How to Fix a Lack of Sleep with Your Mattress

Struggling with a lack of sleep can be brutal: you’re tired, cranky, even sore. Maybe you get lack-of-sleep headaches. Poor sleep can also have serious implications for your overall health. While several factors affect sleep quality, there’s one easy step you can take to improve your sleep: be sure you’re sleeping on the right mattress. Learn more about lack-of-sleep symptoms, how to improve deep sleep, and how to fix a lack of sleep with your mattress below.

The Problem: A Lack of Sleep

Understanding how to improve your sleep is important for your quality of life—it’s harder to work, play, or enjoy your days if you’re tired. Sleep issues are common: over 60 million people suffer from sleeping disorders or occasional sleeping problems every year in North America.

Causes of Poor Sleep

A variety of things can cause poor sleep, including the following:

• Consumption of food, water, medications, alcohol, or caffeine near bedtime
• An inconsistent sleep schedule
• Stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental illness
• Exposure to electronic devices, such as TVs or mobile phones, near bedtime
• Body incompatibility with, or aging mattresses and pillows

Lack-of-sleep symptoms can also result from your sleeping environment. If you’re struggling with sleep, read on to discover how to fix a lack of sleep with your mattress and pillows.

Common Lack-of-Sleep Symptoms

A lack of sleep affects how you feel and function in a variety of ways. Here are some common lack-of-sleep symptoms:

• Struggling to fall asleep
• Waking up too early or throughout the night
• Tiredness or sleepiness during the day
• Irritability
• Depression or anxiety
• Lack-of-sleep headaches (which may be more frequent or severe than normal headaches)
• Decreased focus
• Difficulty paying attention
• Poor memory
• Feeling unrested after a full night’s sleep
• Worrying about sleep

Addressing these symptoms is not necessarily a matter of increasing the amount you sleep but of understanding how to improve your deep sleep.

How a Lack of Sleep Affects Your Health

While the obvious lack-of-sleep symptoms (such as a lack-of-sleep headache) are unpleasant, poor sleep also causes several less visible health issues. Lack of sleep can make you more likely to become ill. It can also lead to high blood pressure, weight gain, and increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. Poor sleep can even shorten your life expectancy.

The Solution: The Right Mattress

Spending the night on an old, worn-out mattress or a mattress that’s improperly fitted can wreak havoc on your rest. If you’re trying to figure out how to fix a lack of sleep with your mattress, considering your sleeping habits is a critical first step.

What’s the Best Mattress to Improve Sleep?

There is no one “best” mattress—it depends on your sleeping position and habits as well as personal preference. It should support proper, natural alignment of your spine. Sleeping with poor alignment forces your body to actively work to correct it, preventing full relaxation.

Types of Mattresses

There are four primary mattress types: latex, memory foam, hybrid, and innerspring/coil mattresses. Each of these styles is available in varying comfort types, which determine how firm or cushy the mattress feels. All these factors impact your comfort and alignment and, by extension, how well you sleep.

Adjustable Base Mattresses Can Improve Sleep

Adjustable base mattresses offer the ability to raise and lower the top and lower thirds of your bed. These mattresses offer nearly unlimited customizability. Besides optimizing comfort, these mattresses can provide health benefits. They can help reduce snoring, acid reflux, and sleep apnea symptoms. Movable beds can also reduce stress on the spine and lower back, improve circulation, and help alleviate lack-of-sleep headaches.

How to Improve Sleep When You’re Sharing Your Bed

Couples face special challenges when trying to improve their sleep, as they must find a mattress that suits two individual sleeping habits. Fortunately, split mattresses offer a solution. This mattress is essentially composed of two mattresses, making it possible for each partner to choose what works best for them. Split-head mattresses, which separate only the top third of the mattress, are another good option. These mattresses are also available as movable beds, allowing partners to adjust each side of the bed independently.

How to Improve Deep Sleep with the Right Mattress

During sleep, you transition through different sleep stages. One of these stages, REM sleep, is especially important to cognitive functioning. In this stage, the body is involuntarily paralyzed. If you’re uncomfortable, the body will respond by pulling you out of REM sleep to readjust. How can you improve your deep sleep? Limit these readjustments. Though you probably sleep through them, they decrease the overall quality of your rest. If you’re concerned about how to improve deep sleep, prioritize comfort. The right mattress can help you find optimal comfort for your specific needs, leading to fewer REM sleep disruptions.

How to Improve Sleep with Pillows

Finding an appropriate pillow is also important. The best one depends upon your sleeping position and your mattress—your pillow should support proper alignment of your neck. This is especially important for alleviating lack-of-sleep headaches. Pillows infused with essential oils, such as lavender or peppermint, can promote relaxation or alleviate allergies and congestion.

Improve Your Sleep Tonight

If you want to improve your sleep, consider a new mattress and pillows. The more comfortable you can make your bed, the better rested you’ll feel and the healthier you’ll be. At Mattress World Northwest, we offer the selection and expertise to help you discover how to fix a lack of sleep with your mattress. Contact us for a free sleep analysis—we can help you find out how to improve your sleep tonight.