How to tell if your mattress is not doing its job

The most obvious way to tell if your mattress is not supporting you correctly is if you are sleeping poorly. This can include any of the following tell tale signs –

• Waking up continuously.
• Constantly having to adjust posture or position.
• Waking up feeling uncomfortable.
• Being woken up by the movements of a partner.
• Not feeling rested in the morning.
• Feeling achy or stressed when you wake up.
• Feeling tiered during the rest of the day.

If you are noticing any of the above, then the chances are that your bed or mattress is the primary culprit. (Although you should consider personal circumstances such as stress, pressure at work, worries etc.)

If the bed may be at fault you can perform some simple checks. These checks will tell you if the bed has a physical fault.

Mattress checks

Start by removing all of the bedding and make sure that the room is well lit so that you can make a thorough visual inspection of the bed.

Look at the bed carefully and see if it has any visible lumps or deflections. Are the sides of the mattress showing signs of collapse and is the fabric (ticking) in good condition or looking worn.

If you can see any obvious signs of wear, damage or simply a mattress coming to the end of its days, then you have identified the problem. You need a new mattress.

If not, continue your inspection, only this time use touch.

Start by placing the palms of both hands flat on one corner of the bed and apply pressure. Can you feel a lump, a dislodged spring, or an area where there is little or no resistance? Repeat this "feeling" or pressure test up and down the full length and breadth of the bed until you have completed the check. If you find anything that does not feel right, then the mattress is the problem.

If, after a visual and tactile check, the bed appears to be in order then make one final check. Make sure that the whole bed is level. You can do this easily with a spirit level. If it is not, then your bed frame or divan may be at fault. This may be correctable or may require a replacement.

Is the bed supporting you?

Once all these checks are completed you will know if the structure of the bed is still working, however you will not know if the bed is supporting you in the right way. To find this out you will need the assistance of a friend, or a camera with a timer.

Ideally, a good quality or orthopedic mattress should shape itself around the curves of your body and not the other way around. The easiest way to quickly ascertain if this is the case is to see if your body is in the correct posture when you are lying down.

To do this, you need to lay on your bed (without any bedding on it) and see if your body has retained its correct shape, i.e. has not been twisted or contorted by the mattress. This can be done by having a second person look at your posture as you lay on the bed, or by setting a camera to photograph you.

If your body looks like your hips or shoulders have been forced up, or turned out of alignment, this may be the cause of you poor sleeping. You can find out more about What to look for in an orthopedic mattress at this page.