All about the firmness of mattresses

Mattresses are selected primarily for their firmness. This is the baseline. Without knowing it, it is easy and simple to take the “wrong” product. Without actually checking whether the mattress you like is right for you, you will feel on the very first night that it is uncomfortable to sleep on it. So, you were in a hurry with the choice.

The rigidity of the mattress is the main characteristic by which the consumer is able to estimate how comfortable a particular product will be for him, how much it will bend under the weight of the person lying. In general, mattresses are divided into firm, medium and minimum firmness. The higher it is, the younger, the younger the person should be. High stiffness is suitable for children and adolescents, medium - for young and healthy people, softer - for the elderly.

The rigidity of the selected product is influenced by weight, age, lifestyle, the presence of medical contraindications for a single person. Two buyers can choose the same mattress model if all these parameters are approximately the same.

The degree of hardness of the mattress sheet will depend on its filling.

• Spring block type. The dimensions, number and relative position of the springs on each square meter are of the same importance as the quality of the steel from which they were made.
• Filler - coconut fiber, foam rubber, bicocos, latex, etc. Each type of padding plays an equally important role in rigidity.Some materials, such as foam rubber and coconut fiber, are used in mid-range mattresses. In expensive mattresses, it is coconut with latex, both materials are natural. Latex is medium hard, coconut fiber is high.

According to the degree of firmness, mattresses are divided into certain groups.

• Particularly rigid ones actively resist the load. The deflection of such a product is minimal - no matter how much the user weighs, he will not push it through in a short time of use.
• Products with above average hardness... Maintaining the spine in its natural position: the slightly curved S-shaped bend, given by nature to man, is maintained confidently, while the excess load is removed from it. The back muscles do not sag down.
• Products of medium firmness occupy a middle position between hard and soft mattresses... They are distinguished by their versatility in application. According to statistics, it is these products that are preferred by most people who do not have serious contraindications to their use.
• Products occupying a middle position between mattresses of standard hardness and soft... They allow you to fully relax at night. Combined products provide for zones of increased rigidity - where it is important for a person, based on their characteristics and doctor's prescriptions. At the same time, some parts of the body are supported optimally - a person feels comfortable.
• Soft items are easily crumpled and change shape. They allow people of a low weight category to have a full rest with a lean physique. In this case, there are no problems with breathing and blood circulation in humans.

You can choose the right mattress, first of all, knowing your weight.

• Up to 55 kg - here a soft product is suitable, in which there are struttofiber, polyurethane, natural or artificial latex. The so-called memory effect will not hurt - the mattress "remembers" what load from the body is present in each of the specific areas. In other words, the crushed places will not soon be straightened out while the person is not there.
• 55-90 kg. A medium firm mattress is a worthy solution. Tall people with normal body weight (height in centimeters minus a hundred) will choose a softer mattress.
• More than 90 kg. If a person has a significant weight, then a hard mattress is better suited for him. Increased comfort is achieved through the use of a spring mattress, which contains either coconut fiber or horsehair filler.

You can also choose a mattress for a comfortable sleep on the bed according to the following criteria: age, contraindications for health reasons, lifestyle and habits, human height. It is this classification of mattress products that allows you to navigate in a good choice.

The relationship between height and weight is obvious - a person with a height of 170 cm, weighing 70 kg, presses on the mattress less than another - of the same height, but weighing 75 kg. The pressure is calculated per unit - how many kilograms will fall on each spring, if the mattress is spring, or for each square decimeter, if the product does not contain springs. For people of small stature, but overweight, a stiffer mattress is recommended than for users of the same weight, but taller. The second meaning here lies in the physique: in the first of the two examples, the person is likely to be more complete than in the second.

Mattresses for the elderly and teenagers are almost diametrically opposed products. Age plays an important role here.

• Up to 2 years old. Maximum rigidity will be ideal.A newly born person should not have any distortions of the vertebrae. Create all conditions for him to grow up healthy, with a relatively straight spine. A rigid springless support - a coconut mattress - is suitable.
• 2 years -13 years... When choosing a product, you need to be guided by the dynamics of growth and weight gain. A spring or springless product of average stiffness is suitable here.
• 14-25 years old - a person is actively forming, by the age of 25, the growth of systems and organs in the human body stops. Hard and soft mattresses should not be used in this case. Mattresses of average firmness are chosen for people with normal or slightly reduced weight. However, when a person does become a heavyweight, medium-hard products are suitable for him.
• 26-50 years old - in this age category, the rigidity, again, is determined by the weight parameter. The lighter a person is, the softer the mattress he will need. The threshold values ​​for weight at this age are 55 and 90 kg. It does not matter who the user is - a man or a woman.
• For 50 years - products "shifted" in the direction of reduced stiffness are suitable here. This is how the optimal load on the spine and the joint-muscular system is achieved.

People who have back pain for one reason or another can use a firm mattress. It helps relieve pain in the upper - cervical and thoracic - spine. If your lower back hurts, use a medium-hard or medium-soft product. Otherwise, it will hurt more. Treatment for osteochondrosis, or rather, help with its manifestations, in each case will require a special approach. This means that the choice of a mattress cannot be made without consulting a doctor.

Patients faced with osteochondrosis should familiarize themselves with the characteristics of the mattresses. A traumatologist or orthopedist will be able to accurately adjust the firmness level of the mattress. An indispensable condition is to use an orthopedic product that will maintain the correct condition of the vertebrae relative to each other. The wrong choice of mattress will lead to the fact that the problem of osteochondrosis will only worsen. Only a product with variable stiffness will help here: stiffer under the thoracic spine and softer - under the lumbar.

Relatively recently, many doctors agreed on the following: a hard mattress will heal the body in a short time, closing the problem of osteochondrosis. The explanation for this phenomenon is simple: the vertebrae are stretched, as if falling into place. But sleeping on an excessively hard surface, when the doctor does not give appropriate instructions, will harm the patient. To understand this, notice that the spine is an S-shaped wave, not a straight, concave or convex curve along its entire length. If you fall asleep on a bed that is too hard, your hips and shoulders will feel overwhelmed. And they, in turn, must partially sink in the layers of the product. The space on the segment of the spine, which is oriented forward, will be deprived of reliable support and will not receive rest. Sleeping on a hard surface will make blood circulation more difficult, and your arms and legs will become numb. Muscle strain and headache are attached.

Too soft a surface will lead to a curvature of the spine, which can make breathing difficult. This once again reminds: the mattress should be chosen of medium hardness. A soft mattress is suitable only for diseases of the skeleton. A specific disease - a hernia of the lumbar spine - will require a surface of moderate rigidity.

For a married couple or a couple in love, the mattress must meet different needs for hardness - one half can be, for example, semi-hard, the other with above average hardness. Sleeping on your stomach on a hard surface won't hurt. To sleep on your side, you need a product of low rigidity.

Lovers of high load should get a mattress of medium firmness. People with a calm and measured lifestyle are shown softer products... If the work is mostly sedentary, a more rigid product will also help here: the back, being motionless for several hours, needs to be straightened.

In the simplest case, you can change the hardness of the mattress in the direction of decreasing it by placing a cape. Most often this happens when the rigidity of the product is not what it was necessary to stop at. You can also lay a blanket on top.

There are cases of the opposite: you need to increase the firmness of the mattress. Use another pad - for example, one made entirely of coconut fiber. The textile industry produces special latex-impregnated coconut fiber liners. This overlay will help, for example, when it is not possible to quickly change an old sofa with a pressed spring block for a new one, or to repair it by replacing some of the springs.