You spend one third of your life sleeping, so it stands to reason that you should have an intimate relationship with your mattress. Even so, most of us have no idea what’s inside our mattresses, let alone how those components affect our health.
Mattress support systems divide into four main types: innerspring, foam, latex, and hybrids. Let’s take a look at these and some other key ingredients that play a large part in how well you sleep at night. Remember, you should always talk to your doctor, chiropractor, or orthopedic professional before choosing a mattress.
Innerspring Mattresses
Innerspring mattresses make up the vast majority of sleep solutions on the market. These mattresses are filled with metal coils (usually steel) and other filler products ranging from polyester to wool to cotton to every substance in between. The fillers ensure that you don’t feel the springs but still receive the support of the coils. If you’ve jumped on your bed successfully at any point in your life, you probably owned an innerspring mattress.
Innerspring provides more rigid support and bounce than other varieties of mattress. They come in an large range of prices, support systems, and styles. The greater the number of coils in the mattress, the more support it will provide.
For the vast majority of sleepers, however, innerspring may not be the best option. Over time the springs will create pressure points, which cause aches and pains and increase tossing and turning. The bounciness of this material is a double-edged sword. While it makes for a great trampoline, you’ll also feel every move your sleepmate makes during the night. In addition to all of this, innerspring mattresses are not as durable as the other varieties due to metal fatigue.
Foam Mattresses
Foam mattresses use a mixture of polyurethane foam and other chemical-based ingredients to provide a consistent level of support for your whole body. The leading memory foams soften from your body heat and weight. This allows them to mold to your body’s unique support needs, so they tend to be a better fit for most sleepers.
The chemical contents of foam mattresses may initially be a turn-off for many of us. Why not purchase an “all-natural” mattress? First, almost everything in our day-to-day lives contains some chemicals, even those items which we would normally consider “natural” (from apples to ourselves). Second, while it’s impossible to avoid chemical ingredients, you can ensure that your memory foam mattress uses only safe chemicals by looking for a CertiPUR-US certification. This means that it contains no toxic, cancer-causing, or otherwise unsafe chemicals. CertiPUR-US mattresses use clean foam.
Memory foam has significant benefits: better support and durability, better circulation, and pressure point relief. You also won't feel your sleep partner move as much. However, the negative side of foam is that it can sometimes sleep warm. Open-cell foam mattresses (like BioPosture) will help eliminate heat build-up.
Latex Mattresses
Latex mattresses use a processed plant base to create foam. This substance is more springy than foam, which provides more support but less molding to your body. If you have an allergy to latex, approach these with caution. Different processing methods can produce different levels of allergens. For instance, a closed-cell process will cause more of a reaction than an open-cell process. In other words, it’s best to check with your doctor if you suffer from allergies, despite their reputation as “all-natural.”
Hybrids
Hybrid mattresses are made of some combination of all of the above materials. Depending on your sleep needs and your doctor recommendations, these may or may not be helpful to you.
Other materials
Of course, a mattress isn’t only what fills it. You should also consider what covers it.
One of the best options available today for a covering material is Celliant. Celliant is clinically proven to increase the quality of your sleep. It converts your body heat into infrared light energy, which it recycles into your body. This technology supports a temporary increase in local blood flow and provides more oxygen to body tissue. Because of these benefits, the FDA considers Celliant a medical device.
Foam mattresses often sleep warm. However, a combination of Celliant and memory foam provides an ideal sleep solution. It not only supports your body, it regulates your body temperature. BioPosture mattresses use this combination.
Every mattress also contains flame retardants, as regulated by federal law. These retardants include EDCs (endocrine-disrupting chemicals), which alter your body’s natural hormones. Scientists have linked these chemicals to a number of health issues. BioPosture is the only sleep solution on the market available without these flame retardants, due to our close relationships with chiropractors and orthopedic professionals. With a Letter of Medical Necessity from your doctor, BioPosture will make your mattress to order without flame retardants.
So if your mattress is reaching the end of its 10-year lifespan, ask your doctor if BioPosture could be your healthier sleep solution.