Are you waking up stiff or in pain because your mattress is too firm?

For years, people have been under the illusion that a mattress needs to be firm for it to be supportive. Yet, according to Dr Ian Edwards, Chiropractor and proprietor of Back to Sleep, one of the most common misconceptions in the bedding industry may be partly to blame for the prevalence of arthritic symptoms such as back pain and stiffness.

Data collected by Dr Edwards from over 1000 survey respondents has shown that 90% of people who reported wake up feeling unrested also experienced neck and back pain and stiffness. “Some of this can be attributed to existing physical conditions which require treatment.  However a large number of those people are simply sleeping on a mattress that is way too firm for them.”

“Firm mattresses foster poor sleep posture. Dr Edwards reports that our spines have three natural curves, so the last thing we want is a flat, hard surface that doesn’t cradle these curves.  Firm mattresses effectively flatten out the spine, which puts pressure on the facet joints in the spine and can potentially lead to long term arthritic symptoms – pain and stiffness.”

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