Americans are Sleeping Better
I am making that bold statement based on sleep industry figures showing sales of mattresses up 17% in March this year over last year. This was the seventh straight month of increases. Some financial analysis take heart in that this is another small sign the economy is coming back. I’m not a financial analyst so I’ll just take these facts lying down. Mattresses are one of those home items that are not inexpensive and are viewed by many consumers as a luxury item whose purchase can be postponed until better times. So they are buying mattresses, great!
Two of the industry leaders Temper-pedic and Select Comfort, who makes the sleep number bed, reported growth in unit sales. This was echoed by some of the other industry leaders, so if a better night’s sleep is in your future here are a couple of major decision points.
Inner Spring vs Foam –
If you are a inner spring (traditional) person there are a few different kinds. These are my two favorite choices if you have a budget for the higher end mattresses. The blog My Foam Mattress provides these descriptions of the Open-ended and Pocket spring models.
Open-ended springs – all joined together by a wire network set up in the middle of each spring, thus leaving the top and bottom of each spring to move freely in order to independently adjust to the specific weight placed on it
Pocket springs – each spring is placed in its own separate fabric pocket and not connected in any way with the other springs, which allows independent compression of the springs, even if the mattress covering does limit some of the springs’ freedom of movement (these are the most expensive models and are said to be the most comfortable)
Springs do give a familiar feel with ample support in these models above. Many experts say a mattress should last at least 10 years, so divide that out by the number of nights used and you have a pretty sound, reasonable investment.
The Foam Memory mattress is a completely different feel than an inner-spring mattress. it is comprised of billions of cells of air which respond to the body weight. Many say to look for closed cells which provide slightly more support than open cells. This is called Visco-Elastic Memory Foam. Another type of mattress is made of Talalay Latex, this is a closed cell process and produces a different feel from an open cell process.
A popular type of bed for certain segments of the population are adjustable beds. Sleep Comfort is a leading manufacturer of adjustable beds with a variety of mattress types. You can put any mattress style on the frame. Adjustable beds can be positioned to accommodate comfort or sleeping maladies like excessive snoring (guilty). It’s interesting that some of physical symptoms such as lethargy, lack of focus, or chronic pain may have their cause in a poor mattress. At medical sleep centers around the country such as the Health East Sleep facilities in Minnesota, they examine mechanical devices to prevent sleeping on your back where appropriate
So if fatigue is a symptom then a mattress may well be the solution.
