Choosing the right mattress for your needs | The Sleep Number Bed - Health and Air Mattress Beds

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.