If you haven't been sleeping well at night, you may blame the last TV show that you watched or the tossing and turning of your partner. While these factors have an impact on sleep, many people forget to associate poor sleep quality with a bad mattress.
While it’s important to fix a sedentary lifestyle and create effective sleep hygiene, finding the right mattress is also vital to preventing aches, pains, and sleep deprivation.
An average person falls asleep in about 10–20 minutes after lying on the bed. If your mattress fails to deliver the support that you need, it can hurt your pressure points and affect your posture. An old and saggy mattress can also affect your shut-eye. Let's not forget about the effects of a bad mattress on allergy sufferers.
If you’re not sure whether your mattress is to blame, check out these signs that you have a bad mattress.
If your sleep is greatly affected by your mattress, whether it’s old or just unsupportive, chances are you need to look for a better sleep solution.
6 Signs You Have a Bad Mattress
You Wake Up Feeling Tired
Have you ever experienced waking up feeling tired even after completing eight hours of sleep? While this is a common phenomenon for people who travel, sleeping in the comforts of your home shouldn’t seem like you haven’t slept a wink.
If you are sleeping on a bad bed, you may experience restlessness, a lack of concentration, and changes in your mood. A bad mattress may fail to give the support that a person needs to reach a restful state. This could be because of a mattress that is too firm, too hot, or uncomfortable.
You’re Having a Hard Time Falling Asleep
So, you tried to follow a new nighttime routine to fall asleep. You’ve also cut your caffeine and screen time. If you are experiencing insomnia, make sure to check your mattress.
Experiencing a hard time falling asleep can happen to the best of us. However, if you have to toss and turn every night to find the best sleeping position, or if you find yourself counting sheep at night, you should start looking into the comfort of your mattress. This is one of the factors that many sleepers fail to recognise.
You Wake Up with Aches and Pains
Experiencing aches and pains at night can be caused by an uncomfortable sleeping position and an unsupportive mattress. If your mattress firmness doesn’t support your sleeping position, the alignment of your spine can be impacted, causing aches and pains. Moreover, if your mattress is already too old, its layers aren’t coordinating well to support your body.
You Experience Frequent Allergy Symptoms
An old mattress accumulates dust mites, bacteria, mould, and other elements that can harm your health. This is also where dead skin cells, stains, and nasty odours build up. These nasty elements and allergens usually thrive in hot and humid places like Singapore, causing allergy symptoms like sneezing, runny noses, skin rashes, and an itchy throat.
You can prevent this by vacuuming your mattress regularly. A mattress protector can also keep spills and dirt away from your sleeping surface. However, if your mattress is already too old and uncomfy, consider looking for a new mattress with anti-dust mite and antibacterial properties.
Your Mattress is Giving You Excessive Heat
Considering the average temperature in Singapore, it’s important to look for a mattress that will keep you fresh and comfy at night. This means that your mattress shouldn’t be trapping heat and making you sweat while you slumber.
Your body needs to decrease in temperature to reach the level of deep and restorative sleep.
The ability of your mattress to regulate temperature and wick moisture depends on its materials. Memory foam mattresses are known for their reliable contouring comfort, but they are also notorious for trapping heat from our bodies. Latex mattresses with open cell structures are good for promoting better air circulation within the mattress. An innerspring mattress can also reduce heat retention because of its special construction.
If you love the comfort of memory foam, try a hybrid of memory foam, pocketed springs, and other cooling layers like gel for better heat regulation.
Your Mattress is Old
The average lifespan of a mattress is between 6 and 10 years. Some mattresses are made from durable materials but are still bound to reach the end of their lifespans. If your mattress is old, it becomes lumpy, saggy, uneven, unsupportive, and unhygienic for your sleep. While dips in your mattress are normal, excessive sagging can interfere with your sleeping posture and comfort.
When your mattress shows signs of deterioration, start looking for a new mattress with the right materials, firmness levels, and construction for your sleeping requirements.
Why Does Your Mattress Matter?
A good mattress should support your sleeping posture while providing relief at your pressure points. A bad mattress, on the other hand, causes discomfort and can disrupt your sleep. This lack of restorative sleep can disrupt your body’s functions and affect your mental health.
During sleep, the body does many repairs and regulates the processes in your body that work best when you are in a rested state. Sleep deprivation does not only affect your energy and mood the next day but can also have multiple long-term implications. This includes the chances of developing heart diseases, low sexual drive, memory loss, the risk of diabetes, and a weakening of your immune system.
When Should You Replace Your Mattress?
A mattress has an average lifespan of 6–10 years. However, you don’t necessarily need to wait for your mattress to fully deteriorate before changing it. A mattress protector and a topper may extend the life of your mattress. You could also add pillows to the sagging areas of your bed. However, they can only do so much to make up for the saggy layers of your sleeping surface. If your mattress is showing some warning signs like discomfort and sleep deprivation, you might want to consider getting an upgrade.
Upgrade Your Mattress for a Better Sleep Experience
After a long time of sleep deprivation, lack of energy, and lack of concentration, have you just decided to settle for less? If you were able to read this article up until now, we’re pretty sure that you’re serious about improving your sleep quality.
At Somnuz, we’re also serious about giving you the best mattress for a restful night’s sleep. Our mattresses are designed to cater to different sleeping needs, positions, body types, and temperature requirements for the ultimate snooze. These excellent mattresses offer motion isolation and specialised layers for more personalised comfort, especially for mattress sharers.
If you are ready to change the quality of your sleep, check out our range of high-quality mattresses in Singapore.