If you talk to most people and the subject of sleeping on an air mattress comes up, they will talk about air mattresses as an necessary evil in some circumstances, like moving, traveling, camping and having more guests than your house can accommodate. If you ask them about why they prefer a regular mattress, chances are that among the first arguments you will hear is that a regular mattress provides better support for your back and is better for your back overall. Should you ask why is that, this is where their argumentation becomes vague and it becomes obvious, and let me be blunt here, that they don’t quite know what they’re talking about. Having reviewed dozens (maybe even hundreds, don’t know any more) of air mattresses and knowing the subject inside out I decided to write a short article and make a few things clearer and, frankly, ‘demolish’ a couple of common misconceptions about air beds and a healthy spine. I personally have a history of back problems so I also know first hand that some of the things even doctors told me are not quite right.
Let me first demystify what ‘healthy” means in terms of the position of your back while side sleeping with a graph that explains it a lot better than I ever could with words: So, you see that when sleeping on a surface of optimal firmness, it will allow your pressure points like the shoulders and the hip bone to sink into the mattress just enough so that the spine is properly aligned and there is no pressure on the vertebrae and the spine does not form an arch. Let us now take a look at another image of the optimal position of your neck when sleeping: There is one air mattress that’s proven to be the ultimate solution for any kind of back problems proven in official studies by Dr., but it comes with a price to match. (for the rest of us, I’ll provide you with some cheaper options later on in the text.) I am talking about it’s majesty – the Innomax Medallion. So you see, again, with the pillow we are aiming for natural. Natural straight position of the spine when you are sleeping on your side and a natural curve of your neck when sleeping on your back.
In the third image we can see what can go wrong with the way your pillow aligns your neck vertebrae in side sleeping: I don’t like to dilly-dally so I’m going to give you two lists here – best mattresses for back pain in two price ranges: Let us speak in plainer terms – as you can see in our images, when the bed is too firm your hip bone and your shoulder are not allowed to ‘sink’ into the sleeping surface enough and this forces your spine into an arch. It this happens for one or two nights, you might just be stiff, but over time this can lead to a chronic problem. This was one of the worst advise I personally got from a doctor – to sleep on a surface that is a hard as a board. For a while I thought that how bad I felt was due to that old ‘it will get worse before it gets better’ but since the ‘better’ was not happening I consulted a few more specialists and used common sense to get a bed that will allow me to sleep with my spine properly aligned. This is what I look at when I choose my bed and what I am looking at when choosing an air mattress.
I am not aiming here for medical advise, but looking into what favor you can do to your body by choosing the right surface to sleep on. Our body is not a straight line and sleeping on a surface that is too firm can cause pressure points and cause all sorts of issues with our back and joints. Now we are getting to the bottom of things, that is why air mattresses (if chosen properly) can even provide benefits to a person suffering from back pains. If you read through so many reviews (and I probably read tens of thousands over the years) of some of the best air mattresses on the market you can often see people saying that they thought an air mattresses would be just a temporary solution and then chose it as their main bed. This gets us to the gist of the analysis of how an air mattress can actually help with the back pain. Almost all air beds nowadays offer it and it can be the solution to choosing the right mattress for you. If you sleep on it and feel bad in the morning the next night you try making it a bit sturdier.
Then probably it is to firm and you have to many pressure points that cause the spine to arch as we talked about and as you saw in the images. Next night you make it softer and see how you feel. You do this until you find the firmness that makes your spine straight as an arrow in side sleeping and you get that good night sleep you’ve been longing for. You can’t do this with a regular mattress, even if it’s perfect for you to start with, no doubt it will sag over time. Even with the high-end regular mattresses that you paid multiple times the cost of an air mattress, there is no way around it. If not in 6 months, maybe not even in a year or two, but it will happen. That is where the strengths of an air bed shines through. Adjusting it until you have your optimal support. This did miracles for my back. And the soft foams and finishes on the better air mattresses can provide the same luxurious feeling that you find in an expensive regular bed. In other words, you can adjust your air bed to distribute the weight and relieve the pressure points just right.
