Beyond Backaches: The Hidden Health Risks of Sleeping on an Old Mattress

Sleep is the body’s natural medicine, and it fixes the damage it undergoes every day. Restful and restorative sleep helps in cell renewal, rejuvenation and improvement in immunity. One of the simplest ways of culturing a strong immune system is by giving the body the rest it deserves. 

You need restorative and deep sleep for 7 to 8 hours at night. If your body naturally needs an hour of nap during the day, try to give it a short rest, too. It is important to maintain a balance between activity and rest during a complete day. A major part of your sleep cycle is your bed and mattress. A good bed and mattress can solve 99 percent of your sleep problems and heal your body. 

A healthy mattress will be able to take away your pain and improve your overall health. However, when a mattress becomes old, its health factor decreases to a great extent. If you have been sleeping on the same mattress for more than 5 years, this is your sign to look into new mattresses. 

A bed of health problems and diseases

Quite often, people ignore the impact a dirty old mattress can have on their bodies. They will continue to fall sick and feel tired but not take a look at what is under the bed sheet. If you do not change your old mattress and clean your bedding regularly, you are exposing yourself to the causes of multiple health problems. 

You might have selected a well-designed mattress for your bed, but it ages with time and needs replacement, as do other things in your home. The diseases we highlight in this might help you take a balanced perspective of old mattresses vs new mattresses. 

Joint pain

Backaches are common if your sleeping position and surface are not good. However, apart from back pain, you also experience joint pain like that of knees and hips. An old mattress might be too soft and lumpy, which will let your shoulders and hips sink further into the bed. 

As the crucial joints of your body lack support, your joints will start to act as pressure points and ache a lot. If you are slowly developing creaking joints, it could be because of your lifestyle and mattress. A mattress for back pain like the Spinetech Air Luxury mattress will keep your spinal alignment in place and extend optimal support to other joints of the body. The firm mattress will not let the body sink in, and you can wake up without pain in the joints and bones. 

Allergies 

When you keep sleeping on a dirty old mattress, the chances of you developing chronic respiratory health issues and allergies rise. You might develop hypersensitivity towards dust and debris as your mattress accumulates these pollutants on its surface. The dust and debris that an old mattress accumulates can cause excessive sneezing and a blocked nose. This can further deteriorate your sleep quality and thus lead to weak immunity. Weak immunity can lead to more health problems and issues like watery and itchy eyes. It can also lead to asthma attacks and respiratory problems like coughing and irritation. 

Such problems will lead to disruption of the sleep cycle, which can cause restlessness and health problems. Health problems like a blocked nose can cause sleep apnea, which can be a major health issue and lead to frequent disruptions and even death. In this case, you need to change to a new hypoallergenic bed mattress like our Pro Nexa Premium mattress. A good mattress for senior citizens is the Ortho Pro Profiled mattress, which keeps the body cushioned and has hypoallergenic properties. 

Skin problems 

In an era when both men and women are starting to take care of their skin and invest in skin health, one needs to realise that skin care starts with small changes that can make big improvements. Dirty mattresses and pillows can cause a lot of skin issues like acne, pimples, oily skin, etc. This is because the skin is constantly exposed to dirty fibres and dust from the mattress. You should maintain the cleanliness of the mattress and bed set. Even though you clean the pillowcases once or twice every week, if the pillows and mattresses are not clean from the inside, your skin will face constant irritation. 

Skin health issues can completely change the way you look and should be taken seriously. Even dermatologists suggest that you need a clean set of pillows, bedding and mattress to sleep on. You spend hours on your bed, and the quality of your mattress can truly affect the sensitivity level and health of your skin. To keep your skin safe, you need to wash the pillows and mattresses and then let them dry fully in the sun. When the mattress is very old, you need to change it and get a new hypoallergenic and soft mattress like our Cellergise mattress. This mattress has an ultra-luxurious feel, and it is best for the skin and body.

More stress 

People sleep on a good mattress because they want to relieve their body from the day’s stress. If the stress levels increase after you lie in bed or wake up, then you have the wrong mattress. You might be sleeping on a very old mattress, which makes your body go through physical and mental stress. An old mattress also increases your level of anxiety as you lose sleep because of the bad quality of the mattress. 

Therefore, an old mattress can completely defeat the true purpose of sleep and slowly lead to the development of mental health issues. In this busy day and age, you need to get enough rest every night to be mentally sound and ready to seize the day the next morning. So, when you notice that your bed is no longer comfortable for you, think about getting a new mattress from our collection.

Impaired cognitive function 

A major health issue that can be linked with other kinds of lifestyle issues that a person might face is impaired cognitive function. Our cognitive functions are important for the proper functioning of the whole body. Your cognitive functions play a crucial role in helping you move, work and complete the most basic tasks of your life. Cognitive functions are important for every human, whether a child or an adult. Senior citizens might already suffer from degenerating cognitive functions because of their age and health indicators. 

Such people who are already at risk of slowly losing their cognitive abilities need a good mattress that can help them rest. Proper sleep can improve and protect a person's cognitive functions. Thus, a person needs a good mattress that is able to support his sleep cycle. A bad and old mattress will cause multiple disruptions, which will also disrupt the cognitive repair needed every night. Therefore, you need a good new mattress like the Dual Pro Profiled mattress to sleep on. 

Weakened immunity 

Immunity plays a major role in protecting the body from all kinds of infections and health problems. Our immune system is like that silent hero keeping us safe without our knowledge. Because we do not see the germs and health risks around us, we often neglect what our immunity needs. However, there is nothing more important than a strong immune system during a time when we could be facing new kinds of microbes and infecting agents. For a strong immune system, you need to master your body’s recovery pace, and this can only happen when you improve your sleep quality. Your sleep cycle can go to the dumps if you have an old and bad-quality mattress. You need to change to a new mattress for complete, restful sleep for 8 hours so that your body experiences cell renewal. Cell renewal restarts your immune system and protects the body to its full capability. 

With a weak immune system arising from bad sleep and an old mattress, you will always feel tired and sick. You might not know what is wrong with your body, but the symptoms of different diseases will start to develop. It is also possible that you will be at a higher risk of autoimmune diseases if you keep using a dirty and old mattress. 

Obesity 

The lack of sleep and disturbed sleep patterns because of an old and sagging mattress can lead to metabolic complications that are not easy to treat. The lack of sleep and poor quality of rest can cause metabolic disorders and a bad lifestyle. This life deterioration and lethargic feeling can further make you obese and heavy. 

Obesity is a major concern for people of all ages in this modern era. While diet and exercise do play a crucial role in controlling weight, sleep and muscle recovery are also very important. To improve your lifestyle, you also need to change to a better and new mattress, which allows your muscles to get enough rest and repair. Our Esteem mattress is a great option to buy instead of your old mattress. 

Conclusion 

An old mattress does more harm than good to a person. An old and dirty mattress is a sign of your bad living standards. If you have an old mattress that might be disrupting your sleep, you need to change the old one to a new, more supportive mattress. At Sleepwell, we have an extensive collection of new mattresses that are best for restful sleep.