Roy SkillenIs Your Mattress Making You Sick
April 24th 2008 03:17
Is your bed is the safest place in the world. Does it protect you by keeping you cosy and warm away from the frosty night air as you lazily dream your way through to morning? There is no doubt that the best part of most peoples day is climbing in to a freshly made bed, wrapping the doona around them and forgetting about all their troubles as they drift slowly off to sleep. There is also no doubt that the worst part of everyone’s day is hearing the ringing of the alarm that signals we have to pull back the covers and face the world outside.
The problem with this cosy little picture is that our beds might not be as safe as we think. What if I was to tell you that your pristine sanctuary, in particular your mattress, maybe responsible for many of your health problems. It can affect your posture, joints even your lungs leading to problems ranging from aches and pains in your hips, back and ankles to poor circulation asthma, allergies and even depression.
Posture
All through out our lives we are all told that a firm mattress is good for our posture, it gives us the support we need making our backs nice and straight as we sleep. Matthew Young from Wenatex bed systems says “The firm mattress is good for us idea is very out dated. A firm mattress doesn’t have the give that is needed for the heavier parts of our body that creates many pressure points such as in the hips and shoulder, which can in turn leave parts of the body unsupported especially the lumbar region of the back (The base of the back)”. These pressure points can lead to the general aches and pains that many of us take for granted and just live with every day, when simply changing our mattress could make a massive difference.
What are the best mattresses to help our posture?
Now a day there are many different choices of mattress made from all different types of material, from the old fashioned springs to latex and the NASA approved memory foam. Each of these options has their good and bad points, the springs are not the most hygienic (this we will talk about later) and should really be changed every 5 years or so but they are the cheapest option. The latex can weigh up to 120kg, which makes moving them around a bit of an ordeal but they give all the right support in all the right places. The memory foam is expensive (you could probably buy a trip on a space shuttle with what it would cost you) but it’s top of the line it just depends what price you put on your health. Always remember when shopping for your mattress each person’s needs are different depending their size and weight. The trick is to try as many different ones as possible, remember you spend a third of your life in it so it’s important to get the right one. Never be afraid to ask the sales person for advice, many of them now will check your posture as you try out a mattress making sure you’re getting the support you need. “The height of your pillow is also some thing people don’t often think about,” says Mr Young. The height of your pillow is actually a very important part of getting a good nights rest. If it’s too high or too low it can actually constrict the airways, which can lead to heavy snoring and sleep apnoea (When you actually stop breathing) that can have detrimental effects on the heart. Your pillow should be the same distance from you shoulder to your ear to give you optimal support and keep your airways open.
Hygiene
You spend a third of your life in bed, if you’re lucky enough to live till 90 that means thirty years have been spent tucked under the covers, sounds good? Put another way, that’s a third of our lives shedding dead skin, sweating (almost a litre a night to be exact) and dribbling in to our pillows, blankets and mattresses. Now let me ask you a question, how often do you clean your mattress or wash your pillows? The majority of you probably just answered never, which is why your bed is probably one of the most unhygienic places in your house.
The sweat that leaves our bodies every night gathers in the mattress, making it a dark and damp environment, perfect for the survival of thousands of dust mites. These microscopic little critters crawl all over us during the night munching on the 1/5 ounce of dead skin that we humans shed every week leaving faeces (up to 20 a day) and dying on our pillows. It is estimated that 10% of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. If you’re one of those people whom never washes their pillows just think of what you breathe in every night. For most of us these are harmless creatures while being just slightly disgusting. But for some the proteins in that combination of faeces and dead mites can be the cause of serious allergic reactions. But our bed is not the only place where dust mites can gather the carpet can hold nearly 100,000 mites per square yard and they even gather in the soft toys that your children play with every day. Estimates are that dust mites may be a factor in 50 to 80 percent of all asthmatics, as well as countless cases of eczema. While the majority of symptoms are respiratory in nature (sneezing, watery eyes, wheezing, etc.) they can also become as extreme as headaches, chronic fatigue and depression. Dr Mark Hibberd says “The wheeze-inducing proteins are digestive juices from the mite gut which are quite potent. An exposure to the mites in the first crucial year of life can trigger a life long allergy. There is no cure, only prevention. We must control the dust mite levels”.
How Too Control Dust Mites
1. Your bed is where you are closest to the mites and their faeces so it is recommended that you enclose the mattress top and sides with a plastic cover or other dust mite impervious covers. Thoroughly vacuuming the mattress, pillows and base of the bed can also help.
2. Don’t make your bed in the morning. Dust mites love dark conditions so making your bed every morning gives them their ideal conditions. Extended exposure to sunlight also destroys the mites. So pull back the dooner and open the curtains as wide as possible.
3. Wash your sheets and blankets in hot water (60 degrees Celsius). For fabrics that may not be washed in hot water; just pop it into the freezer for 24 to 48 hours to kill any mites then wash them as normal.
