
Home \| Health \| Weight \| Fashion Trends \| Wedding \| Pregnancy \| Blog \| Shopping
Have a craving for the latest info? Check out the Look-Your-Best Blog

New Mattress Linked to a Better Relationship

share/save

rss

(NewsUSA) -Nearly half of Americans (48 percent), identify an old mattress as the culprit in an unsatisfactory night's sleep, according to results from a national Better Sleep Council (BSC) survey. What's more, the survey found that those sleepless nights are taking a toll on personal relationships, leading to increased irritability and stress between partners.

The good news is that improving sleep quality and ultimately the quality of relationships can be as simple as getting a new mattress. In fact, scientific research from Oklahoma State University shows that a new mattress leads to significant, sustained improvements in sleep quality and comfort for people previously sleeping on mattresses more than five years old.

Knowing when and how to shop for a new mattress shouldn't leave you tossing and turning. To help ease any confusion about how to find the right mattress, the BSC offers shopping advice.

To determine whether your mattress is ready for retirement, ask yourself a few simple questions such as, "Do you wake up with aches and pains or get a better night's rest somewhere other than your own bed?" You can take the complete mattress-replacement quiz at http://www.bettersleep.org. Plus, the BSC Web site now features entertaining videos to illustrate tips on how to evaluate and shop for a new mattress.

When it's time to go mattress shopping, start at a store you trust. Once in the store, be sure to "test drive" a variety of mattress makes and models using the official "SLEEP" test:

* Select a mattress. Remove your shoes, and test out several different mattress types.

* Lie down in various sleep positions, especially the one you usually sleep in, and see how the mattress feels.

* Evaluate the mattress, testing its comfort and support levels to find the one that is right for your body. The few extra minutes of focusing on the "feel" of different mattress choices can make all the difference at decision time.

* Educate yourself about each selection, the wide variety of mattress options and store services available.

* Partners should shop and test beds together.

For simple solutions to help improve the quality of your sleep and for comprehensive mattress- shopping tips, go to http://www.bettersleep.org to download the BSC's new "Better Sleep Guide: Better Mattress. Better You."