Choosing the right mattress for your needs

In a continuation of our first post on Health and Air Mattress Beds in which I outlined some health problems associated with poor sleep, I’d like to talk a little about the results of sleep studies. In particular, sleep studies performed on Select Comfort’s Sleep Number Bed. I want to emphasize, again, that I’m not a paid sponsor for this product but I do enthusiastically endorse it simply because it really is a great air mattress bed for everyday use.

For all the consequences of poor sleep, the question still remains how an air mattress bed can help prevent those problems in the first place. For that, it helps to look at the causes of poor quality sleep and it can almost all be summed up in one word - discomfort. But, there are several factors that go into causing discomfort.

• Pressure points
• Excessive Firmness / Softness
• Lack of Support

For an air mattress, foam mattress or innerspring mattress to provide quality, restful sleep, a careful balance between all three of those listed variables must be met. With that in mind, let’s analyze each in turn.

Pressure points are parts of your body subject to increased pressure and discomfort as you sleep. Were we all shaped like rectangles, we could sleep comfortably on a wooden table. Owing to all the protrusions and curves of our bodies, however, certain parts tend to absorb more pressure than others when we’re sleeping. Notable pressure points are your ankles, knees, hips, shoulders and head. The less forgiving a mattress on these pressure points, the less restful your sleep will be. Frequent tossing and turning in an effort to find a comfortable position is a common symptom of a mattress that is causing pressure point problems.

The right firmness or softness is a particularly subjective variable. What feels perfect for one person may be entirely too firm or soft for another. This can make purchasing an air mattress bed or any other kind of mattress a real challenge for couples as it’s rare for two people to share the same preference. Generally speaking, either one party suffers while the other sleeps comfortably or a couple will compromise and buy a mattress that meets in the middle and then neither gets the benefit of true comfort.

Contrary to what you might believe, support and firmness are not the same things. For those with bad backs, a firm mattress may or may not be the right solution. Generally, it isn’t the firmness that helps, it’s how the mattress supports the contours of your back which matters. Though closely related to the pressure point accommodation and firmness of a mattress, you should approach the purchase of a mattress for back support and health with support as an entirely independent thought. Just because a mattress doesn’t aggravate pressure points does not mean it will help you with your bad back.

It is with combinations and considerations of the variables above that one finds their perfect air mattress bed and the Sleep Number Bed shines in all three categories. In fact it does supremely well in the element of firmness and softness even for a couple sharing a bed as it allows for independent adjustment. Independent studies of the Sleep Number Bed compared to innerspring mattresses and even foam mattresses such as the Tempur-Pedic mattress revealed surprising results in favor of the Sleep Number Bed. As this post has, again, grown long, I’ll extend my intended 2 part post into a 3 part post and elaborate further. Check back soon. You’ll be surprised at the results.

Do you look as happy as she does after a night of rest on your current mattress? One recurring question I’ve seen pop up in any number of variations is, “are air mattresses good for your back?” The simple answer is that it depends on the air mattress, but for the purposes of this post, I’ll assume we’re talking about everyday use air bed mattresses and I’d like to expand things beyond just back health to include numerous other health concerns.

In my post on Select Comfort and Sleep Number Beds, I promised I’d come back to the health benefits of air bed mattresses and, so, here we are with a question stemming from that statement. What specifically are we concerned with when we ask about health and air mattresses?

When you lay out all the negatives associated with poor sleep habits, it becomes clear that good sleep and health are intricately intertwined. Consider just a few of the health and life problems attributable to lacking or poor quality sleep:

• Headaches
• Weight gain
• Irritability
• Diminished sexual performance
• Erectile dysfunction
• Poor performance at work or school
• Poor concentration and diminished cognitive function and recall
• Stress
• Depression

Now for all the items on that list, the last two are key. From stress and depression spring any number of additional ailments. By that I mean that very real illnesses can result from either stress or depression.

If you look at a mattresse’s contribution to a good night of sleep as the first link in a chain of events, the affect that mattress has on your sleep can have a significant impact on your health and happiness. A poor mattress as the first link in the chain leads to poor sleep in the second link. Get to the third link and perhaps you find yourself performing poorly at work. Already stressed by poor sleep, your stress levels are further compromised by a boss who is unsatisfied with your performance. Already irritable from poor sleep and work, your job performance further compromises patience and you find yourself yelling at your wife or children for the littlest things. I could take this chain all the way out to a subsequent divorce if I wanted to.

While the example above may be a bit extreme, it isn’t outside of reason nor is the cause (poor sleep) something to trivialize or ignore. How your day starts (or, more accurately, your night of sleep ends) does have a very real impact on your entire day. The link between sleep and quality of life is a very real, well established scientific fact.

As this post is getting a bit long, we’ll make this a two-parter. I’ll elaborate on the elements of quality sleep a bit here and then we’ll get into specifics in our next post. So we’ve defined the ways in which poor sleep can hinder your quality of life but what can a good mattress do to alleviate these problems?

As measured in a Stanford University study, one element of “good” sleep is how fast an individual dozes off on a particular mattress. Think of this as the tossing and turning quality of a bed where, due either to poor comfort or a brain that simply won’t shut off, the subject has difficulty falling asleep.

Additional metrics under quality of sleep cover several elements such as tossing and turning, achievement of REM sleep, time asleep without waking, over-all comfort and restfulness.

Finally we have the physical elements which include back pain, neck tension, joint pain, hip pain and discomfort in pressure points (shoulders, hips, buttocks, etc).

 We’ll continue this post in a later part 2 segment that will go into a bit of detail on how air bed mattresses stack up to conventional mattresses relative to the metrics listed above. Stop back soon for the continuation. Sleep well and sweet dreams in the meantime.

For all the luxury air mattress beds afford us on camping and hiking trips and for all the health benefits for our aching backs and joints, there’s another family member who might be just as thrilled, given the opportunity, to sleep on one. I’m talking about your favorite, furry family member. I’m talking about air mattress beds for dogs. 

Right out of the gate you might have some concerns. For example, I owned a water bed in high school. I woke up one night, sopping wet and freezing after my dog punctured a hole in it. It was high time I got rid of the thing anyway (the bed, not the dog). So couldn’t the same happen with air mattresses for dogs? Fortunately, claw proof air beds for dogs will ensure you never suffer a puncture. 

With a variety of features available, air mattresses for dogs are a great consideration. Non-slip rubber feet, raised head-rests, warm and comfortable slip covers and adjustable firmness are just a few of the available options but there are a few things you might not have thought of in considering an air mattress bed for your dog. 

Just like us, dogs (particularly old dogs) can suffer aches and pains in their joints. Air mattress beds can provide welcome comfort by eliminating pressure points that would aggravate sensitive joints. If your dog has a firmness preference, simply add or remove some air. 

Another welcome benefit to canine air mattress beds is that they do not absorb odors. Where a foam dog bed can endure a few cycles with just its covers being washed or changed, eventually odors will penetrate to the foam insert. No amount of washing will remedy the problem. Washing or replacing the slip cover on a dog’s air mattress bed, however, will completely solve any odor problems. The vinyl air mattress will not absorb odors. 

So if your pooch is worth pampering (aren’t they all) or in need of a therapeutic bed, consider doing for them what you might well do for yourself! A variety of air mattress beds for dogs are out there for all breeds and sizes and your pup will certainly appreciate the gift.