What to Do When Your Mattress Is Too Soft or Too Firm Why Mattress Firmness Matters Remember the story of Goldilocks and the beds? She tried three different beds, trying to find one that wasn’t too hard or too soft, but “just right.” Turns out, she was really on to something. Of course, “just right” bed firmness is a subjective thing about which opinions will vary wildly, and—as we saw with Goldilocks—most people would have to lie down on the bed before they could even say what “just right” means for them. So how do you find your “just right” when it comes to mattresses—and what can you do if you realize that the mattress you have doesn’t fit the bill? First, let’s take a moment to drive home why you should care about the firmness of your mattress. The short answer can be distilled down to one word: alignment. Diving little deeper on that, your spine needs to be aligned while you sleep. Lying in an unaligned position for eight hours a day, every day, can contribute to serious back pain as well as negatively affect your sleep quality.
Mattress firmness, in turn, plays a big role in determining how aligned you are. What’s Better, a Firm Mattress or a Soft Mattress? Firmer mattresses provide more resistance for your body, which can help support you but can also apply too much pressure to certain points of your body, leading to painful pressure points or unaligned positions caused by your body compensation for any local discomfort. A soft plush mattress, on the other hand, can cause your spine to collapse into the mattress, which leads to its own alignment issues. Ultimately, there’s no straightforward answer about how to choose a mattress or whether a firm mattress is better or worse than a soft one. Spend some time doing a little research and a thorough mattress comparison before making a decision. Each person’s preference will vary based on a multitude of factors, including height, weight, age, and whether or not you have back pain or other health considerations. Your sleeping position will also play a role:
Side sleepers tend to need softer mattresses that don’t put too much pressure on the shoulders or hips. Back sleepers are better off with a medium firm mattress that supports the low back without pushing too much on the spine. Stomach sleepers require a firmer surface that prevents the body from sinking into the mattress and collapsing the spine. To make it all even more complex, your firmness needs may very over time as injuries, pregnancy, or weight fluctuations change your sleep needs. How to Deal with a Too-Soft or Too-Firm Mattress If you come to the realization that your mattress is too firm or too soft, the best thing to do is to buy a new mattress. Of course, finances or other circumstances don’t always allow for that. In a pinch, here are some makeshift solutions for remedying your current mattress firmness: If your mattress is too soft, try slipping some plywood boards between the mattress and the box spring or the bed frame. This will add some extra support.
Try a mattress pad or mattress topper. Pillow-material mattress toppers can help soften a too-firm mattress, while thick pads or firm mattress toppers can add some more support.Some mattress materials, like ones made from 100% memory foam, can become softer in warmer rooms, so try adjusting your thermostat to see if it makes your mattress more to your liking. If your mattress is too soft and it’s two-sided, try flipping it. The unused side will often be firmer. A better solution for finding your best mattress is to choose an adjustable latex mattress. As we outlined above, everyone requires different levels of firmness—and what’s more, you need different levels of mattress firmness for different parts of your body, and all these needs are subject to change throughout your life. Because of these variables, choosing one level of firmness for your whole mattress just doesn’t make sense. That’s where adjustable mattresses come to the rescue. In the case of Reverie, each of our latex mattresses is composed of individual DreamCell™ foam springs that come in three levels of firmness: firm, medium, and soft.
Our Sleep Specialists help customers determine the precise configuration of these DreamCells to best support each area of their body—so their shoulders can rest on a soft surface while their low back presses against a firm one, for instance. In addition, these DreamCell™ foam springs can be easily reconfigured at any time (we’re talking under 20 minutes) to respond to any changing sleep needs. The individual natural latex cells also allow for different firmness levels on each side of the bed, meaning back sleepers and side sleepers can rest side-by-side, each with the support he or she needs. Now we can’t speak for Goldilocks, but that sounds “just right” to us.Buying a mattress is one of the most important investments you can make for your health. Put that pressure on top of all the different mattress stores, types, sizes, technologies, and different mattress names, and it becomes a stressful experience. Below are a few ideas to help you get started and some descriptions on the types of mattresses you will find on your search.
