What is lumbar support, and why do I need it during sleep?
Back pain affects the way you get things done in the morning and the quality of your sleep at night. It can be caused by many factors, like health conditions (e.g., arthritis), stress, strain, and lifestyle, including your sleeping position. If you're one of many who experience back pain daily, you will need to reassess your sleep posture and the quality of your mattress and pillows. Does sleeping on your stomach contribute to your poor posture? Will a mattress upgrade help you alleviate the pain?
Here are some tips to ease the discomfort.
What Causes Lower Back Pain?
The term "lumbar" describes the lower part of your back. Following the natural S shape of your spine, the lower back consists of five vertebrae, from your diaphragm to your sacrum. This part is the lever for even weight distribution. Poor posture, weak muscles, pressure from heavy lifting, and other causes affect this part of our body, causing pain, numbness, tingling sensations, and discomfort.
Lower back pain ranges from mild to severe, affecting your daily activities. Having proper lumbar support is essential to keeping your lower back in prime condition. Generally, lumbar support means anything that protects the lower back, whether furniture or bedding items. While we are most familiar with the benefits of ergonomic chairs for the lower back, it's vital to know that we can also receive this lumbar protection from the right mattress and proper sleeping posture.
What Are Some Ways to Achieve Proper Lumbar Support?
Some may not notice, but proper posture is essential to preserving the health of your spine. Changes in your lifestyle, ergonomic furniture that supports the natural shape of your spine, and a good mattress choice can significantly alleviate and prevent spine injuries.
Get the Right Bed
When buying a bed, find the proper support and height for your specific needs. The correct width also matters, as it affects the comfort and quality of your snooze based on your sleeping position. Considering your sleeping needs and room requirements, you may go from a single bed, super single, queen-size, to a king-size bed frame.
Choose a Suitable Mattress
A soft mattress is not detrimental to comfort. The mattress you choose is heavily influenced by your sleeping position, back needs, and comfort preferences. For the ultimate lumbar support, find a mattress that lets your hips and shoulders sink to keep the S shape of your spine. A memory foam mattress is a champion in this category as it provides body contour that targets pressure points when you sleep, especially for side sleepers. For back sleepers, the bounce a latex mattress provides might be your best choice. For stomach and combination sleepers, a firm innerspring, pocketed spring, or hybrid mattress is recommended as it offers less movement transfer.
Note that your muscles and ligaments need to recover during snooze, meaning you should choose a suitable sleep base firmness that will help alleviate the pressure from points that are prone to strains. Here's a quick comparison to help you choose the right mattress firmness.
|
Firmness Scale |
Mattress Feel |
|
1-2 |
Very soft mattress |
|
3-4 |
Soft mattress |
|
5-6 |
Medium firm mattress |
|
7-8 |
Extra firm mattress |
|
9-10 |
Very hard mattress |
Mattresses have this “sleeping in” and “sleeping on top of it” feel based on their ability to conform to the body’s curves during snooze.
Soft- Medium Soft Mattress
Soft to medium-soft mattresses are suitable for light sleepers who weigh around 130 pounds and below. Soft mattresses are known for the hugging feeling they provide, which conforms to the body's shape. This gives the "sleeping in" feeling that others may find uncomfortable, especially combination sleepers who may have difficulty tossing, turning, and moving.
Soft mattresses are great for side sleepers who need a little bit of sinkage for the shoulders and hips.
Medium-Firm Mattress
Medium-firm mattresses are popular as they suit the preferences of many mattress shoppers. These mattresses offer a balance of support and comfort. Based on the materials used, medium-firm beds may conform to the body's shape or provide the right bounce or "sleeping on top of the mattress" feeling.
Medium-firm mattresses are suitable for average-weight sleepers. They generally provide more support than soft mattresses but less than firmer beds. They are also generally accepted for different types of sleeping positions.
Firm Mattress
Compared to soft varieties, firm mattresses don't provide much sinking but offer more push-back support. Instead, they lean more on providing support during sleep. These mattresses are suitable for heavier than average sleepers. They are especially great for stomach sleepers who require firmer support and back sleepers who need more pressure point targeting.
It's crucial to check your sleeping position before making a mattress purchase decision. If you're sleeping with a partner or your kids, it's also vital to consider their needs. For mattress sharers with different weights and sleeping needs, we recommend pocketed spring mattresses that offer flexible comfort and less motion transfer.
Don't Underestimate Your Pillows
Having a suitable bed frame and a comfortable mattress is part of a proper lumbar sleep setup. But it is not complete without the right pillow. Like your mattress, a pillow comes in various materials like memory foam, latex, down, or fibre fill. These materials will determine the pillow's firmness and how it can support your head, neck, and shoulders when lying down. A memory foam pillow will help your head sink and neutrally align with your body when lying down on your back. If you are a side sleeper, you will need thicker pillows to keep your shoulders and hips aligned without straining. To ensure the spine's proper alignment, stomach sleepers need an extra support pillow under their stomach to elevate the pelvis and alleviate the pressure from the back.
Your Sleeping Position Can Affect Your Spine Health
Maintaining a neutral spine alignment is vital during sleep. When you keep the correct spine alignment when snoozing, you are closer to a refreshing night's rest. If you sleep in an unsuitable position, you might end up putting unnecessary pressure on your muscles, thus, straining your back.
If you're a back sleeper, we recommend positioning a pillow under your knees to elevate your feet and neutralise the pressure on your spine. If you are a side sleeper, choose a supportive pillow for your neck and go for a medium-soft to medium-firm mattress to support your shoulders and hips. Hugging a bolster pillow can also help you with your posture. Stomach sleeping is not recommended, especially concerning lumbar health, as it deviates from the neutrality of your spine. If sleeping on your stomach, we recommend adding a pillow to elevate your back and prevent it from straining. Choose a thinner pillow and a firmer mattress to prevent sinkage. Select a mattress with low motion transfer if you are a combination sleeper.
Sleep well and wake up happy with Megafurniture's premium bed frame, mattress, and bedding accessories in Singapore. Shop online now and receive your next sleep solution straight to your door.
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