Sweet dreams! That’s the biggest goal for most people when they choose a mattress. A good quality mattress may not be the cheapest option, but a poor quality mattress can cost you much more in sleep lost. Taking a moment to understand key aspects of types of mattresses can pay dividends night in, night out.

What’s Inside?

For mattresses just as for people, beauty is more than skin-deep. Innerspring, latex and memory foam types of mattresses are different ways to match customer preferences and budgets. Think of innerspring mattresses as having many points of independent coil suspension over their whole surface. Up-market memory foam mattresses like the Tempur Pedic range are designed to adapt to the exact contour of your body, and good latex foam models offer comfort at affordable prices.

Can I Count on Your Support?

A mattress should support you in a way that keeps your head, shoulder, buttocks and heels in alignment and allows your spine to curve naturally. There’s a happy medium that needs to be found. A mattress that is too soft will make your body sag in the middle. Too hard, and pressure will be uneven and excessive. Researchers in Spain found that on a 10-point hard-to-soft scale, a medium-to-firm mattress (5.6 on the scale) was the best mattress for back pain compared to a softer mattress.

Comfort and Long Life

A quality mattress covering below the sheets will help your skin to feel comfortable, and an anti-allergy dust and mite protection will help keep things healthy. Good inner spring structures that let air circulate in the mattress will also contribute to helping moisture evaporate correctly. All types of mattresseswill come to the end of their useful life at some time, but expect up-market models to last longer: at least 10 years with reasonable care, mattress cleaning and attention.

Size Does Matter

Finally, it’s time to decide on the size of your mattress. This may also be the opportunity to change the bed base or box spring for your mattress and move up to a bigger model. If there are two of you in a double bed, a king size model gives you more options for cuddling up or giving each person their own space. A healthy sleeper moves around 15 to 30 times during the night. Having that extra width can help you both enjoy an excellent night’s sleep.