The Best Mattress for a Better Night's Sleep Buying a new mattress? Here are tips for finding the right mattress for you. You spend about a third of every day in bed. Whether that time is spent blissfully slumbering -- or tossing and turning -- depends a lot on your mattress. "A mattress can impact a person's sleep," says Michael Decker, PhD, RN, associate professor at Georgia State University and spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. One way that your mattress affects your sleep has to do with the network of fine blood vessels, called capillaries, that runs underneath your skin. "When you lie on any part of your body for an extended period of time, the weight of it reduces the flow of blood through those blood vessels, which deprives the skin of oxygen and nutrients," Decker says. This causes nerve cells and pain sensors in your skin to send a message to your brain for you to roll over. Rolling over restores blood flow to the area, but it also briefly interrupts your sleep.
Ideally, a mattress that reduces the pressure points on your body should give you a better night's sleep, Decker says. Yet the ideal mattress is different for each person. Which Mattress Is Right for You? Finding the right mattress isn't about searching out the highest-tech brand or spending the most money. "A much more expensive mattress doesn't necessarily mean it's better," Decker says. A high price tag is a product of both the materials that go into the mattress, and the marketing that helps sell it. Instead of focusing on price and brand name, think about what you want in a mattress. "Selecting a mattress is very personal," Decker says. Some people prefer a firmer mattress; others favor a softer style. Although there isn't a lot of scientific evidence to prove that one type of mattress will help you sleep better than another, people with certain medical conditions do seem to rest easier on a particular mattress style. Anyone with back or neck pain should take a Goldilocks approach to mattress buying: not too hard, and not too soft.
"If you're on too soft [of] a mattress, you'll start to sink down to the bottom. But on too hard of a mattress you have too much pressure on the sacrum, and on the shoulders, and on the back of the head," says Howard Levy, MD, an Emory University assistant professor of orthopaedics, physical medicine, and rehabilitation. A medium-firm mattress, or a firm mattress with a softer pillow top, will give your spine that "just-right" balance of support and cushioning. An adjustable bed can be a good buy if you need to sleep with your head raised. Doctors sometimes recommend elevating the head to help people with COPD breathe easier, or to prevent nighttime heartburn from GERD. These beds can also allow you to adjust your knees and hips to a 90-degree angle, relieving some of the pressure on sore joints, Levy says. If you have allergies or asthma, you might have considered buying a bed labeled "hypoallergenic." "There are a lot of claims made by mattress manufacturers that their mattresses are hypoallergenic or don't support the growth of dust mites, but I don't know of scientific evidence to support these claims," says Paul V. Williams, MD, a pediatrics professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an allergist at Northwest Allergy and Asthma Center in Washington state.
Williams says dust mites will live anywhere there's food -- and that food is your dead skin cells. Instead of investing in an allergy-free mattress, slip on a washable mattress encasing. It will form a barrier that prevents dust mites from getting to you. A mattress encasing cuts allergen growth by robbing dust mites of their food supply, Williams says. And what about those space-age memory foam mattresses, which can cost thousands of dollars? There is some evidence they can help with back problems and improve sleep, but their advantage over a regular coil mattress is only slight. Where memory foam mattresses can really help you sleep is if you have an active bed partner who is keeping you awake, Decker says. Foam mattresses reduce motion transfer, letting you lie still while your partner tosses and turns. Test Drive a Mattress Before You Buy "You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it," Decker says. So why would you invest hundreds -- or even thousands of dollars in a mattress without trying it out first?
Take any new mattress you're considering for a test nap. "People should not be embarrassed to go into a store and lay on a mattress for 20 minutes," Decker says. For a more realistic test, sleep in the beds at different hotel chains when you travel. If you get an especially good night's sleep on one of them, ask the desk clerk what brand it is. When you test out a mattress, make sure it feels comfortable in every position, especially the side you favor for sleeping. The mattress should be supportive where you need it, without putting too much pressure on your body, Levy says. Time for a New Mattress If you've been having trouble sleeping, the problem might not be your mattress type, but its age. "It's really important for people to realize that mattresses have a certain lifespan," Decker says. Keep your mattress too long, and the foam and other materials inside it will start to break down, compromising its ability to support your body. Decker recommends keeping your mattress for no more than 10 years.
