Choosing the right mattress for your body pain depends on your weight, sleep position, and firmness preference. While these factors play a key role in determining which mattress is right for you, it's recommended to use a medium-firm hybrid innerspring mattress for upper body pain, as this mattress type provides adequate lumbar support to help alleviate sleep-related discomfort.
You may not know it, but your mattress can actually cause pain, particularly in your upper body! Here are a few ways you can tell if your mattress is actually hurting you:
This is the primary cause of mattress-related pain. If your mattress provides too much or too little sinkage, it misaligns your spine during the night, resulting in most daily aches and pains.
If you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or wake feeling groggy, there's a good chance your mattress is disrupting your sleep cycle. This is typically due to lack of comfort and can result in sleep deprivation symptoms, including headaches, excessive daytime fatigue, and an increase in daily pain.
Lack of sleep is known to increase the frequency of flare-ups and symptom severity of many physical and mental symptoms. Not only does this prove you're not sleeping well, but it's a vicious cycle. Your lack of sleep leads to worsened daily pain, which in turn leads to sleep deprivation that leads to flare-ups of other conditions that also hinder your ability to get a good night's rest!
Over time, a lack of deep sleep leads to a slow decline in your emotional state. Those who don't sleep well are at an increased risk of depression, anxiety, and insomnia, to name a few. These emotional conditions cause symptoms, such as loss of interest, that make managing your upper body pain even harder. And, you guessed it, impair your ability to sleep well, further agitating your pain.
An old mattress can have visible and internal defects that impact your comfort and sleep quality. So, even if you can't see what's causing your condition to deteriorate, such as a dip in the mattress, it could still be forcing you into uncomfortable or even painful sleeping positions, worsening your pain.
Here are a few things to think about if you're looking for a mattress for your upper body pain.
Your sleeping position is the foundation of your sleep. It can make or break you! Here are a few tips about sleeping positions and their relationship to nighttime pain.
Lumbar support is your bed's ability to support your spine as you sleep. As spinal misalignment is the number one cause of upper body pain during sleep, it's crucial to find a bed with proper lumbar support to keep your spine's natural alignment throughout the night.
Here are a few tips about firmness:
If you're a more heavy-set individual, you should get a firmer mattress. This is because softer mattresses cause excess sinkage, leading to misalignment of your spine and further, perhaps even more widespread pain.
This is particularly important when dealing with the upper back!
If you're experiencing pain, the type of mattress you get can make a huge difference in your daily pain. Here are a few tips.
Wondering what kind of pillows work best for upper body pain? Here are some tips!
Saatva is our top pick for the #1 best mattress for Upper Back, Shoulder, And Neck Pain in 2023! They're a luxury hypoallergenic mattress shipped directly to your door (with full-service white-glove delivery). They have over 50,000 reviews and continue to be one of the most reputable, established brands in the industry (founded in 2009). Check their price, here.
