How an Uncomfortable Bed and Mattress Can Affect Your Health

Everyone knows how great a good night’s sleep can make you feel. It leaves you refreshed and ready for the day. There’s even a World Sleep Day dedicated to investing in your rest.

That’s why 92% of people think that having a comfortable mattress is vital for getting a restful night’s sleep.

But feeling rested is only half the equation when it comes to your mattress. Sleeping in an uncomfortable bed can actually have a huge negative impact on your health.

How exactly? Well, there a number of ways that mattresses and more can impact on your health. Read on to find out all about them.

An Uncomfortable Bed Leads to Pain

Your mattress needs to be the right firmness in order to provide you with enough support while you sleep. If it doesn’t this can lead to pain in different areas of your body.

And, as you’ll see, finding the balance of firmness in your mattress is important. A mattress that’s too firm for you can be just as bad as a mattress that’s too soft.

Sleeping on a bed that’s too firm increases the pressure on your joints, such as your shoulders, knees, and hips. The position you sleep in can also affect this. So, if you sleep on your side, you’ll experience more pressure here as well.

Too much pressure on these parts of your body leads to joint pain. This can disrupt both your day and your night. If your mattress is too firm then it might be time to consider getting a mattress topper to soften it.

But not having enough support can be equally disturbing for your body. This is one of the dangers of sleeping on an air mattress or old, sagging mattress for too long.

A lack of support means your body doesn’t stay in line while you sleep. As your body relaxes in its sleep, any bend in your spine or neck will put pressure on the ligaments that hold them in place. This is can lead to severe neck or back pain.

Lower back pain is especially common. Around 80% of adults experience it and lots of things can cause it.

It’s easy to tell if your mattress is the source of your back pain. If it is, you’ll find that the pain is worst in the morning when you wake up and then eases off during the day. This is a sure sign that the damage is happening overnight.

You Could Be Allergic to Your Bad Mattress

Over time your mattress becomes home to dust mites.

They feast on the dead skin cells that we all lose every single day. And a bed is full of these. That might sound gross but it happens to everyone.

You won’t be able to see the dust mites in your bed because they’re microscopic. But you might react to them.

20 million people in America are allergic to dust mites. They can cause itchy eyes, a runny nose, and excessive sneezing. So it’ll feel like you have a cold that just won’t go away.

Dust mites can be especially bad for people who suffer from asthma.

To avoid these make sure you clean your mattress, as well as your sheets, regularly. And replace your mattress at least every 8 years.

It Can Contribute to Night Sweats

Night sweats are a common problem for a lot of people and they are extremely disruptive.

Waking up in the night in a pool of your own sweat is uncomfortable and can be distressing. Often there is an underlying cause of these night sweats, such as anxiety or the menopause.

But the quality of your mattress can also affect this. In particular, the materials will have a big impact on how hot you get in your sleep.

Cotton and other natural fibers tend to keep you cooler. Or you can opt for a cooling technology mattress. In contrast, synthetic fibers, dense foam or anything that hugs your body will immediately bring up your temperature.

A Bad Mattress Can Increase Your Stress Levels

A 2009 study demonstrated how sleeping on an old mattress can increase your stress levels.

This study involved 60 people over two months. For the first month, the participants slept on their old mattress and for the second they slept on a new mattress.

The results were astonishing and hard to ignore. After sleeping on a new mattress all the participants’ stress levels decreased significantly. So sleeping on an old mattress is a legitimate source of stress.

The Impacts of Sleep Deprivation

Sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress can also have huge impacts on your ability to enjoy a proper, deep sleep at night. And this has can affect your whole body.

People who don’t sleep enough increase their chance of cardiovascular disease, heart attacks or strokes. This is because lack of sleep means your cardiovascular system doesn’t run as effectively.

And it can impact your respiratory system. Lack of sleep can cause obstructive sleep apnea, which impacts on your ability to breathe consistently in your sleep. This disruptive disorder further impacts your ability to sleep well and so creates a vicious cycle.

Another area that can get damaged by lack of sleep is your central nervous system. This has a huge impact on your ability to perform even small tasks.

This can also make it more difficult for you to regulate your emotions or recall memories. This compromises your ability to make decisions.

It can weaken your immune system, which will leave you susceptible to colds or the flu and further drain your body of resources.

Finally, a lack of sleep can disrupt your digestive system. This means that not sleeping properly can actually contribute to overeating and lead to obesity.

As you can see, it’s incredibly important for your overall health to sleep well on your mattress. So for tips on the best one, check out The Mattress Nerd Review.

The Bottom Line

It’s time to put your health first and say goodbye to your uncomfortable bed. For more advice on finding the best mattress for a good night’s sleep, keep reading our blog.