The Mattress and the Pillow: How to Choose Them for Nights of True Rest

There exists a conviction, very diffused, that to sleep well is a question of will, of silence, of a dark room. And instead, the truth is more simple and more physical: the sleep depends, for a large part, from what is under the body for eight hours every night. The mattress and the pillow are not accessories. They are instruments of health, in the same way in which a good pair of shoes is an instrument for the joints.

Who wakes up with the neck rigid, with a dull weight in the lumbar zone, or with the sensation of having slept two hours instead of seven, often does not have a pathology. Has only a support that is not adapted to the own body. And this, in the long period, becomes a real problem for the quality of the life.

Why the Sleep Depends More from What Is Under the Body

During the night, the column does not rest in a passive way. The intervertebral discs rehydrate, the muscles of the back release the tension accumulated in the day, and the circulation slows down its rhythm. If the surface on which one lies does not sustain this work, the body passes the hours making micro-corrections, contracting the muscles, searching a position that never arrives.

The result is a sleep fragmented, light, that does not repair. One wakes up already tired. And the next day the shoulders are closed, the head is heavy, the concentration is scarce.

It is not necessary to be experts of orthopedics to understand this mechanism. It is sufficient to observe: after a week of bad mattress, the body asks for rest already in the afternoon. The quality of the night decides the quality of the waking hours.

The Mattress: Firmness, Materials, and the Needs of the Spine

The first error is to think that a good mattress must be very hard. “The more is rigid, the better is for the back” is a phrase that has circulated for decades, but the reality of the body says another thing.

The column has three natural curves: cervical, dorsal, lumbar. A surface too rigid does not accommodate these curves; it pushes against them. A surface too soft, on the contrary, lets the body sink without control. The ideal is a firmness that sustains without opposing, that accompanies the weight of the hips and of the shoulders allowing them to descend of one or two centimeters, while the lumbar zone remains supported.

Some practical indications to orient the choice:

• Who sleeps on the side has need of a mattress that yields a little more under the shoulder and under the hip, so that the column remains in a horizontal line. Memory foam of medium density, or pocket springs with differentiated zones, work well.
• Who sleeps supine (on the back) needs a support more uniform, with a slight yielding in the lumbar zone. A latex mattress of medium firmness is often the solution most balanced.
• Who sleeps prone (on the belly) should choose a surface more firm, to avoid that the pelvis sinks and the lumbar zone bends excessively.
• Who has a weight above the 90 kilograms must verify that the mattress does not collapse in the central zone. The density of the material is more important than the brand.

A mattress has a life of approximately eight, ten years. After this period, the materials lose their capacity of response, and the body pays the price. If the mattress has more than ten years and one wakes with pain, the answer is already written.

The Pillow: Height, Position, and the Cervical Zone

The pillow is the other half of the question, and often the most neglected. The function of the pillow is only one: to fill the space between the neck and the mattress, so that the cervical column remains in line with the dorsal column. Nothing more, nothing less.

The height depends from the position:

Position of sleep	Height of the pillow	Type suggested
On the side	12–15 cm	Firm, that does not collapse
Supine	8–11 cm	Medium, with a slight wave
Prone	5 cm or none	Very low, almost flat

The materials that function well are the viscoelastic foam (that adapts to the heat of the neck), the latex (more elastic and breathable), and the feathers of good quality (for who prefers a support softer). What is important to avoid is the pillow too high for who sleeps supine: it forces the chin toward the chest and compresses the anterior zone of the neck for all the night.

A small verification to do at home: lie down in the usual position and ask to another person to look at the column from behind. If the line from the neck to the sacrum is straight, the pillow is correct. If the head is raised or falls down, something must change.

Circulation and Sleep: What Happens to the Vessels During the Night

There is an aspect that few persons consider when they speak of sleep: the vascular component. During the night, the blood pressure lowers naturally, the heart reduces the frequency, and the vessels peripheral dilate to permit the thermoregulation. This is the reason for which, if the circulation is sluggish, the extremities become cold, the legs feel heavy, and the sleep becomes restless.

The position of the body on the mattress influences also this aspect. A mattress that compresses too much the shoulders or the hips can reduce the flow of blood in those zones, causing that sensation of “arm that falls asleep” or of tingling in the legs.

For this reason, who has a vascular system that requires attention – for example, who passes many hours standing during the day, or who has noticed a tendency to heaviness in the legs in the evening – should give importance also to the support of the circulation beyond the night. In this context, some persons integrate the routine of the evening with products of vascular support, as for example Cardiobalance, a supplement formulated for the wellbeing of the vessels, of which one can find information detailed on cardiobalance.biz. It is not a question of substituting the mattress with something else, but of considering the sleep as a moment in which the entire cardiovascular system does its work of recovery, and every help to the microcirculation is a help also to the quality of the rest.

The practical advice is simple: before to lie down, five minutes with the legs slightly raised above the level of the heart, a brief walk in the house, and the avoidance of the positions that compress the calves. Small gestures, but that change the night.

Practical Advice Before to Buy: What to Verify

The choice of the mattress and of the pillow should not be made in five minutes, sitting on the edge in the shop with the coat still on. Some indications concrete:

• To try the mattress lying down , in the position in which one sleeps at home, for at least ten minutes. The body needs time to signal if something does not work.
• To verify the return period. Many producers offer 90 or 100 nights of trial. It is a right to use: the first week is adaptation, but after twenty nights the body has already spoken.
• To read the composition of the materials , not only the name of the model. The density of the foam (expressed in kilograms per cubic meter) tells much more than the advertising.
• For the pillow, to try it with the own mattress , or at least with a surface of similar firmness. A pillow that seems perfect on a rigid surface of the shop can result too high on a soft mattress at home.
• To consider the breathability. Who sweats during the night should orient toward materials with open cells or with natural fibers in the cover.

Small Habits That Complete the Work of a Good Mattress

The mattress and the pillow do the principal work, but the rest is helped also from what surrounds the night. The room should have a temperature between the 17 and the 19 degrees. The sheets, better if of cotton or of linen, should not create folds under the body. The hour in which one goes to bed should be regular, because the body organizes the cycles of sleep around a rhythm, and a rhythm that changes every night confuses the mechanism.

And then, a thing that seems obvious but that many forget: the mattress must be turned. Every three months, head to feet and under to above. The materials conserve their elasticity, and the body receives a support uniform.

To sleep well is not a luxury. It is the base upon which the day is constructed, the attention is maintained, the body repairs itself. And the base of a good sleep is, very simply, what touches the body for eight hours every night. To choose it with care is not a expense. It is the first gesture of respect toward the own back, the own circulation, and the own mornings.