As mattresses come in all shapes and form, so does the preferences of the people who want to purchase one.
Most people, however, do not really factor in most of their preferences when it comes to choosing a mattress.
Barring budget considerations, buyers tend to simply choose between firm mattresses and soft mattresses.
What many fail to consider, however, is whether or not a particular mattress is the right fit for their sleeping needs and habits.
As such, we took it upon ourselves to compose a short guide that will help you when it comes to choosing the mattress that best suits your needs. Just sit back, scroll down slowly, and read through our recommendations.
Consider Your Sleeping Habits
Most people would just like to get a mattress that’s firm or soft enough for them without thinking as to whether or not it is actually conducive to good sleep.
We advise, for that matter, that you review your sleeping habits and factor it in your purchasing decision. In particular, you should look into your favorite sleeping position—do you lie on your back, sleep on your sides, or do you take your Zs lying on your stomach?
In any case, your habitual sleeping position is one of the key factors that should determine the type of bedding surface that you actually need, and therefore, the type of mattress that you ought to buy.
Here, we will tackle the most common sleeping positions, and the type of mattresses that go with them.
Sleeping On Your Back
For back sleepers, we recommend a medium mattress.
This is due to the fact that sleeping on your back will require you to have ample back support.
Otherwise, with soft mattresses, your back will end up sinking uncomfortably into the mattress, and may even cause back pains when you wake up.
Sleeping On One Side
Now if you prefer sleeping on your side, you might want to get a medium to soft mattress.
Firmer mattresses may retard blood circulation, especially since you are putting all your weight on one side.
Soft mattresses, on the other hand, can minimize or even eliminate the compression, and with this, you’ll end up not needing to turn on the other side often.
On a side note, sleeping on one side is the healthiest known sleeping position as it lets your spine fall relax on its natural curve and much pressure is taken off of it.
Sleeping on one side also lets your joints fall into a more neutral set up than with other sleeping positions, thereby maximizing relaxation and comfort.
Sleeping On Your Stomach
For those who prefer lying on their stomachs—or abdomens, if you prefer to be anatomically correct—a medium to firm mattress is recommended.
With this sleeping position, you certainly would not want to sink into the mattress and end up sleeping with an unnatural recline, so you will need all the support that you can get from a firm mattress.
Tossing and Turning About
Now, of course, there are people who do not require a specific position in order to catch some sleep.
In these cases, most simply tend to abruptly change position without even being aware of it. This can be considered as tossing and turning about, which is a very common sign of sleeping discomfort.
For these folks, choosing the right mattress—one that won’t suddenly wake them up in the middle of their sleep just because they’ve switched from side to front or whatever—can be pretty tricky.
Rather than provide a very specific advice for this matter, we simply recommend that you seek the recommendations of a health professional.
Conclusion
This short guide covers what you need to learn with regards to choosing the right mattress that suits you.
As you can tell, we base our recommendations on the most common sleeping habits, as the mattress will need to accommodate what your body really needs; you don’t need to change your habits to adapt to a mattress which you have purchased out of superficial preference.
However, do not consider these as strict rules that you need to follow. Be sure to also check out the mattress’ features, and take your personal preferences into consideration as well.