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Over ten years ago, a belief was very popular among doctors, that the firmer a mattress is, the better it helps back pain. They believed mattress firmness affected back problems and 70% doctors recommended firm mattress to patients. Afterwards many researches had proven it was wrong. Doctors only realized our back needed support but didn’t find the firm mattress cause some areas on back lack of support.
Medium firm is better
Actually, medium firm mattress is the best and that also means the mattress needs a relatively soft buffer layer to lessen the shock to back and spine. You can add a soft padding on top of your firm mattress to make it a bit soft. The buffer layer can adapt to spine curve naturally and reduce or remove pressure your spine is bearing.
Mattress for back pain is the best mattress for your normal spine curve, to be exact. The spine isn’t straight and has concavities and convexities like waves. The right mattress should map the spine curve very well and in that way your back and spine distribute pressure and stress to mattress evenly instead of bearing the whole body pressure. Some people especially young don’t feel any discomfort on very firm bed. As a matter of fact, young body has better tolerance for everything include a firm mattress. We advise young people to go for medium firm mattress too to protect the spine no matter if you’re feeling pain now.
Nowadays, many doctors recommend memory foam mattress to their patients and this type of mattress is really good. It gives patients optimal support and helps lots of people. But you need to know that everyone is different. There’re also many people feeling painful on memory foam mattress. Some have no pain on spring but can’t fall asleep on foam mattress. So pick up the mattress best suitable for your body and there is no one-for-all mattress on the market.
Mattress lifespan
Mattress has 5 to 8 years lifespan so get a new one when your mattress is worn out. Generally, old mattress can’t give enough or equalized support to your body and probably cause back problem or make it worse.
Different rating system for firmness
Many manufacturers are offering customers firmness rating for reference but don’t pay much attention to it because each brand has their own rating systems. A firm mattress of one brand may be softer than soft version of other one. That’s why so many owners complained what they feel is opposite to rating in advertisement. The rating is also different from country to country. US has a higher number for firm or hard mattress, while Europe countries give lower number.
When it comes to buying a mattress, trying it out is a better way. Don’t just look at it, touch, push or sit on for test as many people do. To buy a comfortable mattress for your back, you’d better lie on it at least 10 minutes and sleep on your back and other ways. Avoid ones too hard or soft, that both can’t offer enough support. Remember there isn’t one-for-all mattress for back pain.