9 tips for choosing mattress stiffness

Every day we spend 8 hours in a dream, and if we are very lucky, then even more. This fact should be enough to intelligently approach the organization of a berth. It's primarily about choosing a mattress, because it depends on him how comfortable you will sleep. The main thing that you should pay attention to is the rigidity of the mattress. Both too soft and too rigid product will harm the spine and blood vessels. Alas, there is no ideal degree of rigidity for everyone - when buying, you need to use an individual approach. How to choose the rigidity of the mattress and what factors need to be taken into account, we will try to figure it out together.

“The stiffer the mattress, the better” - a myth or the truth?

It is widely believed that sleeping on a hard surface is incredibly useful. The most desperate are promoting sleep on the floor or on the boards. In fact, it is just as harmful as sleeping on a falling old bed.

If the mattress is too soft, the spine receives insufficient support and is unnaturally bent (seen in the image). The result of such a dream is back pain due to muscle strain and even shortness of breath due to compression of the lungs. Sleep on too hard a surface also leads to curvature of the spine, with the greatest load on the shoulders and hips, and the lower back does not receive sufficient support. After a night on such a mattress, do not be surprised at muscle pain. Due to the incorrect position of the spine, blood vessels are pinched, because such a "rest" can bring a headache, numbness of the limbs and a feeling of tiredness.

It turns out that if both hard and soft mattresses are equally harmful, then manufacturers should only make products that are medium in stiffness, and then everyone will be comfortable. No, it's a little more complicated. The choice of the optimal level of stiffness depends on a mass of factors:

• age;
• weight;
• health status;
• preferred posture for sleeping.

Those. for one person, a soft mattress will be harmful, and for another it will be an optimal solution. What determines the rigidity of the mattress? From what is inside him. Springs come in varying degrees of stiffness and in different sizes. Much depends on the type of filler, and in springless mattresses the filler generally plays a decisive role. So, for example, coconut coir and horse hair are much tougher than polyurethane foam. By adjusting the thickness of the filler, it is possible to achieve the necessary parameters of rigidity.

Sleeping age

One of the most important factors is the age of the person for whom the mattress is bought, since the spine in different periods of life requires different support.

1. For newborns A hard springless mattress is optimal, since the skeleton is only being formed. If you take a too soft product, you can get problems with posture and curvature of the spine.
2. For children aged 1-3 years You can take a medium hard mattress without springs.
3. For children 3-12 years old medium hardness mattresses with or without springs are also suitable.
4. From 12 years old it is important to consider the individual characteristics of the child, his body weight and condition of the musculoskeletal system.
5. Under 25 years old the spine continues to form, so sleeping on soft mattresses is not recommended. An excellent choice is a spring or springless product of medium stiffness.If there are problems with being overweight, then you can take a hard mattress.
6. People 25-50 years old It is worth focusing on body weight and state of health - different types of mattresses are suitable.
7. The older the person, the softer the mattress he needstherefore, after 50 years it is better not to sleep on hard products, preferring medium-hard products and soft mattresses.

Matraster.ru - a wide selection of hard mattresses

Sleeping weight

The mattress should support the human spine during sleep, adjust to the sleeping one and relieve muscle strain during sleep. The more a person weighs, the more serious support will be needed, i.e. the more body weight, the stiffer the mattress should be chosen.

1. Slender people weighing up to 55 kg soft and medium-soft mattresses are suitable. As a filler, latex, polyurethane, and struttofiber are usually used. The mattress can be with or without springs.
2. For people weighing 56-90 kg mattresses of medium hardness with an independent spring unit are perfect. Filler is selected based on personal preference.
3. For people with weighing more than 90 kg hard mattresses are ideal. You can opt for springless models. The toughest filler is coconut coir. Horsehair and latex will be slightly less rigid. Spring mattresses are also suitable, but if there is excess weight, it is better to take a product with a reinforced spring block - this will withstand solid loads.

Health status

If you have serious problems with musculoskeletal system mattress selection better discuss with your doctor. General recommendations will be as follows:

• with severe pain in the lumbar hard mattresses are contraindicated in the spine. It is better to stop the choice on soft and medium hard products;
• in case of problems in the cervical and brachial spine it is better to choose a more rigid mattress;
• at osteochondrosis and problems with posture the doctor is likely to advise a more rigid orthopedic mattress.

Sleeping habits

The choice of rigidity of the mattress is influenced even by the pose in a dream, which most often a person takes. If you prefer sleep on your back or on your side, it is better to take a medium hard mattress, and lovers to lie on the stomach it is worth looking towards more rigid products.

The right mattress for a couple

You are lucky if you and your soulmate are in the same weight category and do not have problems with the spine, but there are often situations where the requirements for two people sleeping in the same bedroom are completely different. What to do in this case? There are several outputs:

• take a mattress, two parts of which have different degrees of rigidity. This option will cost more than usual, but everyone will be comfortable;
• if you can’t find a product with the right combination of sides, you can buy two single mattresses and combine them under a common mattress cover. The border, of course, will be felt, but this is clearly better than sacrificing one's health to someone alone and sleeping on the wrong mattress;
• buy a model with double springs. In such mattresses, smaller springs are hidden inside springs with a larger diameter. External springs work when a person with a small or medium weight lies down, and when the load increases, small springs begin to work.

How to make a mattress harder or softer?

The rigidity of the existing mattress can be slightly changed:

• if the product began to seem too soft to you, you can purchase a pad with a filler of coconut coir;
• to soften the mattress use linings filled with foam.

An old and completely unsuitable mattress for rigidity cannot be corrected by such methods, but if only minor corrections are necessary, these methods work.

How to evaluate the rigidity of the mattress?

Knowing all the selection criteria is useful, but you can get confused at the store.Which mattress is considered soft, which is hard, how to compare several products correctly? To evaluate the characteristics of a mattress, look at what it is made of. Products with an independent spring unit most often have medium stiffness. Springless models with the presence of a coir layer will be stiff, and the thicker this layer, the higher the stiffness. Polyurethane is considered the mildest.

In many stores, the degree of rigidity is already indicated, so that it is convenient for you to compare different models. You can ask for advice from a consultant, and you can sit down and evaluate several mattresses yourself to understand which one is most suitable for you.

The best hard mattress manufacturers

As you know, the manufacturer is responsible for quality in his own name. When it comes to organizing healthy sleep, it’s best not to save money and entrust the choice of products to a trusted company. Among the best manufacturers it is worth noting:

• Ormatek - A major domestic manufacturer, which claims that more than 3.5 million Russians sleep on company mattresses. Products are produced in different price categories, different stiffness and size. Choosing the right model will be easy;
• Ascona - A Russian company, which is part of a large European holding. Manufacturer mattresses are manufactured taking into account stringent safety and quality requirements. Modernization of production has reduced the cost of production, because it is available to a wide range of consumers. The assortment includes mattresses with different types of fillers, with and without springs, of different sizes and degrees of rigidity;
• Lonax - A relatively young company that has managed to establish itself. The production uses German equipment. For the manufacture of mattresses, they try to use natural fillers (latex, coir, etc.). As part of the production, there is a research center where new models are developed;
• Materlux - Italian mattresses manufactured since 1945. Products are of the highest quality, but also cost accordingly;
• IKEA - A brand known all over the world. The company produces not so many mattresses as manufacturers specializing in their production, but everyone can find a suitable model. Prices are quite low.

Once again, do not forget to take into account the doctor's recommendations in case of problems with the spine.