Is your bed helping you to get a good night's rest and to wake up refreshed?

With up to a third of our lives spent in bed, it is worth taking some time to choose the right one for you.

Problems arising from the wrong bed

Myosteo-practitioners are very aware of the problems that can arise from a poor choice of bed. The most commonly occurring problems that we see from day to day arising from inappropriate beds are:

• Shoulder Pain
• Neck Pain
• Lower Back Pain
• Hip Pain
• General stiffness

Often, these symptoms will be worse first thing in the morning and will ease with movement.

Do I need a new bed?

It is equally important that people of all ages - children to the elderly - sleep on beds that give the correct support. The questions to ask to establish whether you need a new bed are as follows:

• Is the mattress more than ten years old?
• Is the mattress floppy, uneven or lumpy?
• Can you feel the springs easily?
• Do you and your partner roll together unintentionally?
• Do you wake up with any of the symptoms talked about before?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you may need to start looking for your new bed.

Choosing the correct bed

A recent survey showed that 75% of the people think a hard, orthopaedic bed is the best choice if you suffer from a bad back. This is not true! If you buy a bed that is too hard you will get a great deal of pressure building up on your hips and shoulders. Also, as your back tries to conform to the bed you will put strain on your low back and neck.

The correct bed for you will be comfortable and supportive, holding your spine level, allowing for ease of movement, yet moulding to the contours of your body and providing support for its hollows and curves.

When shopping for a bed try these tips:

1. Lie on each bed and test for as long as you can - when lying on your side; if the bed is too hard your pelvis would be raised, thus bending your spine upwards; if too soft, your pelvis would sink, bending your spine downwards - look for the right firmness ie your pelvis sinks into the bed enough to allow your lower back to be straight.
    
2. Look to buy the mattress and base together. If not, make sure the mattress is made for the type of base you already have - i.e. slatted or sprung etc.
    
3. Take your partner with you as this can make a big difference to how you feel about a bed when someone is lying next to you.
    
4. Larger beds tend to allow you more freedom to move around at night and reduce stiffness and pain in the morning.
    

In our opinion, water beds and foam mattresses tend to be less comfortable and supportive than sprung beds. We recommend pocket-sprung beds with a medium to medium-soft firmness. Also, but very expensive, open celled visco-elastic, pressure relieving and temperature sensitive material that moulds to the exact contours of your body. Ordinary polyurethane material (foam) features irregular cell shapes that simply compress under weight. With open celled visco-elastic, billions of open cells gently moves around the curves of your body giving you total support where you need it, with no counter pressure. When you lift your body off the Mattress it returns to its original shape. Remember all manufacturers grade their beds differently so you must try them first.

We also recommend foam mattress toppers, best being open celled visco-elastic, as these give an extra adaptability to the bed, especially for people with full hips but slim waists.

The open cell visco-elastic mattress topper is recommended, as the ordinary foam mattress toppers tend to last for eighteen to twenty-four months and can increase the heat generated through the night, so bear this in mind when making your choice.

Good maintenance

Once you have purchased your mattress, remember:

A majority of mattresses need regular turning (between every six weeks to three months). Get someone to help you turn it.

Vacuum your mattress every week to help reduce the build-up of allergens, eg flaked skin.

Remember that there is no absolute best choice of bed. Be satisfied that it is right for you before you buy, as it may be difficult to change it afterwards.

Remember that the word orthopaedic is meaningless - and generally means that it is too hard, which may not suit your needs!

Good luck