Pocket sprung, open coil and inner spring mattresses

Until fairly recently, pocket sprung or open sprung mattress constructions were the only orthopedic mattresses available. These were hard mattresses with a "minimum spring gauge" and their modern equivalents still work well when a firm bed, rather than a contouring bed, is necessary. The pocket spring mattress is still very popular and has the advantage that the springs resist being overly firm when the body's weight is applied.

Modern thinking does however suggest that, with new mattress technologies and a more advanced understanding of orthopedics, a body contouring mattress can offer equally good skeletal and body support mechanisms to this traditional mattress construction.

Coil mattress construction

Pocket spring (coil) mattresses are made with individual spring units (coils) rather than the orthopedic interconnected ones. With the orthopaedic inner spring mattresses, the tops and bottoms of the coils are woven together like a web. This ensures additional support and makes the coils (over 3,000 in a double bed) function as a single mesh like unit.

The more springs there are in a coil mattress, the better it is able to support and adapt to contours of the human body and the differing shapes and masses of the torso and limbs. This kind of mattress provides firmness, but also controlled compression where needed. This mattress flexibility allows the mattress to respond to the precise shape, weight, size and sleeping patterns of any typical body during sleep.

An orthopedic Spring mattress offers a firm support to the back and can be combined with one or more layers of foams to offer softness and greater levels of comfort. As ever, the more you pay, the more luxurious will be the quilting and finishing touches (ticking) to your mattress.

A simple pocket sprung mattress will comprise of coils, layers of upholstery fillings and a cover. As a rough guide to quality, a higher coil count means that the springs will have a smaller diameter (and there will be more of them) and the mattress will probably not feel quite as firm.

The gauge or thickness of the coils also affects the firmness of the mattress. The heavier the gauge, the stiffer will be the mattress, and the lighter the gauge, the springier will be the mattress. The choice of which is best is always down to personal choice and any medical advice (if there is a specific condition that is being treated).

Typical coil mattress e.g. A standard double spring mattress unit typically comprises of just over 300 coils of 13 gauge-2. This kind of mattress produces a natural feeling "spring" and combines high compression resilience with moisture absorption abilities whilst acting as a natural insulator by maintaining a constant temperature.

Coils in a spring mattress

Modern spring mattress cores (often called "innersprings") are made up of steel coil springs, generally called "coils". The most significant characteristic of an innerspring mattress is the number of coils (or coil count) in the mattress. The greater this count, the higher the quality of the mattress and its construction.

Many cheaper conventional mattresses, particularly those made with innersprings or coils, can produce painful pressure points as they wear and become older. These pressure points can cause discomfort and disrupt sleep which is why a mattress needs to be replaced as soon as it shows signs of deterioration. When purchasing a coil mattress it is important to consider the number and type of coils the mattress contains.

In most mattresses, a higher numbers of coils means a firmer mattress. This higher coil count results in more coils that are closer together, thereby providing additional support for the mattress to prevent lumps from developing. The distribution of coils is also important. Steel wire is woven throughout the tops (and often the bottoms) of the coils to secure each individual coil in place and eliminate the possibility of any lateral movement.

Memory foam and Latex foam can often be found in the surface padding of some of the more expensive and higher quality innerspring mattresses. This extra padding aids comfort.

Conclusion

If you buy any kind of innerspring mattress you will be in good company as they remain the best sellers world wide. The fact that this kind of mattress, whilst covering all price ranges, has a very low start price, does of course account for many of these sales.

Despite this, you may not be getting the best mattress for your body or your back. By modern standards, sprung mattresses (without any additional layers of foam) may not conform as adequately to the unique curves of the body as other more recent mattress innovations. They may also loose their firmness and supportive qualities quicker than the more advanced memory foam and latex foam mattresses. When coil mattresses do wear out, it is generally the result of sagging springs, flattened filling and most of all, use over time. As a rough guide, they generally need replacing every 7 to 10 years.