Accessories Important For Sleeping On Your Back
Accessories can be the finishing touch to make your sleep surface more comfortable. The right accessories can help reduce discomfort and promote quality sleep. While you might upgrade your accessories when you purchase a new mattress, sleepers on a budget may replace them as a lower-cost alternative to replacing their mattress.
Consider Buying A Mattress Online
A great way to score a deal on a new mattress is to buy online. While it might seem like a strange concept if youre used to going to a brick-and-mortar store, the truth is that buying online offers some huge advantages.
Most online mattresses are sold directly by the manufacturer. Eliminating the middle-man and the need for showroom space means lower prices, and the growing competition between retail and online storefronts has only generated more deals for shoppers.
But the benefits go beyond just price. Shopping online is convenient, allowing you to browse options from the comfort of your own home and without any salespeople eagerly pushing a sale to earn a commission. Having the time to research each mattress and compare it to others is a major contrast to the brick-and-mortar experience where youre limited to just whats available in that store.
When buying online you dont have the ability to feel out a mattress before purchasing, but almost all online retailers provide a sleep trial with no-hassle returns, offering you a full refund if you try out the mattress and dont like it. This gives you a no-risk opportunity to try out a mattress for weeks or months in your own bedroom as opposed to for just a few minutes in a store. Over the longer-term, virtually all online mattresses come with a warranty of at least 10 years to protect against future problems, which are rare in mattresses sold both online and in-store.
Brooklyn Bedding Latex Mattress
Brooklyn Bedding has been in business for over 20 years, and theyre known for the high quality of their latex memory foam mattresses.
Brooklyn Bedding latex mattresses come in three levels of firmness, and if youre a side sleeper, the best kind of mattress from their selection is the soft.
The two layers of different latex that top the Brooklyn Bedding mattress are the real selling point they give you comfortable support instead of that sinking feeling that so many memory foam mattresses have.
It also comes with a comfortable pillow-top cover for extra softness.
If youre considering going with Brooklyn Bedding, dont skip our full Brooklyn Bedding Latex mattress review.
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What Type Of Mattress Topper Is Best
There is no best type of mattress topper – the choice depends on your personal sleeping style and preferences.
Side sleepers and anyone who suffers from back pain should consider a memory foam mattress topper. This firm yet flexible material moulds to the shape of your body and offers the most support if you toss and turn at night. However, some people find memory foam too hot and is often expensive.
If it’s a soft and comfortable layer of padding that you’re after, choose a feather or down mattress topper. It will be cooler than memory foam and is a good choice for front sleepers, but can be pricey and you’ll need to fluff it up regularly.
If you struggle with allergies, try a microfibreor hollowfibre mattress topper. These cheaper materials are often treated with anti-allergy chemicals, but they can get hot and have a tendency to flatten quickly.
For an all-year-round option, look for a wool mattress topper. This natural, biodegradable material keeps you warm in winter and cool in summer. It offers medium-firm support but can be on the heavy side.
What To Look For When Buying A Mattress
Buying a mattress is a significant and consequential expense, so it is best to try out a mattress before committing to it. Does this mean that a mattress from a box is out of the question? Not at all, if the manufacturer offers the standard 100-day money-back guarantee. A hundred days is a much more thorough inspection period than whatever customers can find out during the time they spend trying out mattresses at a store.
There are four key factors to consider when buying a mattress:
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Is Spinal Alignment The Most Important Factor
Spinal alignment is certainly important, but its not the only factor when it comes to sleeping with back pain. Pressure relief is also important for helping you reduce pain and get to sleep. However, its important to find a material that relieves pressure while still allowing movement.
If you find youre waking up stiff and sore but feel better after you get moving, you could be dealing with swelling or inflammation in the joints or muscle tissue. While this can occur in almost any type of injury, its usually a sign that the injury isnt getting motion, especially while you sleep.
When it comes to spinal injuries or misalignments, most chiropractors and physical therapists will treat the issue by aligning the spine and increasing motion to reduce inflammation and swelling. If you can move around easily when you sleep, either to reposition or rollover, your body may be able to help aid in that process.
When Should I Replace My Mattress
A person should replace their mattress if they believe that it no longer gives adequate support.
The following are some other reasons a person may consider replacing their mattress:
- The mattress is showing signs of wear and tear, such as soft spots, lumps, or broken springs.
- The person is waking up feeling tired or sore.
- The person is waking up with a partners movement. This can happen because mattresses lose motion isolation as they age.
People may find that they need to replace their mattress every decade. Some materials, such as memory foam, may last longer than this.
