What Kind of Mattress Do Chiropractors Recommend?
Chiropractors know one thing better than anyone else — back pain. Patients constantly complain of chronic lower and upper back pain, and more often than you believe, a bad mattress is at fault.
It’s common wisdom that replacing your mattress might improve your back pain. Are all mattresses equal in their ability to reduce back pain, however? Are some mattresses better than others when you’re trying to get rid of chronic joint pain that is robbing you of sleep?
Find out which mattresses are best for back pain, and learn which mattresses chiropractors recommend the most frequently.
What is the healthiest mattress?
There are a few important factors you should consider as you determine which mattress is healthiest for you:
Design
Some mattresses are simply designed better than others. As a great example, people thought innerspring mattresses were the best until just a decade ago.
Today we understand that this mattress design is inherently flawed and unhealthy. To enjoy the best sleep, you need to choose a mattress that embraces the latest developments in bedding technology.
Materials
Both memory foam and latex can be very toxic. Neither material has to be, though.
Recently, independent certification agencies have stepped up to the plate and started helping consumers find out which mattresses contain the best materials. The two most trusted mattress certifiers are CertiPUR-US® and OEKO-TEX®.
Certifications don’t tell you everything. You will still need to look carefully at product information and customer reviews to find out if a mattress is safe.
Sleep style
Everyone has their own unique way of sleeping. A mattress that might be perfect for your friend or neighbor, therefore, could be a terrible fit for your particular needs.
That’s why risk-free trial periods are so important. During this crucial time, you can test your mattress the best way — by sleeping on it for an extended period. If your new mattress Is not compatible with your sleep style, you can return it and try a different option.
What is the best mattress for back pain?
There are definitely some things that make certain mattresses objectively better than others for back pain. At the same time, personal circumstances do also play a significant role.
Here are the three most important factors that will determine which type of mattress is best for your particular case of back pain:
Softness
When it comes to back pain, softness can actually be a good thing. If you can’t help yourself from sleeping on your stomach, however, a mattress that is too soft may make your back pain worse.
All the same, sleeping on a mattress that is too firm in any position will harm your back. Softness and sleeping position combine to determine which type of mattress will alleviate your back pain best.
Support
Even if a mattress is designed to be soft, it still must offer plenty of support. Memory foam mattresses, for instance, should feature bottom layers of thick supportive foam that is not body-molding in any way.
Support keeps your body from sinking and keeps your back from bending. Even if a mattress initially feels very soft, it might have the support to back this softness up underneath.
Pressure relief
Pressure on your joints is one of the main causes of back pain and other types of joint pain. During sleep, your body tries to relieve this pressure but will be unable to do so if your mattress is not body-molding enough.
Memory foam offers the best pressure relief of any mattress material.
Introducing the Panda Classic
The Panda Classic is our answer to back pain. Featuring three layers of pressure reducing memory foam relief, our flagship mattress targets your chronic pain from four separate angles:
Optimal softness
It simply isn’t true that soft mattresses are bad for your back. If your mattress is old and sagging, that’s a problem, but that’s not the kind of softness we’re talking about.
Memory foam cradles the entire human body as if it were floating on a cloud. Not only is this experience extremely soothing and comfortable, but it also monumentally relieves pressure on your joints, in some cases providing relief that brings sleepers to tears.
Impressive support
Underneath this cloud-softness is plenty of strong, firm support to keep you from sinking back down to Earth. A thick layer of sustainable PU foam cradles your weight as the upper layers relieve pressure and ensure deep, restful sleep.
Just because it’s a workhorse doesn’t mean our base foam is any lower-quality than the other components of the Panda Classic. This essential layer is designed to endure thousands of nights of tossing, turning, or even (dare we hope?) restful sleep.
Coveted certifications
In case you thought it was all too good to be true, it’s not. Sleeping on the Panda Classic isn’t bad for you in any way — the materials don’t off-gas, and they’re certified by CertiPUR-US®, the international gold standard of bedding material safety.
As if that weren’t enough to help you sleep easier, the double-knit jacquard fabric surrounding the foam components of our mattress is certified by OEKO-TEX®. This certifier carries as much weight as CertiPUR, but in the arena of textiles, not mattress materials.
Excellent guarantee
You aren’t stuck with the Panda Classic if you don’t like it. All Panda mattresses come with a 100-night guarantee. That’s over three months to sleep on your mattress, get to know it, and come to an educated conclusion about whether the Panda Classic is best for your sleep.
If you change your mind, we’ll pick the mattress up from your home with no questions asked. We want you to sleep better at night and feel less pain during the day, and we’re willing to go the extra mile to make it happen.
Healthiest mattress FAQ
Let’s see if there are any other common mattress safety questions we can clear up:
1. Is memory foam bad for your back?
Not necessarily. Memory foam is not very compatible with stomach sleeping due to its softness, but sleeping on your back or side on a memory foam mattress should significantly reduce back pain.
Of course, material quality makes a big difference. A low quality memory foam mattress may be bad for your back even though a well designed one could reduce your back pain considerably.
2. Is a firm or soft mattress better for back pain?
The conventional wisdom that firm mattresses are good for back pain is outmoded. The truth is that mattress material quality and sleeping position make a much bigger difference in reducing back pain then the firmness of your mattress. In fact, overly firm mattresses could make back pain worse.
3. What is a chiropractic mattress?
This is essentially a marketing term used to reference mattresses endorsed by various chiropractic associations. Any mattress that improves chronic back problems, however, can be considered inherently chiropractic.
4. What is the best mattress for side sleepers with back pain?
Memory foam mattresses are best for side sleepers who experience back pain. Memory foam cradles your body, isolating motion and relieving pressure on your joints. Sleeping on your side is one of the healthiest ways to sleep on memory foam — or to sleep at all for that matter.