How To Choose The Best Mattress for Back Pain
Back pain is disruptive to our daily lives, leading to regular instances of discomfort and impacting our ability to handle physical and mental tasks.
Luckily, one way you can address back pain and alleviate its symptoms is by having the right mattress. A good mattress can help with our body’s alignment (including our spine) and provide much-needed pressure relief.
To help you find the best mattress for back pain, read on.
Understanding Back Pain
Back pain is something that most people will experience at different points in their lives. It can be due to injuries, accidents, or just ageing. For some, back pain can be more prevalent and requires ongoing care to account for.
Many things can lead to back pain, including jobs with regular physical labour or jobs that involve prolonged periods of sitting that can then cause strain on the lower or upper back. Whether someone works in construction or in an office setting, back pain or discomfort can occur. Both lifestyles, whether physically demanding or sedentary, can lead to occasional or chronic back pain.
In order to manage back pain, people may need to perform different stretches, receive regular massages, build their back muscle groups to better handle the strain, etc.
The key to managing and alleviating back pain is ensuring you have the support you need to help ease and heal your muscles and joints. Having a mattress that supports the back and spine can do wonders in lessening back pain and overall discomfort.
Importance of a Supportive Mattress
A mattress that is designed with back support in mind will go a long way in managing discomfort and helping you have a restful night’s sleep.
Even if you don’t deal with back pain issues, you always want a mattress that is going to provide support and contour well to your body. Because if you have a mattress that is not ideal for supporting your body and sleep position, you’ll likely find yourself waking up one day with back pain.
Much in the same way that a good mattress can provide support and alleviate back pain, a bad mattress will worsen it or cause new issues with back pain.
Types of Mattresses Recommended for Back Pain
A good general rule of thumb with mattresses for back pain is to opt for those that are medium firmness.
Medium-firm mattresses sit in a good middle ground where they’re firm enough to match the contours of your body while supporting your spine and joints.
Extra firm mattresses are not ideal for those with back pain as they’ll push against the natural contours of your spine and body, which may cause further discomfort and pain. Soft mattresses are often too malleable, meaning you’ll sink into them and not have the support for proper alignment.
Either end of the firmness scale tends to have negative effects for individuals with back pain issues, which is why medium-firm mattresses stand out as the best option.
Along with firmness, materials can help, too. Memory foam and latex mattresses, for example, tend to have a medium-firm springiness in their design that caters well to providing support for back pain issues.
They’re breathable while providing warmth, meaning your joints and muscles can be further supported by heat generation from the mattress without the unpleasantness of excessive sweating.
Unlike the older design of spring mattresses, both memory foam and latex mattresses last longer and don’t suffer the kind of pain-inducing issues that spring beds are known to face towards the end of their life.
So, whether you have back pain issues or you want to ensure you have the right kind of support for your body, it’s best to look at medium-firm beds made from memory foam or latex foam.
Features to Look for in a Mattress for Back Pain
Along with the aforementioned firmness and mattress material types, there are a few other features worth being mindful of that play an important role in addressing back pain.
Supportive Layers
Mattresses comprise several layers, usually with a dense supportive base layer that determines the overall firmness of the mattress and a top comfort layer that gives the mattress its sense of softness.
Transition layers between the base and comfort layers balance the firmness and ensure you have good support across the entire mattress. Certain mattresses also have edge support, which ensures sleeping near the edge of the bed provides just as much firmness and support as sleeping in the centre of it.
Pressure Relief
Good layering and firmness offer solid pressure relief for your body. This means that your body weight is distributed evenly across the bed, however you’re sleeping.
This even distribution ensures that heavier parts of your body (such as your upper torso or hips) are as well supported as your lighter parts (head, extremities, feet, etc.). Even support provides better overall support for back pain and discomfort.
Durability
If you want good back support from a mattress, then you’ll want a mattress that goes the distance. Durability isn’t just good in terms of getting your money’s worth, but it’s also a direct indication of how well you can expect your mattress to hold up over the years.
One reference point you can use at the start is how long a mattress is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. While some manufacturers may only provide a 12-month warranty, others offer multi-year warranties (think five, 10, sometimes even 20 years).
These longer-term warranties can be indicative of how confident the manufacturer is in the overall durability of their mattress.
Outside of this, make sure to undertake some research on the mattresses that interest you the most. Read reviews from customers and professionals, and take time to see if any particular issues are brought up by multiple people.
A long-lasting mattress is a good sign that it will provide you with years of effective back support.
Additional Tips for Managing Back Pain
Along with a good mattress, make sure you’re taking other steps to manage your back pain. Massages can be helpful for back pain relief, and the same can be said of specific stretches and muscle-strengthening exercises.
Poor posture or prolonged periods of sitting at a desk impact back health, so it’s also beneficial to look into ergonomic solutions such as standing desks or purchasing a back brace that can help with your alignment.
If you find your back pain is worsening despite your best efforts, speak to a doctor or a physical therapist for actionable steps in addressing pain and discomfort.
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