Best Mattress Ideas: Air Mattress Beds and Back Health

The world was once full of snake-oil salesmen hawking their wares. The unfortunate truth of the matter is that, while the products may have changed, the promises of miracle cures are still thrown around with reckless abandon today. If you don't believe me, a few late nights watching infomercials (or even regular commercials) should serve to convince you. Modern sufferers have found themselves on their share of the wrong end of wonder-cures and their endless quest for a solution to often debilitating discomfort makes them ripe for the picking.

It's with that in mind that I'm going to offer full disclosure followed by simple honesty. Disclosure: I'm an advocate of air mattress beds as a potential solution for back pain. Honesty: An air mattress bed may not do a darn thing for your back pain. How contradictory of me.

The thing everybody needs to realize up front is that there is simply no one cure for everybody's back pain because there is simply no one cause for back pain and no universal body. The air mattress bed that serves up blissful relief for one person may do absolutely nothing for another person. Worse, it may compound matters or mask a serious medical condition with temporary relief.

Does that mean you should abandon all hope and move on to consider the next miracle solution? No. It simply means you should be an informed consumer.

Prior to considering any mattress, (air mattress, foam or inner spring) with back pain relief in mind, you should consult with a doctor to rule out or identify any serious medical issues behind your back pain. While the healthy support and minimal pressure point irritation of an air mattress bed might be beneficial to somebody with a slightly herniated disc or weak core muscles, it might provide only limited or temporary relief (if any) to a person with a ruptured disc.

Assuming a physician finds nothing seriously wrong, think logically about whether or not an air mattress bed, or any bed, is really the solution to your problem. I consider myself lucky to spend 6 hours a night in a bed. My average sleep schedule grants me about 5 hours. If I'm lucky, I manage to squeeze in an hour nap on the couch in the evening. I do, however, sit glued to an office chair for the better part of 10-12 hours a day. In determining what might be causing me back pain, I'm going to first look at my office chair as the culprit rather than my mattress. Take the time to review your daily habits before concluding your current mattress is the source of your woes.

If you have enough hours in the night for good rest but spend it tossing and turning uncomfortably, wake up feeling tired, are sore or have trouble getting out of bed due to an aching back, now's the time to start thinking about a new mattress. But even with this in mind and having already stated I'm an advocate, I'm not going to try to sell you on the idea of an air mattress bed specifically. That might be the solution for you, yes, but your body is unique and another solution such as a memory-foam mattress might be the better option for you. So what to do? How do you decide what kind of mattress to purchase?

Avoid ordering without trying. While some high quality air mattress bed manufacturers offer mail order purchasing and delivery, you don't want to invest the next few years of sleep and a substantial amount of your money on a sight-unseen bed. Visit a showroom and spend at least 10 minutes flat on your back on the model you are considering. If you have to drive out of your way to find a showroom selling the type of mattress you are considering, think of that as a worthwhile investment of your time.

Just as important, make sure the company offers a return policy. My own air mattress bed (a well known model with prolific advertising surrounding a particular number preference) offered a liberal satisfaction guaranteed policy and that was the deciding factor for me. Though a few minutes in a showroom and a couple nights on a similar model at a B&B had me pretty confidant in my purchase, there's no knowing how those results will measure up after a month. Suffice to say, I remain very happy with my purchase.

Finally, give it time. Some sufferers report near immediate improvement after investing in a high quality air mattress bed. For most of us, 2 to 3 weeks for noticeable results is a more realistic expectation. If you're so lucky as to wake up feeling like a new person after your first night on your new air mattress, great! But don't throw away that customer support number or return policy just yet. Your body may simply be responding favorably but temporarily to the changed sleep conditions. Give it time to work and give it time to ensure it will continue to work.

Having pointed out the precautions, it's fair to point out the benefits of an air mattress bed and why it might be the solution to your back pain problems. Air mattress beds have several points in their favor over either inner spring or foam mattresses.

The adjustable firmness offered by air mattress beds is probably the most important feature relative to back pain relief as this allows you to customize your bed to your particular needs and preferences. Remember, every body is different. With a foam or inner spring mattress, you are very limited in your ability to customize the firmness to your needs.

An air mattress bed provides the flexibility their competition doesn't. Some manufacturers even offer dual-zone models meaning you can set your preference on your side of the bed without your spouse having to compromise their preference on their side of the bed.

Like foam mattresses, air mattresses are very forgiving on pressure points such as your shoulders, elbows, knees, hips and head. This affords a more comfortable and restful sleep; both of which are key to health and recovery from illness or pain such as, you guessed it, back pain.

Last but not least, air mattress beds are at least on par with foam mattress beds in their ability to contour and support your back. This one feature is absolutely critical to good back health.

I hope these suggestions help you with your own back pain problems. Remember that your time in bed represents a surprisingly big part of your life. We spend about one third of our lives sleeping so it makes sense to buy the best quality mattress you can afford. Advertising claims of back pain relief should be taken with a grain of salt and with the knowledge that, what works for some won't necessarily work for others. Don't let the advertisers convince you. Figure it out for yourself.

And while we're at it, stop carrying your wallet in your back pocket, lift with your legs and stretch/warm-up before you exercise!

About the Author ToxicDave

Among other blogs and websites, David writes for www.airmattressbedsguide.com, a blog devoted to reviewing and discussing air mattress beds for camping, RVing, health, home and daily use.

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