Is Your Mattress Causing You Sleep Anxiety and Health Issues?

Read Time:5 Minute, 19 Second

Humans spend about a third of their lifetime sleeping. Good sleep is an essential part of human health and wellbeing. It is, therefore, important that you invest in getting good quality sleep.

But here is the point. Quality sleep depends on your mattress quality. While this is a generally known fact, most people do little or nothing about it. Have you ever found yourself tossing in bed at night? We’ve all been there. At times it is because you are using an old or poor quality mattress.

A bad mattress affects more than your sleep. It can cause adverse health effects ranging from allergies to weight gain and back pain.

In this article, we will show you how your mattress could impinge on your health. Before I share that with you, it is important to know when to ditch your old mattress.

When to Ditch Your Mattress

The life span of a mattress also depends on several factors, including its quality. For instance, high-density memory foam and natural latex are more long-lasting compared to low-density memory foam mattresses.

Consumer reports suggest that a good mattress should last about ten years. Mattress manufacturers, on the other hand, say that you should change your mattress at least once in eight years. Either way, you should get a new mattress after a couple of years.

Without further ado, below are the effects of a poor quality mattress on health.

Increase stress level

If you sleep on a mattress that is in a bad state, you will most like have poor quality sleep. Back pain and irritability due to poor quality sleep increase cortisol levels in your body. Consequently, your stress level increases. According to a study on new beddings, stress levels decreased significantly after sleeping on new mattresses.

Triggers Allergies

Old mattress harbors a lot of bed bugs, mites, and microscopic creatures. Sounds bad? It is. Dust mites are common triggers for allergy. Unfortunately, your vacuum cleaner may not get rid of all dust mites.

About 20 million Americans are allergic to bed bugs. Common symptoms of dust allergies include itchy eyes, sneezing, persistent coughs, and nasal congestion and drip. Dust mites also cause skin problems such as eczema. Additionally, they cause snoring, which makes breathing very difficult not to meantion distracting your bed partner.

Back Pain and body aches

An old mattress will not only prevent you from getting a good night sleep but also cause back pain. A study by Oklahoma State University showed that changing a mattress can reduce back pain significantly. In addition to that, some mattress provides more relief to back pain than others.

If we add on that, an excellent mattress provides good spine support. On the flip side a mattress in a poor state can also cause shoulder pain, chest pain, and neck pain. When your mattress fails to offer enough support, it strains body muscles resulting in bad posture and consequently back pain.

If you use a mattress that sags in the middle, you will most likely experience back pains. Failure to address this problem may lead to chronic pain and increase the likelihood of injury. Waking up with back or neck pain can trigger anxiety or exacerbate stress.

You can remedy this problem by using a firm mattress. Remember, a mattress that is too rigid will also affect your sleep negatively. The best mattresses to deal with back pain are medium-firm, unlike soft and firm mattress.

On the same note, you can reduce back pain if you sleep on your side and place a pillow between your knees.

Obesity

An old mattress could be the reason you are overweight. Yes, it’s true. Sleep deprivation promotes overeating and binge eating. Lack of sleep is related to weight gain and poor eating patterns. As we know, a poor quality mattress can cause lack of sleep and keep you awake all night.

Weak immune system

If you sleep on a poor quality old mattress, there is a chance that you won’t get quality sleep. Lack of sleep affects your immune system adversely. This means you will become more prone to all manner of illness, ranging from colds and severe sickness.

Heart Problems

Surprisingly enough, lack of sleep can cause heart problems. Think I’m exaggerating? A study by the European Heart Journal showed that short sleepers have a 48 percent higher risk of developing a heart condition.

Memory Impairments

Did you know that if you have poor sleep, you could suffer from poor memory? Memories are formed during a stage of deep sleep known as REM. If you fail to enter REM, your memory formation will be faulty. Consequently, this could lead to memory impairment.

How to Take care of Your Mattress

You can keep your mattress in good form by:

Buying an allergy-proof mattress protector. During sleep, we secrete a lot of water in addition to dead skin cells. Sweat soaks into the mattress, enhancing mold growth.
Take your mattress out under the sun regularly
Wash you beddings regularly to avoid transferring dust, dead skin cells, and other dirt.
Consider investing in a quality vacuum cleaner fitted with HEPA filter. Ordinary cleaners will be of little help in getting rid of dust
Keep humidity in your room as low as possible or use a dehumidifier

Once you get a tip-top mattress, you should go a mile further and adopt good sleeping habits. This involves improving your sleep environment. Below are some other great tips.

Tips for sleeping better

Worried about tossing and turning in bed? These tips will help you get quality sleep and be productive the following day.

Sleep on Comfortable Mattress
Exercise
Meditation and Calming
Reduce Caffeine and Alcohol
Try to sleep at the same time every day – Going to bed at the same time consistently helps to optimize the quality of sleep and set an internal clock of the body.

Conclusion

A bad mattress can cause detrimental health effects and anxiety. These adverse effects include body aches and allergies. If you wake up in the morning with back pains, it is time you change the mattress. An ideal mattress is soft, firm but not too rigid. You can also fix a bad mattress by cleaning it or using a mattress topper. The bottom line is that choosing a suitable mattress can enhance your sleeping experience and general health.