3 Common Signs of A Bad Mattress

The quality of your mattress determines the quality of your sleep. It’s the foundation that supports your body and allows you to rest. A good night’s sleep is supposed to be reenergizing and restorative – if you feel otherwise upon waking up, chances are your mattress is to blame. In this article, we will look at 4 common side effects and signs of a bad mattress that can easily be addressed and fixed. 

You’ve Got the “Mattress Flu”

Dust Mites

Your nose is runny, your throat is sore, or your eyes are itchy, right after you wake up? If the symptoms are chronic and don’t seem to go away even after you make positive lifestyle changes, then you might be dealing with dust mites. Even though dust mites are invisible, their presence is more than noticeable. Once they settle in, the problems begin as it’s among the most annoying signs of a bad mattress. The waste these bugs produce aggravates the human body and often leads to allergic reactions. Mild symptoms range from sneezing to coughing, while in more severe cases, people may experience breathing problems and asthma-like side effects. 

These microscopic creatures feast on dead skin and thrive in warm and moist environments. Since conventional synthetic mattresses often have no means of dealing with the heat and sweat people produce during sleep, they quickly turn into breeding grounds for dust mites. The choice of filling and coating dictates how much heat will be trapped and how well moisture will escape. Having an artificial material as a filling is a big sign of a bad mattress, as synthetics deal poorly with the natural byproducts of the human body.

Bacteria, Mold, and Mildew

Allergen buildup is a sure sign of a bad mattress as it stems from the same principle of dust mite infestation. A warm and damp environment is the culprit of bacteria, mold, and mildew development. If your bedroom has an off odor and you find yourself getting random rashes and breathing problems, then look into your mattress. Poor quality synthetic mattresses age like milk and become the host of bacteria, mold, and mildew. 

The allergic reactions often lead to compromised sleep, which in turn weakens the immune system. The vicious cycle of sleep deprivation and increasingly worsening side effects of the allergen buildup can spiral out of control. This is why it’s important to take action at the slightest occurrence of such symptoms.

VOCs

The “mattress flu” can be also caused by volatile organics compounds (VOCs). The VOCs are the byproduct of toxic mattress chemicals evaporating and turning into gases we inhale. Depending on the concentration and nature of the VOCs, the side effects of inhaling the toxins can be eyes, nose, or throat irritation; loss of concentration, headaches, nausea, or liver damage. In some cases, cancer may develop after prolonged exposure.

One of the sure signs of a bad mattress is if, at room temperature, it turns into a gas-emitting sponge that slowly but surely pollutes the air in the room. Given that indoor air quality tends to be five times worse than its outdoors counterpart, it is of great concern how the saturation of VOCs can cause the environment in your home to be unhealthy. 

You Wake Up Tired with Aches and Pains

Poor Support

The core value of a mattress lies in its ability to provide good support for your body. Once the mattress layers start to deteriorate and lose support, the side effects kick in. You may feel aches in the joints, tension in the muscles, and pain in the back. This is one of the more common signs of a bad mattress – you are no longer sleeping on a supportive surface, and your body is gasping for relief. With time, mattresses, especially those made out of low-quality materials, begin to sag and lose structural integrity leading to the formation of pressure points and uneven spinal support. The tension negatively affects the body and leads to chronic discomfort and pain.

Poor Sleep

Tossing and turning go hand in hand with poor sleep quality. It is often caused by discomfort and anxiety. If your mattress offers suboptimal support, your body will seek that extra structural assistance by constantly moving around. Unfortunately, your movements during the night are bound to disrupt your sleep cycle and substantially tank the quality of your rest. If you feel chronically tired and you exhibit no obvious symptoms of pain and allergies, chances are your mattress is just the right amount of uncomfortable for you not to register its cons. 

You Wake Up Covered in Sweat

Excessive Heat

Poor temperature control is one of the clearest signs of a bad mattress. If your body overheats while sleeping, then you might have to make a few changes in the bedroom. Usually, mattresses with dense synthetic materials tend to trap heat, causing abnormally high temperatures in the bed. This disrupts the sleep cycle and forces you to toss and turn in the search for a cooler surface. The excess heat will also offer a favorable environment for allergy-causing mold, mildew, and dust mites to form.

Night Sweats

Excess heat is inevitably accompanied by night sweating. Often mattresses that have poor temperature control also lack moisture regulation. The heat forces you to sweat, while the low breathability of the material traps the excess moisture and turns your bed into a damp breeding ground for bacteria. If you experience this vicious circle, combined with an unpleasant body odor, then that’s a clear sign of a bad mattress. Don’t think your physiology is to blame as a proper high-quality mattress should be able to accommodate your metabolic rate without issues.

How to Fix a Bad Mattress?

Bad mattresses share two distinct features – they are either old or of poor quality. Generally, both express themselves together as the life span of a mattress is strongly related to its material makeup.  Poor quality equals a short life span. Attributing the degeneration of a mattress to only its years of use is faulty thinking. Cheap synthetic mattresses are designed to break down faster and are inherently bad by design. You can apply temporary bandage solutions, but at the end of the day, the most cost-effective solution for your health and well-being is to find a natural replacement.

All of the above-mentioned signs of a bad mattress can be easily fixed by switching to a more traditional choice of filling. A wool mattress can address all those issues and alleviate or completely clear the symptoms of discomfort. 

Durable and Exceptionally Supportive

Wool mattresses promote a healthy posture during sleep through the unique way the springy wool fibers support the body weight – distributing weight evenly and away from pressure points, relieving pain in joints, and soothing aching muscles, better than any other natural or synthetic material. It will give you a comfortable foundation to rest on, without compromising the health of your joints and back.

Moreover, with good care, the wool mattress can last you for decades without losing its structural integrity and strong support. Wool’s durability and strength come from the fact that its fibers can be bent back on themselves 20,000 times before breaking. To put this into context cotton breaks after 3,200 bends and rayon fibers only last 75 times!

No More Sweaty Nights

Due to the unique structure of its fibers, wool is exceptionally breathable, providing unparalleled comfort. Wool keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter, maintaining a year-round baseline of healthy restorative sleep. Having full control over your body temperature will prevent night sweating and general sleep disruption. No heat will be trapped and your body will rest comfortably within a healthy range of temperature fluctuation. 

Say Goodbye to Dust Mites, Bacteria, Mold, and Mildew

Wool fibers have a natural water-wicking property that prevents moisture from being retained in the fabric, naturally inhibiting mildew. Wool also has natural anti-microbial properties because bacteria tend to be attracted to smooth positively charged surfaces like those of synthetic fibers rather than the scaly, neutrally charged surface of the wool fiber. The dry environment will also disrupt the dust mite’s life cycle and make your mattress completely uninhabitable for them. 

Not a Single Chemical in Sight

An all-natural wool mattress contains no chemicals, dyes, bleaches, or fire retardants. It emits no VOCs and is completely safe for people of all ages, including newborns. There are no harmful toxins that will negatively affect your health and disrupt your sleep. The wool mattress offers a safe environment that promotes deep restorative sleep.

Among all these signs of a bad mattress lay the issues synthetics pose. It’s almost impossible to replicate the natural properties of traditional materials without stumbling since all artificial solutions attract natural problems.

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