This should be your easiest decision. California King is the biggest, it's actually just a longer King, built for taller folks. Queen and Full size mattresses are very close in size, and almost always fit on the same frames - but measure first! Twin XLs are usually what you find in a dorm room, but they are also what fits on an adjustable bed base. We put our mattresses in 3 comfort categories: Now... within each of these categories, there is a lot of variety. Also, the feel of a mattress is somewhat subjective - 2 people may disagree on what a mattress feels like. It's really important that you try them out in a store to get what feels just right to you. If you have already found your mattress, great! If you're still not sure, think about what keeps you up at night. Do you wake up from being too cold or too hot? Does your partner move around a lot? Do your pressure points bother you? Do you wake up with back pain? If you frequently wake up from being too hot or too cold, consider what your mattress is made of.
The #1 complaint of traditional memory foam mattresses (including Tempur-Pedic®) is that they "sleep hot." Traditional memory foam holds your body heat. If you sleep cold, this could be a great thing. If you sleep hot, look for a mattress that has "cool gel" technology of latex foams. Gel foam mattresses contain a mix of gel and foam that helps dispurse heat and feels cool to the touch. Latex foams are naturally breatheable, so they help with air flow, which helps regulate sleep temperature. Do you sleep with someone that tosses and turns? Or maybe you go to bed before they do, and when they get in bed the movement wakes you up? Or maybe you sleep with pets that move around during the night? All of these problems are common and obviously frustrating. If this is a frequent concern, consider a memory foam mattress, or a gel memory foam mattress. Memory foam by its very nature dampens movement (sound booths are lined with this stuff!), and will minimize partner disturbance.Snoring is a common problem with several possible causes.
An adjustable bed may help. By keeping the upper torso slightly elevated, your airways are less likely to be restricted. This can drastically reduce snoring. But there are lots of possible causes, so be sure to check with your doctor. Do your pressure points bother you? If you are a side sleeper and you are bothered by your pressure points, you may want to consider a medium-level comfort (plush) type mattress. If you go too firm, there may not be enough give; too soft, there may not be enough support. Alternatively, consider a memory foam or gel memory foam mattress to help dispurse the weight from pressure points. You probably need a new, or at least a different mattress. Sleeping is when your body gets a chance to rest and heal. It shouldn't be causing you more pain. If your mattress is 8 years old or older, it's time to start shopping for a mattress. An Innerspring mattress contains some type of coil system. There is also a new mattress category emerging called "hybrid" - which is basically the combination of an innerspring and memory foam mattress.
(Which a lot of beds are these days!) There are all kinds of spring systems: traditional, micro coils, pocketed coils, and layered combinations that provide additional support or motion dampening. Because of the layered combinations, coil counts no longer mean what they used to. However, if you need heavy-duty support, look for coils with a larger gauge (thickness). Did you know that the only difference between a "pillowtop" and a "eurotop" is how it is sewn to the mattress? Both of these types provide an additional layer of comfort of soft cushioning. These cushion layers can be made of cotton padding, memory foams and/or gels that provide extra types of comfort and relieve sleep issues. You will find Pillowtop & Eurotop mattresses in the "Plush" or "Ultra Plush" comfort levels. Latex is a naturally occuring substance found in plants like the rubber tree. There are also synthetic forms. Latex is naturally hypoallergenic, and breathable, which helps regulate sleep temperature.
It's also naturally resistant to bacteria, mildew, mold and dust mites. Latex is also very durable, and maintains its "bounce," making it a great addition to a memory foam mattress. Latex pillows are also quite awesome. Memory foam mattresses have become quite popular in the past decade, mostly thanks to Tempur-Pedic®. Memory foam provides the firmness needed for support and varying levels of softness for comfort. Due to the conforming nature of memory foam, you will have the feeling of "sinking in" to this type of mattress. Then when you get up, it returns to its natural shape. The major complaint of traditional memory foam mattresses is that they "sleep hot" - in that they hold your body heat. If this is a concern, consider a gel memory foam mattress. Gel memory foam mattresses are one of the newest technologies and they are taking comfort to a new level. The gel material provides a “cool” comfort that is cool to the touch, and helps regulate body temperature. In a gel foam mattress, gels are infused with memory foam to create a different overall feel compared to just memory foam.