medium-firm to firm option ensures that your spine stays well-supported throughout the night.
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Q: What Mattress Firmness Level Is Best For Lower Back Pain
A: Extra-firm mattresses used to be the go-to for sleepers looking to alleviate lower back pain, but that’s no longer the case. Your best bet is to try a medium-firm to firm mattress that allows your spine to rest in its natural “S” curve and provides cushioning for sensitive joints like the hips and shoulders.
How Our Back Works
Our back is made up of muscles, tendons ligaments, and a spinal column. The spinal cord contains disks that move around as we move.
Above and below each disk lies cartilage. This soft tissue is like the disks pillow, it cushions it from the one above and below it, so they wont rub together.
The spinal cord is further protected from shock and damage by the spinal fluid and the myelin sheath, or outer layer around the spinal cord.
These three things protect the nerves that run along the spinal cord, inside a hollow tube called the spinal canal.
When you put yourself in a particular position like stooping over for a long period of time your back will adjust its tendon, ligaments joints, and muscles to that particular position, so you are able to feel comfortable.
When you move from that stance, your back has to try and quickly readjust itself.
This can sometimes take a minute or two, depending on body mechanics and how long you were in that position. This readjustment is what causes the muscles to become stiff.
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Can Mattress Toppers Cause Lower Back Pain
Waking up with lower back pain can really be a pain. The worst thing is that sometimes it can be hard to pinpoint the reason for this pain that you are suffering from.
When it comes to whether mattress toppers are a good solution to back pain, the reviews are fairly mixed. While some people say that mattress toppers help solve their back pain, others blame their mattress toppers for causing lower back pain.
Toppers can be great because they can make a firm bed a little more comfortable and a soft bed a little firmer. The idea is that we want to avoid extremes, because a bed that is too firm wont support your spines natural curves, which over time can lead to pain and discomfort. On the flip side, a bed that is too soft will cause you to sink in and wont protect those curves either.
The most common cause of back pain is in your lower back.
The secret is to strike a happy medium between the two. The best material to sleep on is the type that molds to your shape, like memory foam. This allows you to keep your spine and head well aligned while you sleep, therefore reducing the chances of pain and injury.
Dont Sleep On A Mattress Thats Too Soft Or Too Hard
Goldilocks was onto something when she picked Baby Bears just right bed.
A mattress thats too soft will cause your back or hips to sag and your spine to fall out of alignment, which can lead to significant pain. A mattress thats too firm will put too much pressure on your joints, especially if you sleep on your side or your back.
Thats why if you want to reduce your back pain in bed, you need a mattress that offers support but that also contours to your body to provide pressure relief and relieve pain.
That being said, theres no one-size-fits-all-best mattress for back pain. Plus, there are plenty of different materials to choose from. So be sure youre investing in a mattress made from suitable materials for your unique needs.
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#reason : Stomach Sleeping Can Cause You Lower Back Pain
Stomach sleeping is not good for your health and it may cause you lower back pain. If you are used to sleeping on the stomach, I suggest you avoid this sleeping position. When you sleep on the stomach, your memory foam mattress cant hold your spine, back, and neck perfectly aligned and cause back pain.
Solution: Try To Sleep on The Side and Back
If you are suffering from lower back pain due to stomach sleeping, I recommend you to switch your sleeping position. You have to try sleeping on the side, back, and stomach frequently. It will reduce the chance of creating back pain.
New Mattresses Have An Adjustment Period
“There is a transition period when you go from an old unsupportive mattress to a new supportive one,” says Wisconsin-based chiropractor Thomas Tozer.
If you were previously sleeping on a less-than-terrific mattress for years and years, your body likely got used to it, even though it wasn’t all that great for your back. When you move to a more supportive mattress, it may not feel quite as comfortable at the start, even though it’s much better for your back.
Think about how it feels to sit up straight after being hunched over for a long timethat’s similar to what happens when you switch from a saggy mattress to one that can keep your spine in a neutral, properly aligned position.
Here, one Saatva customer explains how it took three weeks to get used to their new mattress:
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How To Pick A Good Mattress For Your Back
Every one has different sleep preferences, which can make it hard to find the perfect mattress. Look for one that is not too firm or too soft. If the mattress is too firm, it will push on your pressure points and cause misalignment. Similarly, if the bed is too soft, it will allow your body to sink into the bed causing bad posture while you sleep, which can then lead to pain. The right mattress should make you feel like you are floating on air.
Financial times might be tough at the moment, but one should consider in investing in a good mattress. Think about it, you should be spending 7-9 hours on your mattress each night, which makes it an important piece of furniture. You want to invest in something that will give you better sleep and less pain, instead of going frugal and buying a mattress that is not right for your body.
What Is The Best Mattress Pad For Bad Back Support
According to their tests, the best mattress topper for back pain is the Ghostbed mattress topper. This unique mattress protector has 5 different zones that support each part of your body differently and dramatically increase your chances of waking up without back pain after a bad night’s sleep. Expand table of contents.
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How To Prevent Back Pain In Bed
6 min read
Back pain can keep you up at night, it prevents you from enjoying a good nights sleep and saps your days energy. But youre in luck, not only are there solutions, but weve spoken to Hashim Saifuddin, Director and Osteopath at Atlas Osteopathy, to get the best and most thorough information to help you on your way to understanding back pain in bed, and how to combat it.
If Your Mattress Is Causing Back Pain Sleep Natural Has Just What You Need
If you see all the signs you need a new mattress, you owe it to yourself to check out Sleep Naturals Latex Collection. Not only are Sleep Natural mattresses better for your back, but theyre also better for your overall health. We only use plant-based eco-friendly materials like wild-harvested bamboo and natural latex tapped from local rubber trees, and foams that are CertiPUR-US certified so they help you breathe better and are toxin free. Each of our latex mattresses eliminates pressure points, promotes proper spinal alignment, and evens body weight distribution a perfect recipe for pain-free sleep.
The Sleep Natural Integrity Plush Eurotop Hybrid. With over 2300 5-Zoned pocketcoils, 2.4 flexible micro coils, and layers of supportive latex, this mattress is made to keep your spine neutral. Add Kooling Gel Swirl Memory Foam and Outlast quilting with gel foam, and youll sleep cool and comfortable all night.
The Sleep Natural Dream Weaver Plush. Designed to provide comfort for both stomach and back sleepers, it has multiple layers of natural latex and plush foam to make this bed comfy, cozy, and supportive.
TheSleep Natural Starlight ET. A memory foam mattress alternative perfect for eliminating back pain in any sleeping position, side sleepers will notice their shoulders are cradled by the Supersoft and Plush latex, stomach sleepers will notice their hips dont sag forward, and back sleepers will enjoy the pressure relief on the spine.
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