Red flags and tell tale signs of a bad mattress

By Anand Nichani

New Delhi, Sep 22 (SocialNews.XYZ) Remember the Beetle's song, "It's been a hard day's night, and I have been working like a dog..."? Well, what would you want after a long day's work? A peaceful night's sleep on your own bed, obviously. But do you get it? Not always. So, what gives?

One of the factors directly responsible for a good night's sleep is a proper mattress. If the mattress you sleep on is good, and supports your body well, lending it comfort and support, a good night's sleep is pretty much guaranteed.

However, not using a good mattress can have many negative fallouts - starting, of course, with an uncomfortable night's sleep. Besides, a bad mattress can endanger the health of your back, neck, and head, among other body parts.

Now, a mattress is normally used for a pretty long period of time. So, given that you won't be changing it frequently, careful consideration should be given before purchasing a mattress in order to prevent any kind of discomfort and health problems, both immediate and long-term. Indeed, you would do well to even view a mattress as an investment for your well-being.

Why the body pain?

Most people do not even relate their health issues to the mattress they use. So, before buying a mattress, you would do well to keep a number of factors in perspective. One is your weight. Mattresses that use weight-induced memory foam, which response to the body weight and not the body heat, is the solution to this issue. Such a mattress will hold up your body well, not letting it sag, and in the process, allowing you to sleep comfortably through the night.

Also, you can stretch and employ better postures while sleeping on a comfortable mattress. That can do wonders for your sleep. These can ensure a constant level of comfort through the night, indeed, through all seasons.

Excess sweating

Excess heat gets trapped in poor-quality mattresses, leaving no scope for it to 'breathe'. This results in the mattress heating up, causing the user to sweat severely or feel humid. An open-cell structure improves the breathability of a mattress; this keeps the mattress dry and cool.

Sagging/deformed mattress

It's time to get rid of your mattress and purchase a new one if it isn't in the same condition as it was when you bought it. Mattresses made of low-quality materials get deformed over time and sag. This leads to misalignment of the spine of the person sleeping on it. It also results in muscular pain, which can get serious over time. Naturally, you would need to replace such a mattress. Here again, weight-induced memory foam, which response to body weight and not body heat, will maintain a constant level of comfort, while not letting the mattress deform or sag.

Allergies and hygiene issues

Sometimes, people get allergies while sleeping. Confusing, isn't it? Well, it's the mattress at work, that's causing the allergy. Mattresses tend to gather dust over time. And when you sleep on such a mattress, you tend to breathe in the dust accumulated on the mattress. That leads to allergies in the lungs and skin. The solution to this problem is mattresses with certified non-toxic foam, inner materials, and fabrics that offer real health benefits as these are breathable and hypoallergenic.

Due to the climatic conditions in India, mattresses turn unhygienic pretty soon. This leads to a bad odour, which in turn, impacts the quality of your sleep. Along with disturbed sleep, such unhygienic conditions can lead to the growth of dust mites, bed bugs, and other unwanted pests. To avoid such problems, certain quality mattresses come with removable and dry-cleanable fabric, and this fabric can be easily removed and dry-cleaned regularly. With this, the mattress will remain clean and hygienic for a longer period of time.

So, now you know what to keep in mind while buying a mattress, and some of the primary red flags of a poor mattress that can impact your sleep. These, in turn, can lead to bad health, and lower the overall quality of your life.

Overall, one should be extremely careful and avoid poor-quality mattresses. Instead, one would do well to invest in a good-quality mattress that comes with international certifications such as OEKO-TEX, ACA, and GOTS and is made of open-cell foam and covered by a removable & dry-cleanable mattress fabric. For, sleep is, after all, a serious business; one that lays the positive foundation of your waking and working day. "A healthy mattress, a healthy lifestyle."

(Anand Nichani is the MD of Magniflex India)

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

Source: IANS