Mattresses

By chiropractor Dr. Annika Jende

I am often asked how to decide what mattress to purchase. It is a vexed issue! Especially when you consider that you probably don’t spend so much time anywhere else.

If you go for anything with a pillow top on it, it doesn’t really matter what’s underneath, because you’ll be lying on the pillowtop, and pillow-tops go soft really quickly and provide no support.

Based on my own experience, if you get onto a mattress and you go “aaaahhhh….” it’s probably too soft. If you get on and you feel “hm, that’s a bit hard” you’re probably on the right one for you.

So: err on the side of firmness. You can always put soft items on top of your mattress if you like a bit more softness.

Personally, I’d go for a commercial mattress. Not only are they designed to last, they are also much cheaper (you can get one for about $600) than any of the other options.

The other consideration is that there are many options for natural fibre mattresses. Personally, not sleeping on a mattress that “gasses off” is definitely a consideration!

The Chiropractor’s Association of Australia and the College of Chiropractors and Osteopaths each endorse a mattress, and much research has been put in to each one of those, so check them out, too.
I wish you many good nights’ sleep.

PS: And remember that mattresses don’t last more than 15 years maximum. I’ll never forget the patient who continued to wake up sore despite my best efforts. His mattress was “a good one”, but eventually owned up that it was 30 years old….