That’s all there is to it. This is not something I am just saying, this has been proven over and over again in official studies (Lancet 2003; 362 1599-604 is a good example). So, things are not so simple after all. If something is not paid thousands of dollars for, doesn’t mean it’s not as good for your back or even better than the high class regular mattresses. I think we might have a myth debunked here, don’t you agree? … the myth of air beds being bad for your spine. It simply isn’t true. Serta Raised Air Mattress with a Never-flat pump review Best queen memory foam mattress Best full memory foam mattress – TOP 5 An air mattress as might be used for temporary guest accommodation An air mattress is an inflatable mattress/sleeping pad. Due to its buoyancy, it is also often used as a water toy/flotation device, and in some countries, including the UK, is called a lilo ("Li-lo" being a specific trademark). Early air mattress by the German engineer Konrad Kyeser (ca. 1405)
An air mattress, also known as an airbed, is an inflatable mattress, the majority of which are usually made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), although recently developed textile-reinforced urethane plastic or rubber versions exist. The deflated mattress can be rolled up or folded and carried or stored relatively easily, making them a popular choice for camping trips and for temporary bedding at home for guests. They are inflated either orally by blowing into a valve, or with a manual foot-powered or more commonly inflated via an electric pump. Some are even automatically inflating (up to a certain pressure—some additional inflation is also needed) just by opening the valve. The three main categories for use of air mattresses are camping, temporary home use (guests) and full-time permanent use (in the bedroom). Some air mattresses are specifically designed to perform both functions (camping and guest use) while others are specifically designed for one purpose alone (permanent use in the home or RV).
Other air mattresses are designed in shapes with wheel well cutouts specifically intended for use in vehicles such as pickup trucks or SUVs. Lightweight, reduced-size and reduced-thickness air mattresses specifically intended for camping and backpacking are sometimes called sleeping pads, especially when a layer of foam insulation is added under the air chambers. Better quality air chambers, that are designed for permanent use in the home, are constructed of vulcanized rubber, covered in canvas or of polyurethane. These chamber(s) are then installed into a cloth shell or tick(ing). Permanent air beds will look almost like conventional beds with the exception of having a hose (one air chamber) or hoses (two air chambers) coming out of the head of the bed. These hoses will be connected to an air inflation device, with two outlet valves, that will have a remote control(s) so that each person can adjust the firmness of his or her side to his/her own exact needs. The firmness can be adjusted up or down, with the simple push of a button, on the remote(s).
A USA government safety agency has warned against letting infants sleep on air mattresses, because they can be too soft and suffocate smaller children (especially those below the age of 8 months) within folds or while entrapped between the mattress and the bed base.[3] Additionally there have been several recent[][] governmental studies and regulations enacted due to the poisonous nature of the phthalate plasticizers contained within most PVC vinyl air beds and other soft vinyl products. The European Union has made similar efforts to prevent the use of vinyl materials in toys and bedding. Larger, more elaborate air mattresses ("air beds" in the US, all air mattresses are known as this elsewhere)[] have come on the market in recent years that are intended for guest use or as permanent beds in the bedroom. Bed sizes for temporary air beds range from twin to king size, but few guest bed manufacturers offer king size as most guest air beds are sold outside the United States where king-size mattresses are not standard.
Most permanent air beds use easy-to-find conventional sheets and bedding. California King (or Western King) sheets and bedding may be more difficult to find as this size was originally conceived for the waterbed industry. Raised guest or temporary beds are typically raised off the ground to keep users away from the floor and offer a more traditional mattress experience. Though 'raised' air beds are off the ground, they are not designed for full-time use, as the base of the bed is an air chamber and not a solid foundation. Air mattresses can also improve the quality of life (and potentially provide some measure of relief) for people who suffer with back pain.[6] Having the ability to adjust the firmness of a mattress to accommodate different body shapes, sizes, and weights, can be a factor in the healing process. Air mattresses are sometimes used to protect bedridden people from pressure sores, which can create life-threatening ulcers.[] Additionally, air mattresses manufactured without the use of materials that may release VOCs or other toxic compounds from the manufacturing process (which can exacerbate allergies in children or other sensitive individuals) are available.
An air mattress in the shape of a mobile phone. The term air mattress may also refer to a certain inflatable swimming pool or beach toy, which has an air-sac "pillow" and several (usually four or five) tubes running its length. Also called a "lilo" (UK, AUS), "pool air mat", "air mat", "pool lounge", or "float(ing) mat(tress)", it is used to recline on the water surface. The Li-Lo trademark for a rubberised material products was registered in UK on 19 Apr 1944 and in the USA on 25 Sep 1947[10] by P. B. Cow and Co Ltd. An inflatable air mattress for recreational use was advertised as one of the Li-Lo brand of products at the British Industries Fair in London 1949.[11] Although it bears some resemblance to an air mattress, it is typically not built as strongly and may not reliably stay inflated all night long, making it impractical for use as a bed. Permanent use adjustable-firmness "airbeds" became popular particularly after market leader Select Comfort began a major marketing campaign around 2001.