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Mattress Features To Look For To Relieve Back Pain
When shopping for a mattress to help relieve back pain, some features are more important than others. With so many products and a bevy of marketing hype, it can be tough to parse out what really matters. Youre most likely to get the most satisfaction out of your purchase by focusing on certain key considerations:
- Mattress Type: the materials and design will play a huge role in the performance of a mattress. The contouring, bounce, firmness, temperature regulation, and motion isolation of a mattress will be different for each mattress type, so it is critical for shoppers to think about their priorities and choose a mattress with components that will best meet their needs.
- Zoned Support: weight from the body is not distributed evenly instead, certain areas tend to require more cushioning. A zoned mattress takes that into account and offers reinforced support in those areas.
- Quality Materials: a mattress made with excellent materials is much more likely to provide the performance, reliability, and durability that people with back pain need.
- Firmness Level: firmness is a key driver of mattress comfort and is largely a matter of personal preference. At the same time, the right firmness level can play a big part in whether a mattress offers sufficient support, and that will depend significantly on a persons body weight and sleeping position.
Best Hybrid Mattress For Back And Neck Pain
Amerisleep AS2 Hybrid
- Height: 12 inches
Several key features make the AS2 hybrid mattress a great choice for pain-free sleep.
Its eco-friendly foam is engineered to provide support and keep you cool. According to the company, this foam keeps air flowing through the mattress to reduce pockets of trapped heat.
The mattress is also designed to be responsive, so it bounces back quickly, making nighttime movement easier. Several reviewers say this mattress conforms to the body without making them feel stuck in one spot.
The company says the mattresss zoned support reduces pressure at your shoulders and hips, and it firmly supports your back for essential spinal alignment. The lower foam layer is firm, adding extra support for stomach and back sleepers. This also helps distribute body weight evenly across the mattress.
A few reviewers found this medium-firm mattress too firm for their taste, but, by and large, people love the support it provides. Several people say it felt a little firmer than expected but found this a more than fair trade for the quick pain relief.
Reviewers also praise the low motion transfer, with several saying they couldnt feel their partner move at all.
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Benefits Of Sleeping On Your Side
Side sleeping offers many health benefits when done properly. Its gentler on the neck than stomach sleeping, which is known to cause snoring, sleep apnea, and back problems and, for many, more comfortable than back sleeping.
Related: Understanding Sleep Apnea
If you think sleeping on the left or right side is little more than the flip of a coin, think again. Its been proven that sleeping on the left is more beneficial. Sleeping on the right side can aggravate acid reflux and heartburn, both of which left-side sleeping alleviates. Due to the location of the bodys organs, sleeping on the left also boosts digestion, improves circulation, assists brain waste filtering, and stimulates lymphatic drainage. For more information, check out our articles on what is the best side to sleep on and how to properly sleep on your side.
Why Does It Matter
When the body experiences trauma, like a car accident, a fall from a ladder, or slipping on the ice, the body has to find a way to accommodate the damage, heal it, and keep us walking upright. These changes can create misalignments that sometimes last for years and cause pain.
If youre wondering what this has to do with sleep, the answer is two-fold. One, sleeping wrong can be enough trauma to cause these issues, and two, sleeping right is a big part of healing these issues. So while those with chronic back pain might think they have a rocky relationship with sleep, the real issue might be the habits or the mattress.
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The Best Mattress For A Bad Back According To Sleep Experts
If your back pain keeps you up at night, youre not alone. Its estimated that up to 80 percent of people will experience back pain at some point in their life, according to the American Chiropractic Association. Thats a lot of folks potentially losing shut-eye because of a bad back.
Theres good news: A few lifestyle tweaks could greatly improve your time spent snoozing. For starters, having the right pillow for your sleeping position is a small change that makes a world of a difference. The best pillows to prevent neck and back pain in side sleepers have a gusset that gives the pillow extra height and structure to properly support your neck and spine throughout the night. Side-sleeper pillows for the legs might help lower back pain caused by sleeping, too. Stomach and back sleepers, on the other hand, dont need a gusset, but instead should look for pillows that are supportive and conform to the head.
Its best to err on the side of firmness, although whats firm for one person might not be firm for another.
– Terry Cralle, clinical sleep educator
If changing your pillows hasnt helped, its worth considering how your mattress affects your shut-eye, said clinical sleep educator Terry Cralle.
Perhaps the best mattress for lower back pain is of medium-firm density, said Dr. Thanu Jey, a chiropractor and clinical director at Yorkville Sports Medicine Clinic in Toronto. You need a mattress that will support your upper back and take pressure off your lower back, Jey said.
How Can A Mattress Help With Back Pain
In many cases the right mattress can help to alleviate back pain. A good mattress will distribute your weight evenly, supporting the spine and allowing your muscles to fully relax, which in turn will help to relieve back pain and help you get a great night’s sleep.
