We all know the feeling of waking up on the wrong side of the bed. You drag yourself out from under the covers like a zombie, you’re cranky and crabby all morning, and don’t even THINK about trying to get any work done before you’ve downed a pot and a half of coffee.
Mornings like this feel like just another unpleasant fact of life sometimes – but what do you do if the bad mornings start to outnumber the good ones? Well, then the issue might not actually be about waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but waking up on the wrong bed altogether. Here are a few ways to know that your mattress might be to blame for your sleep deprivation.
You feel groggy every morning, even when you went to bed early.
If you’re getting plenty of sleep but still wake up needing more, that probably means you’re not sleeping deeply enough to fully rest your brain. Those lumps and bumps and sagging springs that bother you in bed while you’re awake can be more than just minor nuisances, they can actually keep you from getting the REM sleep you need. A bad mattress can make you toss and turn through the night, so even if it seems like you’re getting a solid eight hours in, you might not be slipping deeply enough into dreamland to feel fully rested in the morning.
Caffeine can’t curb your exhaustion.
Everyone has slow days sometimes, but usually a little jolt of caffeine is all it takes to get you going again. So when your morning cup of joe (or two or three ...) just isn’t cutting it, there might be a deeper problem.
Caffeine can help you function a little better when you’re feeling tired, but it isn’t a substitute for sleep. When you’re tossing and turning all night on a mattress that doesn’t support you the right way, you’re missing out on valuable time that should be spent in deep, restorative sleep. If you’re finding yourself over-caffeinating on the daily, ditch the Starbucks line and start shopping for a new mattress instead.
You wake up with a headache. And a backache. And a neck ache. And a hip ache. And ...
Lack of sleep can cause headaches ranging from minor brain-fuzziness to full-on migraines. Frequent headaches can definitely be a symptom of sleep deprivation, but if you wake up every morning with a whole body ache, insomnia might not be your only problem.
A bad mattress – or even a good mattress that’s gotten too old – can throw your whole body out of alignment. Hard or soft spots in the wrong places can put a strain on the pressure points at your hips and shoulders, and fail to give your neck and spine the support they need.
You need CliffsNotes for reading a picture book.
Sleep deprivation can make it harder to process new information, especially through reading. Even simple tasks can seem daunting when you aren’t getting enough sleep, and you may find that you need to read things again and again ... and again ... to really get the picture. Plus, some studies have shown that you learn information better when reading it right before bed, and a miserable mattress doesn’t exactly encourage you to get comfortable and crack open a book before you doze. If you notice that information is going in one ear and right out the other, mattress-related sleep deprivation is a likely culprit.
Your high school acne is coming back with a vengeance.
No one wants flashbacks to puberty when they look in a mirror in the morning. Poor sleep can cause hormonal imbalances that make your skin think it’s fifteen years old all over again. Not only that, but dirt, dust, and skin particles trapped inside the padding of an old mattress can also clog pores, leading to inflamed, acne-ridden skin. So if you have a lumpy, old mattress that’s been collecting dust for a decade, you’re putting your skin right on the receiving end of an oily, painful one-two punch.
This is just the beginning of the negative impacts not getting enough sleep can have on your health and your daily life. So stop suffering through sub-par sleep and find a mattress that supports you! Sleep deprivation is no joke – that’s why we have a seriously impressive collection of mattresses of every size and type and associates ready to put all your questions and concerns to bed. We’re all about getting you sleeping better, ASAP.