Old beds and your health
A recent nation-wide sleep survey by Sleepyhead revealed that most Kiwis keep their beds for far too long. This can have a number of negative impacts on your health that you need to be aware of.
What people don’t realise is that over time an old mattress accumulates allergens such as dust mites, pollen particles, bacteria, mould or mildew. We lose as much as 500mls of moisture a night that goes directly into our mattresses, which is why they are the ideal home for dust mites. People may use their bed for years without knowing harmful organisms are building up within the layers of the mattress causing restless and unhealthy sleep. Unfortunately these bacteria are not easily removed. In fact it is pretty much impossible as you can’t just vacuum them away or use disinfectant to kill them. Many people often suffer from allergic reactions at night while they are in their beds.
Another effect of sleeping on an old bed is the lack of comfort and support due to general wear and tear. Drawing on the analogy of a running shoe, while your shoes may look okay after a couple years of use, they will no longer have the correct support and comfort properties that they once did when you first bought them. They won’t cushion your feet or support your arch like they used to. Your bed is similar. It can still look okay but may no longer give you what you need in terms of postural support or comfort. And this is a major contributor to why so many people wake up tired or suffer stiffness and aches and pains. It’s important to remember that every bed has a use by date! Lack of support can also lead to increased partner disturbance as people find it difficult to get comfortable. As a result, they are more likely to toss and turn more often throughout the night. These continuous movements can ultimately end up disrupting sleeping partners.
Beds are a bit like cars too, the technology and performance is improving all the time which is another reason to keep your bed up to date. Sleepyhead is famous internationally for bringing amazing new bedding technology to the market. They are continually sourcing better materials, designing improved support systems, and developing beds to meet particular consumer needs or health issues such as partner disturbance, allergies and aches and pains. New technologies such as independent pocket springs, the Swisstek 7-zone system and Sensorzone provide a level of comfort and support that is likely to be vastly superior to your current bed.
Case Study: Maud Touzel
Maud’s old single bed was over 19 years old. As a result, every time she climbed under the covers, her eczema and allergies would become aggravated and a dull ache would appear in her hip. Her old bed was no longer a healthy environment for her to sleep in, causing her to suffer from heavily disturbed sleep. But since receiving her new Sleepyhead Sanctuary bed which features 100% natural Latex Gold, her quality of sleep has changed dramatically.
She is now breathing freely through her nose without congestion. Before her nose would block up as soon as her head hit the pillow which meant that she was forced to breathe out of her mouth all night, which was highly unpleasant. Her eczema has also subsided. In her old bed, her eczema would get severely aggravated; she was constantly being irritated by itchy wrists, elbows, neck and face at night causing her skin to be red, raised and cracked when she woke up. But now this too no longer happens.
Her regular hip pain has also completely disappeared, as the unique Sensorzone technology is now conforming to her body shape better causing no pressure points. As a result she wakes up feeling refreshed and ready to start the day even before her alarm goes off as her body is getting the quality rest it needs and deserves every night.
