THE BEST MATTRESS FOR STOMACH SLEEPERS

We’ve discussed how to find the best mattress for Back Sleepers:

http://sovnsleep.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-best-mattress-for-back-sleepers.html

We’ve also discussed how to find the best mattress for Side Sleepers:

 http://sovnsleep.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-best-mattress-for-side-sleepers.html

If you go back and review the other two articles, you’ll find a recurring theme: the mattress that is best for you will be the one that holds your body in a neutral position.

To define “neutral position”: this is how you look when standing in a relaxed position. Generally, the hips and shoulders line up; the spinal column is gently curved.  

If a mattress can keep you in your neutral position, it means that unnecessary muscular tension due to improper alignment and imbalance will be all but eliminated.

However, for true stomach sleepers, those who sleep flat on their bellies, the idea that you can find a mattress that will hold you in a neutral position is false.

You can certainly find a mattress that holds your body in a healthy way from the shoulders down. It’s the neck up that is, sadly, impossible. 

When sleeping flat on the belly, (the prone position), the head must be turned drastically to one side in order to be able to breathe. This creates mispositioning of the cervical vertebrae and musculature issues due to such harsh flexion, resulting in neck pain.

Imagine holding your head in this position for extended periods of time during your daytime hours. It’s unthinkable, isn’t it? Still, many people do sleep in the prone position and find it difficult to re-train their bodies to a healthier sleeping position.  So for those people, we offer the following suggestions.

The best mattress for the belly sleeper is the one that keeps the hips in the proper place. The mattress must be firm enough to create just enough lift under the hips so the gentle curvature of the lumbar spine remains intact and as it exists when the sleeper is standing up in a relaxed position.

How do you know if your hips are in the correct position? If the mattress is too soft, the hip region / pelvic girdle will enter too deeply into the mattress surface, which places excess curvature in the lumbar region—in effect, a swayback situation will occur.

If the mattress is too firm, there will be too much lift under the hips, resulting in a flattening of that all-important lumbar curvature.

Firm/Medium/Soft mattress: the one that works best for you is based on your weight. Try out models until one keeps the hips in the proper position and don’t worry about if it’s called a soft or firm. The importance of proper alignment (at least from the shoulders down for belly sleepers) supersedes the soft/firm question. And if you find one that keeps you in a correct position, that question answers itself.

Again, it’s so important to look carefully at the materials involved in the making of the mattress, and to inspect the warranty. What good does it do to find a mattress that fits your body perfectly if it’s going to wear out very quickly? And if the mattress gets worn out, your body is no longer in a neutral position, but is flexed in an unnatural, unhealthy way.

Most warranties contain a clause regarding “body impressions”—and most warranties will not go into effect until that body impression reaches a depth of at least 1.5 inches. When the body is lying in even a ½-inch-deep body impression, there’s no way for it to remain neutral, no matter what sleeping position you might be in. Please think carefully about longevity of the mattress as it relates to maintaining your healthy sleeping positions.

Also, please see the following link for information on what to look for (and look out for) in a mattress warranty:

http://sovnsleep.blogspot.com/2012/12/mattress-warranties-what-you-need-to.html

The Best Mattress for Back Sleepers

The very best mattress for back sleepers will be the mattress that supports the body in a neutral position.

What do we mean by that? Well, the best mattress will be able to not only support your body weight, but also simultaneously provide the proper contour necessary to maintain that neutral position.

Your neutral position is how you look standing upright, nice and relaxed; it’s the way your shoulders line up with your hips. If you turn to the side and look in the mirror, you can see the natural curvature of your spinal column and how your seat curves down to your hamstrings.

This is what we’re trying to replicate while back sleeping: everything should look as close as possible to how it looks while you’re standing upright. All that natural curvature needs to exist while you’re sleeping. If it doesn’t, you’ll wake up with soreness due to the stress of being mispositioned during the night.

For back sleepers, please pay special attention to the hip region. The heaviest bone group in the body is the pelvic region. If proper contour isn’t achieved in this area, it throws off the entire alignment.

If the bed is too firm, and hips are held too high, once sleep sets in and the body relaxes, the hips will be forced upwards (towards the ceiling) in an unhealthy way, and ultimately flatten out the natural curvature of the low back region. The discs in between each vertebrae can’t rehydrate properly, resulting in back pain. The musculature isn’t relaxed in a healthy position, but is flexed, resulting in tension/pulling sensations: back pain. See where we’re going with this?

If the bed is too soft, the hips/pelvic region drop in too far into the mattress, creating a swayback effect. This creates musculature tension along the lumbar spine due to exaggerated curvature: back pain.  And again, the intervertebral discs can’t rehydrate properly when they’re pinched.; back pain results.

Do you need a soft, medium, or firm mattress? The answer is dictated by your weight.  

We suggest throwing the terms “soft” and “firm” right out the window. Shop according to flexible support that allows proper positioning.  Find a mattress that holds you properly, then take a good long look at the warranty to see how long you may expect it to do so. Beware, again, of “comfort impression” caveats. Please refer to our article: Mattress Warranties—What You Need to Know Before You Buy for more information on how to de-code warranties: http://sovnsleep.blogspot.com/2012/12/mattress-warranties-what-you-need-to.html

Next up: What’s the best mattress for stomach sleepers?