Fact 1
We are on average 2cm shorter when we go to bed than we were in the morning. Gravity compresses the spines discs throughout the day leaving us 2cm shorter when we go to bed.
Choosing a mattress for best spinal alignment
the importance of sleep
Sleep is an important time for recovery and repair from the stresses and strains of the day and aches and pains can make it difficult to achieve a good quality of sleep. Poor spinal alignment can make sleeping uncomfortable while compounding your issues. Choosing a suitable mattress to support and align your spine can make all the difference in your nightly recovery, setting you up for a better day.
spinal facts
Fact 2
When we dream we enter a state called Atonia, where the skeletal muscles go into a state of paralysis to ensure we do not act out our dreams.
Fact 3
Relaxed, well-aligned sleep positions through the night allows the spine to recover, while tension on the spine can lead to back pain, neck pain, headaches, stiffness, and soreness.
Fact 4
Over 40% of our body weight lies on the hips. While laying flat, our weight is not evenly distributed, and to maintain spinal alignment your mattress needs to respond to the difference in pressure from head, to shoulders, to hips. Mattress zoning helps to maintain even weight distribution.
how your mattress can help or harm your back
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your mattress is made up of three layers
1. The sleep surface. The layer that encloses the mattress for aesthetics, often with added benefits.
2. The comfort layer. A layer of gel, foam or fibres designed to improve the comfort of the mattress. Sometimes it offers other benefits such as cooling or soothing.
3. The support system. Usually made from springs or foam, the support system is responsible for weight distribution and maintaining your body’s posture through the night. It is the support system’s job to ensure a healthy posture with good spinal alignment.
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zoned support
Key to perfect spinal alignment is even weight distribution through zoning. Our body weight is not distributed evenly from head to toe. When laying down, over 40% of our weight is around the hips, so zoning a mattress to provide more support around the hip area helps prevent your hips from sinking in too far.
Changing the way mattress springs are made, the thickness of the wire, number of coils, height of each spring, and number of springs will affect the tension, feel and weight distribution properties of the mattress. Using these techniques springs can be zoned to give extra support where needed most. Improving spinal alignment.
Foam units can achieve this zoning by softening areas of the mattress with cutouts, and changing the depth and density of the foam used at each layer.
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Mirapocket® and Miracoil®
Silentnight Mirapocket® and Miracoil® mattresses are zoned into three parts, with the middle third manufactured to be firmer as over 40% of our weight is in our hip zone when we lie flat.
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not all modern mattresses are zoned
Traditional open coil spring systems and many foam and even hybrid mattresses are not zoned. This can be perfect for growing children, since zoning won’t move with the child as they grow so will be of no benefit.
For an adult, you’d want to look for a zoned mattress such as a Silentnight Mirapocket®, or Miracoil® mattress.
