I have to talk about mattresses. I got a literal reminder this past week when I visited my mother. I spent a couple of nights on a mattress that, I swear, was around in the 60’s.
I’m sure, for its time, it was once a good mattress but the product has changed over the years. This mattress was little more than an innerspring covered with maybe an inch of padding. The whole thing was only about 6” thick. Compare that to a mattress of today. Now the innersprings alone are 7” to 9” thick and then there is 3” to as much as 12” of padding over that.
Mattress designs and the theories behind those designs have changed since that old bed was made. We used to think “the firmer the better”. Now we understand that, for your spine to be supported, the surface of the mattress needs to conform to the curves of your body. The goal is to keep your spine in “the position of natural function”.
That is why modern beds have the cushioning over a supportive innerspring. The springs need to support the overall body but the surface needs to conform to the body. That brings us to the most disconcerting aspect of the modern mattress industry. Modern mattresses are designed for the surface to mold to your body.
That means. . . dare I say it? . . . Yes, your new bed will show a body impression. Yes, it will. It is supposed to do that. That is by design. It is supposed to mold to your body.
When mattresses were made like the one at my mother’s house, it was little more than an innerspring with a bit of padding. If that showed a body impression, it had to be the springs. Modern beds have so much padding that an indentation is just the normal settling and compression of the padding. And yes, if you have a queen or king size bed, it will feel different in the middle of the bed. People don’t normally sleep in the middle so it doesn’t compact as much. In fact this is so common in king size mattresses we call it the “king hump”.
Folks, this “body impression” does not mean the bed is failing. But for those of us who grew up on the old style mattress it is confusing. Sort of like the brakes on my new car. All of my life – if my brake peddle was vibrating – that meant my brakes were bad. Now is means my brakes are good. It means the anti-lock system has kicked in. That drives me totally bonkers.
Enough of my rant for today. Have a great May – it will warm up soon.
Enjoy.
