Mattress Wars – Part 1: A Series of Posts On All Things Mattress

"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.

Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Yet millions of people do not get enough sleep and many suffer from lack of sleep. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours of wakefulness and need an average of eight hours of sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function without sleepiness or drowsiness after as little as six hours of sleep. Others can't perform at their peak unless they've slept ten hours. And, contrary to common myth, the need for sleep doesn't decline with age but the ability to sleep for six to eight hours at one time may be reduced. (Van Dongen & Dinges, Principles & Practice of Sleep Medicine, 2000)

So, how do you improve your sleep? According to the Mayo Clinic, they suggest these seven steps to better sleep:  http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/sleep/HQ01387

1. Stick to a sleep schedule.
2. Pay attention to what you eat and drink
3. Create a bedtime ritual
4. Get comfortable
5. Limit daytime naps
6. Include physical activity in your daily routine
7. Manage stress

I'd like to add one more to that list.

     8.   Get a good mattress.  Evaluate what you have and decide what you need.

This, my friends, is the kick-off for Mattress Wars.  A series of blog posts looking at each mattress type and recommending how to choose a mattress.  Weigh in on your mattress experience.

Getting rid of your pain,

Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor

Val Vista Chiropractic