After that, it's time to go mattress shopping again.We all know that the bedroom is where the magic happens. But the magic we’re speaking of today is, well, uninterrupted, renewing, blissful sleep. As much as we’re all about the trimmings—the perfect bed linens, the just-right throw pillows—there’s simply no point in all of that fuss without a solid foundation to lay on. Because mattress shopping can be daunting, we did the research and found 9 mattresses at various price points that promise many a good night’s sleep. Read on to find your best match. We all know that the bedroom is where the magic happens. Yogabed Mattress ($600 and up) Yogabed's new-era mattress features a fully ventilated design infused with a layer of the brand's patented YogaGel technology, as well as a removable, machine-washable cover with easy-glide zipper. Plus, each mattress comes with a pair of YogaGel pillows. Shipping is free to anywhere in the United States, and you have 101 days to decide if it's a keeper.
Mattress Type: Proprietary foam Best Assets: Easy cleaning, new technology, sleeps cool, USA-made Brooklyn Bedding Ultimate Dreams ($164 and up) The Brooklyn Bedding crazy quilt pillow top mattress is the perfect mattress for any sleeping style in that it is not too firm not too soft. Overall, a great value if you're in the market for a more budget-friendly option. Mattress Type: Pillow top Best Assets: Comfortable middle grade firmness, USA-made, great value. Casper The Casper Mattress ($500 and up) Casper's entire M.O. is to be low-stress and seamless: one model, affordable pricing, easy delivery, generous returns, made in the USA products. Their patented latex memory foam technologies create a soft, cool, and, according to their marketing materials, "bouncy to the touch" mattress. Mattress Type: Proprietary latex and memory foam Best Assets: Sleeps cool, new technology, easy delivery, long-lasting, USA-made. Lucid 16-Inch Plush Memory Foam and Latex Mattress ($419 and up)
The first layer of this Lucid model is a 1-inch bamboo charcoal memory foam layer, especially good for sensitive skin or allergy-prone skin. A combination of latex and memory foam provides optimal orthopedic support and pressure relief. Mattress Type: Memory and latex foam Best Assets: Orthopedic support, hypoallergenic, firm. Safavieh Harmony 10-Inch Spring Mattress ($407 and up) Luxury furnishings brand Safavieh just recently added mattresses to its range of offerings. This particular model, one of their most economical, combines a soft, Euro pillow top layer of memory foam with a support layer featuring independently encased heavy-gauge metal springs, which work to promptly absorb movement and vibrations. Mattress Type: Spring + memory foam Best Assets: Memory foam pillow top, orthopedic support, movement absorbing. Signature Sleep Contour 8-Inch Mattress ($153 and up) The Contour's 480 tempered steel independently-encased coils promote individualized orthopedic support, as well optimum movement and vibration absorption.
Another great bang-for-your-buck option. Best Assets: Movement absorption, compress-ship ready, comfortable middle grade firmness, orthopedic support. SilverRest Therapeutic Memory Foam Mattress ($379 and up) Made of 100-percent Viscoelastic Memory Foam, the SilverRest mattress conforms to your body shape to relieve pressure points. It also features an easy-to-remove cotton cover for easy cleaning and maintenance, and comes with a 20-year warranty. Mattress Type: Memory foam Best Assets: Sleeps cool, orthopedic support, easy cleaning, long-lasting. Simmons Beautyrest Recharge Plush Pillow Top ($800) A patented AirCool system ensures that this luxurious mattress stays comfortable throughout sleep. Several layers of cushioning make this one of the more soft and plush mattresses; however, its bottom layer of coils provide support. Mattress Type: Coil Gel Memory Foam Best Assets: Sleeps cool, orthopedic support and pressure relief Price Range: $800 for a King