Is Your Mattress Ruining Your Sleep?

Waking up feeling stiff, tired, or restless? Your mattress might be the problem. A bad mattress can disrupt your sleep, leading to aches, fatigue, and even long-term health issues.

Here’s how to tell if your mattress is the culprit—and what to do about it.

You Wake Up Sore or Stiff: To protect spinal alignment a quality mattress needs to exist. Any discomfort you experience in your neck or back or joint areas upon rising suggests your mattress has either aged beyond reliability or it is either extremely firm or too soft (National Sleep Foundation).

You Toss and Turn All Night: The lack of sleep comfort signals your mattress has lost its ability to provide appropriate support. The natural shape and responsiveness of mattresses decreases after time which results in harder restful sleep (Sleep Foundation).

Your Mattress is Over 7-10 Years Old: A mattress that has exceeded both seven and ten years of use requires replacement. An average mattress needs replacement when it reaches an age between seven and ten years. A declining mattress affects sleep quality and creates discomfort for those who use it (source: Better Sleep Council).

You Wake Up Feeling Tired: A mattress that fails to support deep restful sleep during your sleep hours will likely make you feel tired upon awakening even when you get enough hours of rest. You cannot achieve full relaxation when sleeping on a mattress that offers inadequate support because of being too rigid or too soft (Mayo Clinic).

How to Fix It

• A visible sagging mattress with noticeable lumps indicates that you need a new mattress purchase.
• Side sleepers need a softer mattress support system while back and stomach sleepers need firm support.
• Adding an appropriate topper on top of your existing mattress provides additional comfort while you wait to replace it.
• The investment in a high-quality mattress leads to better sleep quality and reduction of pain with additional health advantages.

The Takeaway

Your sleep quality together with your health declines significantly due to sleeping on a poor mattress. An uncomfortable sleeping experience involving nighttime restlessness together with excessive fatigue in the morning signals the need to purchase a new mattress. A quality mattress represents an essential purchase that gives you both restful sleep and better health benefits.

Sources: National Sleep Foundation, Sleep Foundation, Better Sleep Council, Mayo Clinic.