Do you often wake up feeling tense or with back pain? A lot of the time, a wrong or worn-down mattress or mattress topper can be the culprit. While a topper adds an extra layer of comfort and support to your sleeping surface, a mattress is an even more long-term investment playing an important role for your sleep quality. A new mattress can work wonders, but how can we choose the right one to achieve a healthy, restful sleep? Read our tips to guide you to the mattress type that's perfect for you.

When Is Our Sleep Negatively Impacted by a Mattress?

If our mattress is worn out, too small, too hard, too soft, or simply of poor quality, our muscles cannot relax properly while we're sleeping and our bones are not adequately supported. Unfortunately, if a mattress does not fulfill its supportive function optimally, it can lead to back- or leg pain. Our sleep also serves to regenerate the intervertebral discs. In the process, they fill up with a nutrient-rich fluid. If we sleep badly at night, the intervertebral discs may not be supplied with enough of this fluid, which increases the risk of disc ailments.

These are further body signals that indicate a poor mattress:

Circulatory problems (numbness in hands and feet)
Shoulder pain
Pain in the sacrum area (junction between the spine and pelvis)

Sleepless Nights? How You Can Tell If It's Time for a New Mattress

There are various reasons why your mattress may not provide the right conditions for healthy sleep.

Mattress age: On average, our mattresses are in use for seventeen years. However, after around eight to ten years, most mattresses are already worn out and the elasticity and other body-supporting properties have deteriorated significantly.
Body weight: You have gained or lost a significant amount of weight, which may cause the mattress to no longer meet your individual requirements.
Pregnancy: The baby bump makes it increasingly difficult to find a comfortable and relieving sleeping position on your existing mattress.
Sleeping position: You have changed from a back sleeper to a side sleeper, for example to counteract snoring at night.
Height: You are still using the same mattress as when you were younger, but have grown in the meantime - and your feet now reach over the edge of the mattress when you are lying stretched out.
Back problems: You're already experiencing issues with your back or discs and may therefore need a specially designed orthopedic mattress.
Allergies: In addition to house dust mites, mattresses can also contain chemical substances or natural materials causing allergic reactions that can affect our sleep.

Sleep Like On Clouds: How to Find the Right Mattress for Healthy Sleep

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a mattress that fulfills all requirements equally. After all, we are not standardised people with standardised heights and weights. Even our idea of what makes a mattress comfortable depends on our individual preferences and needs. If you experience pain or have any physical limitations, you should also adapt your mattress accordingly.

Pay Attention to Quality and Seek Advice

Only a well-supported spine promotes the regeneration of our intervertebral discs, relieves tension, alleviates back pain, prevents circulatory disorders, and ensures a healthy sleep rhythm. It is therefore best to lie on a high-quality mattress that has been specially selected for you. Always seek out expert advice when buying and, if possible, test whether you have found the right mattress for your healthy sleep by trying it out or sleeping on it at home for a while.

What a Good Mattress Should Offer

You should consider the following criteria when choosing a mattress:

Even distribution of the pressure load (to relieve pressure points),
Balanced body position,
Preservation of the spine's natural double-S shape when lying on your back (supine position),
Formation of a straight line from the cervical to the lumbar vertebrae when lying on your side (lateral position).

What Characterises the Right Mattress

These characteristics make a mattress perfect:

Elasticity: The mattress adapts to the contours of your body in the best possible way. Pressure-intensive parts of your body such as the shoulders or pelvis sink in comfortably and prevent pressure points. The neck, back of the knees, and loins are in contact with the mattress without any hollow space in between the mattress and your body when lying on your back.
Flexibility: The mattress immediately adapts to the respective body type in every sleeping position, regardless of body shape, weight, and height.
Stability: Regardless of your preferred sleeping position, a mattress with the right individual firmness level offers your body support and stabilises it. Because pressure points can cause unpleasant tension and pain, your body should lie as pressure point-free as possible from head to toe.

How to Choose the Right Mattress Firmness Level

There are some factors and orientation guidelines to help you find the right mattress for you: your body weight, height, and preferred sleeping position. Usually, the suitability and firmness for a certain body weight are described with the letter H (hardness). You can choose between five firmness levels: The higher the level, the more resilient the mattress.

Degrees of Firmness According to Body Weight

Choosing the right firmness level for a mattress is crucial for a restful night's sleep, in which our body weight plays an important role. This is because different weights have different requirements regarding the support and comfort of a mattress. The different firmness levels are therefore categorised as follows:

Firmness level H1: very soft, up to 60 kg (132 lbs)
Firmness level H2: soft to medium firm, up to 80 kg (176 lbs)
Firmness level H3: medium to firm, from 80 kg (176 lbs)
Firmness level H4: firm, from 100 kg (220 lbs)
Firmness level H5: very firm, from 130 kg (286 lbs)

Even Our Height Matters

Because the same weight is distributed differently on the mattress depending on your height, you should take this into account when choosing the right mattress. There is a simple rule of thumb for the calculation:

Body weight in kg (Height - 100) → recommended firmness level: firm

Two Examples

You can use the following examples to determine which firmness level is best for you:

You weigh 55 kg and are 165 cm tall: 165 - 100 equals 65. Because 55 is lower than 65, you can opt for a soft mattress H1 to H2.

You weigh 92 kg and are 186 cm tall: 186 - 100 equals 86. Because 92 is greater than 86, you should choose a mattress with firmness level H3 or H4.

Mattress Firmness and Sleeping Positions

While the above formula provides you with a great orientation when it comes to choosing the right firmness level for you, you should even consider your preferred sleeping position. Depending on whether you mostly sleep on you back, stomach, or side, your new mattress' properties should optimally support your body accordingly.

Back and Stomach Sleepers

Sleeping on your back or stomach, your weight is spread out rather evenly on the mattress. To prevent the formation of a hollow back and to make sure the hips are supported, a back or stomach sleeper should aim at a slightly firmer mattress.

Side Sleepers

When you mostly sleep on your side, a rather small surface area is in contact with your mattress, which can create distinct pressure points. To prevent pain, for example on your shoulder and hip, and to ensure optimal spinal alignment, side sleepers should opt for a softer mattress.

Varying Sleeping Positions

If you tend to vary your sleeping position quite a lot and don't have a preferred one, a medium-firm mattress might be the best fit for you to ensure moderate support for your spine and body while lowering the risk of pressure point pain.

Of course, all of the above are only guidelines. If you feel like you sleep more comfortably on a soft sleeping surface, you can of course also choose a lower firmness level, for example, H2 instead of H3 or vice versa. However, you should be able to test the mattress you choose to ensure that it offers the right sleeping experience for you. Therefore, if you decide to buy your mattress online pay attention to the availability of a trial period.

Not Every Mattress is Right for Everyone: Mattress Types and their Characteristics

When looking for the right mattress to achieve a healthy and restful sleep, you will quickly realise that there are many different types of mattress. We have summarised the most common mattress types below, including their advantages and disadvantages.

SPRING MATTRESSES

Today, mainly pocket spring mattresses are available. In order to achieve a high degree of adaptation to the body, high-quality models contain around 500 steel springs. These are individually sewn into fabric pockets in the spring core.