The most difficult task when choosing a mattress is to determine the necessary level of its firmness. It’s not enough to use the typical instruments in order to evaluate this characteristic.
Mistakes about mattress firmness
A lot of customers make mistakes while thinking that the firmer mattress is, the more useful it is for spine and back in the whole. Other consider that the soft bowed bed is the best choice for them. In fact, both variants are harmful to the health and spine especially because you cannot have a rest in the natural posture of the body.
Let’s go to the physiology. The spine is not a straight line like a string. It looks more like a wave. Sleeping on the very firm surface, hence, leads to maximize the impacts on one’s shoulders and hips. They simply cannot sink in the soft mattress layers. At the same time, the space around the lumbar spine is empty and not sufficiently supported. As the result, the muscle tissue is overstrained. Over hard surface can disrupt the work of the circulatory system because of the compression of blood vessels. It produces the problems with circulation, causing the numbness in the extremities and muscles and a general state of fatigue after sleeping.
A too soft mattress is no less harmful to the health although for other reasons. The spinal cord sags too much on this surface and becomes semilunar. As a result, the muscles are again overstressing and the lungs are being compressed so one could have the labored breath.
Choosing the proper mattress firmness you should take into account person’s weight and age, his anatomic specificities, medical conditions caused by the diseases of the locomotion system and internal organs.
How to define the mattress firmness
For newborns since the first days of their life. The first few months of child’s life is a period of the constant forming of its vertebrae and locomotion system. That’s why pediatricians recommend putting kids to bed on the firmest springless mattresses.
For children aged from 2 till 13. At this age, a child changes its crib to a teen-aged bed. Choosing a mattress you should take into consideration the child’s natural developmental process, especially the substantial change of its weight for a few years. Either spring or springless medium mattresses fit for this purpose.
For teenagers and young people aged till 25. The spine is forming for a quarter of a century. Therefore until the age of 25, you shouldn’t use soft mattresses for sleeping. The suitable models are mattresses of medium and high firmness for heavy sleepers.
For persons aged from 25 till 50. During this period of life you might choose any kind of mattress firmness according to your preferences and weight range:
- up to 55 kilo – soft models without coconut coir fiber or with a thick layer under it;
- from 55 till 90 kilo – medium firmness mattresses. In that case, you should pay attention to the maximum weight limit for a concrete model. If it’s above 140 kilos, the product seems too thick and uncomfortable for sleeping;
- over 90 kilo – mattresses with the maximum firmness. Models with robust box spring or double coconut fiber are the best solutions in this occasion. If a mattress is being chosen for a couple, it is necessary to take into account the heavier partner’s weight.
For persons aged from 50. The very firm mattresses are not advisable for them because it leads to the serious problems with intervertebral discs. The perfect choices for them are soft and medium firmness models.
For persons with locomotion apparatus diseases. If a person has some spine disorders, he/she should consult with a primary physician. For each case, one should choose a mattress model individually. But there’re general recommendations such as:
- medium firmness mattresses are fit for those who suffer from cervical and chest spine disorders;
- soft mattresses are the most relevant if there are diseases in lumbar spine;
- firm models are recommended for use at osteochondrosis and posture problems.
