Arthritis – mattress choice

Although the orthopedic mattress is now in common use in many people's homes, the original orthopedic beds were found primarily in hospitals, or the bedrooms of people with skeletal or muscular ailments. Back then most of these beds were very firm and sometimes even hard, however things have changed.

Anybody who suffers from arthritis already knows the discomfort that this condition can bring and any relief, from whatever source, can be a great help and enhancer of life quality.

mattress choices

In the vast majority of cases, modern orthopedic mattresses can certainly offer arthritis sufferers a more relaxing and restful night's sleep. Mattresses made of memory foam have a unique ability to follow the curves, undulations and profiles of people's bodies and the support that they offer removes localised pressure points around joints that can prove uncomfortable.

Many people describe the feeling of sleeping on a good quality memory foam mattress as like being suspended in the air or floating on water. The support to the body is completely balanced and areas like the hips and shoulders do not take the bulk of the body's weight in the same way that they do on some cheaper beds.

Latex mattresses offer a similar sensation and there are many composite or multi-component beds that combine visco elastic memory foam with either latex foam or high quality pocket springs.

Many top of the range memory foam mattress products are made up from a number of different density layers of foam, each serving a separate and different purpose. Lower layers are usually denser and firmer with the central and upper layers offering more compressible and shaping properties. There is even often a layer that improves ventilation and prevents the mattress from getting too hot.

Pocket spring mattresses can also be orthopedic in quality. The features to look for are "high spring counts" and good build quality. High spring counts mean more springs and more springs mean more precise and accurate compression and shaping around the body. Hard lumps in spring mattresses result from failing springs or large springs in beds with low spring counts and these need to be avoided.

A frequently ignored mattress option is the water mattress or waterbed. As has already been said, many people describe the sensation produced by memory foam and latex foam as being similar to floating on water, so why not consider a waterbed. The waterbed offers the most natural and balanced form of bed support available. Water, which is totally viscous, models and shapes itself to any profile instantaneously. This means that every other mattress product is trying to emulate what a waterbed does automatically. Modern waterbeds do not have waves and, with a limited water depth, their weight can be taken by most floors.

So which is best?

Very few people like the feel of every type of mattress. The conventional springy feel of pocket springs is something that some people find hard to move away from, but if you do suffer from arthritis the chances are that memory foam or latex, or even a pocket spring bed with a top layer of memory foam, will offer the best levels of comfort and relief.

As a final thought, mattress toppers made of latex or memory foam may also offer relief if placed on top of an existing mattress. These toppers can help add the "body supporting" feel of memory foam to any spring based mattress that you already own.