August 11, 2017
The princess in the fairytale ‘Princess and the Pea could tell about the pea underneath many mattresses because of the discomfort it caused her, but the truth is, that you may not be a princess to feel the pea and the discomfort—mattresses really matter for a peaceful sleep. Often, even after an 8 hours sleep, you wake up groggy with aches and pains. And in most times, this can be attributed to the mattress that you are sleeping on.
The research study conducted by Research Triangle International and Drs Andy Krystal and Jack Edinger from university has come out of some eye opening outcome. Their four-year study looked at how different support levels of mattresses impacted sleep and pain. The evaluation happened with more than 16,000 nights of sleep on 128 subjects about the impact of mattresses on health. We have rarely gone in depth about the consequences of mattresses on sleep and as a result on our health. Because who doesn’t wish they could fall asleep as easy as they did as children. “Common ailments such as snoring, fatigue, back problems and indigestion seem to stem from disturbed sleep. It doesn’t matter whether one is a side, back or stomach sleeper your quality of sleep depends on your body specific mattress. There has been some scientific research conducted on health and sleep positions, which identify back sleeping as ideal for preventing back and joint pain as well as minimizing skin aging. Although a recent study showed that sleeping on your side may be good for your brain,” says Ankit Garg, Founder of Wakefit, an innovative and design-driven mattress and furniture start-up.
Very few studies have looked at the effect mattresses have on sleep and pain, and the ones that did, had taken a very small sample size, so one can’t completely rely on them. “ Most researches say that neither soft nor firm mattresses are advisable. Medium firm are the best. But there are no clear definitions of what medium firm is,and it really depends upon the person. You may sleep better on a soft bed,” says Dr Mukut Bhowmik. He adds, “ Though after numerous researches, one is certain that the mattresses make a huge difference, but we may not be able to determine which mattresses are best for us when we are awake.” Asserting the same, Physiotherapist K. Paul says, “ Your stress levels will go higher if you are sleeping on the wrong mattress. The back ache and headaches are great signals to act upon,” she concludes.