4. Use synthetics: Replace feather and down pillows with those containing synthetic materials. Replace woollen blankets with nylon or cotton cellulose ones. And don’t forget the children’s stuffed animals: be sure to get washable ones in future.
The problem with this cosy little picture is that our beds might not be as safe as we think. What if I was to tell you that your pristine sanctuary, in particular your mattress, maybe responsible for many of your health problems. It can affect your posture, joints even your lungs leading to problems ranging from aches and pains in your hips, back and ankles to poor circulation asthma, allergies and even depression.
Posture
All through out our lives we are all told that a firm mattress is good for our posture, it gives us the support we need making our backs nice and straight as we sleep. Matthew Young from Wenatex bed systems says “The firm mattress is good for us idea is very out dated. A firm mattress doesn’t have the give that is needed for the heavier parts of our body that creates many pressure points such as in the hips and shoulder, which can in turn leave parts of the body unsupported especially the lumbar region of the back (The base of the back)”. These pressure points can lead to the general aches and pains that many of us take for granted and just live with every day, when simply changing our mattress could make a massive difference.
What are the best mattresses to help our posture?
Now a day there are many different choices of mattress made from all different types of material, from the old fashioned springs to latex and the NASA approved memory foam. Each of these options has their good and bad points, the springs are not the most hygienic (this we will talk about later) and should really be changed every 5 years or so but they are the cheapest option. The latex can weigh up to 120kg, which makes moving them around a bit of an ordeal but they give all the right support in all the right places. The memory foam is expensive (you could probably buy a trip on a space shuttle with what it would cost you) but it’s top of the line it just depends what price you put on your health. Always remember when shopping for your mattress each person’s needs are different depending their size and weight. The trick is to try as many different ones as possible, remember you spend a third of your life in it so it’s important to get the right one. Never be afraid to ask the sales person for advice, many of them now will check your posture as you try out a mattress making sure you’re getting the support you need. “The height of your pillow is also some thing people don’t often think about,” says Mr Young. The height of your pillow is actually a very important part of getting a good nights rest. If it’s too high or too low it can actually constrict the airways, which can lead to heavy snoring and sleep apnoea (When you actually stop breathing) that can have detrimental effects on the heart. Your pillow should be the same distance from you shoulder to your ear to give you optimal support and keep your airways open.
Hygiene
You spend a third of your life in bed, if you’re lucky enough to live till 90 that means thirty years have been spent tucked under the covers, sounds good? Put another way, that’s a third of our lives shedding dead skin, sweating (almost a litre a night to be exact) and dribbling in to our pillows, blankets and mattresses. Now let me ask you a question, how often do you clean your mattress or wash your pillows? The majority of you probably just answered never, which is why your bed is probably one of the most unhygienic places in your house.
The sweat that leaves our bodies every night gathers in the mattress, making it a dark and damp environment, perfect for the survival of thousands of dust mites. These microscopic little critters crawl all over us during the night munching on the 1/5 ounce of dead skin that we humans shed every week leaving faeces (up to 20 a day) and dying on our pillows. It is estimated that 10% of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. If you’re one of those people whom never washes their pillows just think of what you breathe in every night. For most of us these are harmless creatures while being just slightly disgusting. But for some the proteins in that combination of faeces and dead mites can be the cause of serious allergic reactions. But our bed is not the only place where dust mites can gather the carpet can hold nearly 100,000 mites per square yard and they even gather in the soft toys that your children play with every day. Estimates are that dust mites may be a factor in 50 to 80 percent of all asthmatics, as well as countless cases of eczema. While the majority of symptoms are respiratory in nature (sneezing, watery eyes, wheezing, etc.) they can also become as extreme as headaches, chronic fatigue and depression. Dr Mark Hibberd says “The wheeze-inducing proteins are digestive juices from the mite gut which are quite potent. An exposure to the mites in the first crucial year of life can trigger a life long allergy. There is no cure, only prevention. We must control the dust mite levels”.
How Too Control Dust Mites
1. Your bed is where you are closest to the mites and their faeces so it is recommended that you enclose the mattress top and sides with a plastic cover or other dust mite impervious covers. Thoroughly vacuuming the mattress, pillows and base of the bed can also help.
2. Don’t make your bed in the morning. Dust mites love dark conditions so making your bed every morning gives them their ideal conditions. Extended exposure to sunlight also destroys the mites. So pull back the dooner and open the curtains as wide as possible.
3. Wash your sheets and blankets in hot water (60 degrees Celsius). For fabrics that may not be washed in hot water; just pop it into the freezer for 24 to 48 hours to kill any mites then wash them as normal.
4. Use synthetics: Replace feather and down pillows with those containing synthetic materials. Replace woollen blankets with nylon or cotton cellulose ones. And don’t forget the children’s stuffed animals: be sure to get washable ones in future.
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