How a Mattress Affects Your Sleep

How a Mattress Affects Your Sleep

How Does a Mattress Affect Your Sleep?

Proper sleep is one of the most essential components of overall health. Without it, you will find yourself stressed out, making more mistakes at work and home, having difficulty concentrating, and feeling tired and drowsy all the time. Since we spend about 1/3 of our lives in bed, having a good mattress to promote healthy, restful sleep is critical to our overall health and well-being.

The Stages of Sleep

During a proper night of sleep, our bodies move through four different stages. In the first stage, you close your eyes and begin to slip into a sleep state, but can still be easily awakened. This stage generally lasts only about 5-10 minutes. The second stage is a light sleep where your heart rate slows down and the body prepares for deep sleep. Your core temperature decreases, and you are ready for stages 3 and 4.

Stage 3 (deep sleep) and 4 (rapid eye movement, or REM) are the times when your body is benefiting the most. Deep sleep restores your muscles and repairs your body, while REM sleep, when you dream, restores your mind by processing information from the prior day and replenishing neurotransmitters for maximum memory and concentration.

Most people go through about 3-4 sleep cycles per night, with each one lasting about 90 minutes. It’s important that you are able to go completely through each cycle to achieve the maximum benefit from sleep.

The Role of Mattresses

In order to get through each stage of the sleep cycle, your body must be comfortable and rested. When you lay in one position for a period of time, it can reduce the blood flow to the capillaries and blood vessels in that area. As blood flow decreases, your body sends a signal to move so it can get adequate oxygen and nutrients flowing again. This “tossing and turning” can cause you to wake up slightly, which prevents you from getting into, or staying in, deep sleep and REM cycles. In addition, if you suffer from chronic pain, mattress without the right support can result in pain and discomfort that keeps you from sleeping well throughout the night.

Another factor that can increase your chances of falling asleep and getting through a full sleep cycle is body temperature. Ideally you want your body temperature to lower during the night, but the wrong mattress can cause you to get to hot, disturbing your sleep patterns.

Finally, if you share a bed with someone, you may discover that it’s not you who is having trouble sleeping, but because your partner is constantly tossing and turning, you have difficulty getting into a deep and restful sleep.

A good mattress will provide support for your body without cutting off blood flow, eliminating pressure points that can cause discomfort and contribute to nearly constant movement during the night, and also help regulate body temperature by keeping your body cooler, removing excess heat generated as you sleep. In addition, couples that find it difficult to sleep because a partner is moving around a lot at night can find a mattress that reduces motion transfer from one side to the other, thus providing a better sleep environment.

To discover the mattress that can help improve your health, visit a store like 2 Brothers Mattress to compare and choose the perfect one for your best night’s sleep.
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