If you suffer from chronic back pain, the wrong mattress can aggravate the problem. One that’s too soft or too firm can cause the spine to move out of the correct alignment, meaning you wake up feeling sore. The discomfort can also make you toss and turn through the night, meaning you dont get the sleep you need. As many back problems require adequate rest to heal properly, this can delay your recovery, triggering a repetitive cycle of sleeplessness and pain.
The best mattress for a bad back is one which is firm enough to support the spine and allows for good sleeping posture, while also being soft and cushioned enough to relieve pressure on the hips and shoulders. This can help to break the cycle, restoring your sleeping pattern and helping you to feel comfortable, both at night and during the day.
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Option : Pearl Memory Foam 1200 Mattress
In a memory foam mattress, the material reacts to pressure and heat, changing shape to fit the sleepers body and remembering or holding it creating the hug effect which many customers appreciate.
Memory foam mattresses are believed to offer relief from back pain thanks to the contouring properties which allow the material to fit around your body, providing firm support to the natural curvature of your spine and easing pressure points and aching joints. We believe that the Pearl Memory Foam 1200 is the best memory foam mattress for a bad back.
Why is the Pearl Memory Foam 1200 mattress good for a bad back?
- Support keeps spine in neutral alignment
- Memory foam provides excellent lumbar support for lower back pain relief
- Relieves pressure points on back, hips and joints
- Available in different levels of firmness
Why Is The Layla Mattress Great For Side Sleepers
- The Layla is simply one of the most comfortable mattresses I have reviewed.
- Most side sleepers should sink into the soft memory foam and experience excellent pressure relief.
- The memory foam has a copper infusion that should help with heat dissipation and keep the bed from sleeping too hot. Its also anti-microbial.
Read our full Layla mattress review.
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Accessories Important For Sleeping On Your Side
A mattress that offers full-body support and contouring is the most important purchase for side sleepers. Further customizing the mattress with sleep accessories, including pillows and mattress toppers, can make side sleeping more comfortable. Pillows ensure the head and neck are aligned, while mattress toppers can change the comfort system of the bed. Understanding what to look for in these sleep accessories is important for both comfort and support.
Best Mattress Topper: Sleep Innovations 4
There are a lot of reasons for wanting to adapt your current mattress into something more side sleeper-friendly: you bought a spring mattress but wish youd bought memory foam you have a new or recent injury that needs more support you want to squeeze a little more life out of the one you have before buying a new one or you simply dont have the funds to invest in a new mattress any time soon.
Whatever the reason, we have the solutionthis gel memory foam mattress topper by Sleep Innovations, which turns your current mattress into a cushier, cozier version of itself. Like a massively fluffy mattress pad, this topper is one part quilted fiber fill and one part cloud-like memory foam. The dual layers combine to give you a four-inch boost of comfortable support .
This topper is made in the USA and comes with a 10-year limited warranty, so if youre unhappy with it for any reason or find that either part of the topperthe gel foam or the fiber fill coverdoesnt last as long as it should, you can contact Sleep Innovations for assistance.
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What Is The Best Mattress Firmness For Side Sleepers
In terms of firmness, side sleepers will want to look for something soft to moderate on the firmness scale. While many folks assume firmer mattresses are the most supportive , a special exception needs to be made for those who spend most of their slumber time on their sides. Per Poorbaugh:
A firm mattress gives better support for pushing yourself up to a seated position. However, if you need pressure relief , a plush mattress will have more cushion for those sensitive areas.
So what exactly constitutes a plush mattress? In my opinion, a plush mattress:
- Comes in at a 4.5-6 out of 10 on the firmness scale .
- Provides ample pressure relief and support to the neck, hips, and shoulders.
- Allows for deep sinkage to buffer against the formation of pressure points along the spine.
Firmness is perhaps the most important attribute for side sleepers due to the very nature of the position. In order to provide proper support, the mattress must be able to contour to the curves of the body so the sleepers not digging into the structure.
We Recommend: Sanctuary 1200 Orthopaedic Mattress
It has long been thought that orthopaedic mattresses are the best solution for a bad back as they are specifically designed to support the joints, back and overall body.
Orthopaedic mattresses are very much on the firmer side of the scale, these mattresses aim to ease the discomfort experienced by those who suffer from a bad back or aching joints by providing a firm, but comfortable mattress which provides targeted support. Based on this we believe the best mattress for those with a bad back is the Sanctuary 1200 Orthopaedic Mattress.
- Price Range: 169 – 359
- Mattress Type: Pocket Sprung Orthopaedic
- Sizes: Single, Small Double, Double, King Size, Super King Size
- Firmness: Medium
Why is an orthopaedic mattress best for back pain?
- Very firm
- Designed to spread your body weight
- Firm base offers maximum support, alleviating pressure on the spine and relieving pressure points
- Ideal for heavier individuals
We believe an orthopaedic mattress is the best mattress type for the majority of those who suffer from back pain.
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