According to the National Sleep Foundation,* the quality of your mattress can directly affect the quality of your sleep. Because a good night’s sleep is a key ingredient for good health and good moods, you don’t want to put off replacing a mattress that no longer meets your needs (unless your family, friends, and coworkers enjoy the crankiness that comes with your ongoing sleep deprivation. If so, there’s no need to read further.). But, if you think your sleep quality could use a boost, we have some tips to help you evaluate your current mattress situation.
How Do You Know If You Need a New Mattress?
There are no hard and fast guidelines for when it’s time go mattress shopping. In many cases, though, your mattress will actually tell you that it’s time for a replacement. Here’s how:
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Visual clues – Does your mattress look worn or damaged? Does it have areas that are sagging?
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Audible clues – If you own an innerspring mattress, do you hear squeaky, noisy springs?
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Tactile clues – Is your sleep disturbed any time your partner moves?
Each of these indicators tells you your mattress is past its prime and no longer providing enough support for your body. You’ll wake feeling the side effects of poor mattress support at any age, but muscle pain, joint stiffness, and tiredness will definitely be exacerbated after age 40. (Sorry.)
Things that Reduce Mattress Lifespan
Mattresses of any quality will degrade faster in certain scenarios. Naturally, a 250 lb. person will discover their mattress sags sooner than a 150 lb. person. Likewise, so will a pair of sleepers vs. a single sleeper. And, sharing a bed with pets or children will lead to additional stains, damage, and sagging, as well.
Making the Investment in a New Mattress
Like most things, the more you spend on your mattress the better quality – and lifespan – you’ll get from it. That doesn’t mean you have to purchase the highest priced mattress to get a good value, but there’s a difference between buying something that’s made poorly and buying something that’s an investment. When it comes to the quality of your sleep, make the investment if you can because what you’ll really be investing in is your own health, mood, productivity, memory, and so much more!
*Mattress information. (2020, April 28). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mattress-information.
