Blog posts tagged with 'sleep specialist'

Rule number 10: Replace when you ache.

Retail stores constantly spend money on advertisements that tell you to replace your mattress on some arbitrary timeline. However, I am here to tell you that this is terrible advice.

Why?

Because your mattress may be fine after that amount of time and you don’t want to fix something that isn’t broken. Or what felt great to you a few years ago might not feel as good now. Our bodies change constantly! We may fluctuate in weight or might have better or worse health conditions---those lead to whether or not we are getting the best sleep at the time.

Our taste buds change every 7 years our support needs may change too!

How can you tell when you should replace your mattress?  Replace when you ache.

If you wake up with a sore back or aching shoulders then you know your mattress needs replaced, because it’s not working for you. If you wake up feeling refreshed when you wake up then your mattress is doing what it’s supposed to, whether it is 2 or 12 years old.

Common life changes may cause you to want a new mattress suddenly.

Changes in weight may require an increase in support. Changes in sleep position may require more pressure relief or more support. Hormonal changes can get you sleeping hot. Sealy Chilland Tempur Breeze cooling technology are huge advances in sleep technology for you if you need to sleep cooler.

If your sleep partner is unhappy with your current mattress many solutions are available today that address the sleep needs for both of you.

Make sure everyone is getting great sleep by sharing information about your sleep issues with your Mattress Direct sleep specialist. We can fit you and your partner for a mattress that makes you both excited to get to bed at night. If either of you are struggling from heat, aches or stiffness when you wake up it’s time to replace your mattress.

Your mattress may have been wrong for you from the start.

Any amount of time spent on a mattress that is wrong for you is too much. Unfortunately, this is a common issue because many retail stores can make shopping so confusing. If you can, put this mattress in a guest room and replace your mattress. Everyone deserves to wake up feeling refreshed. Mattress Direct offers 1 year of comfort assurance to ensure your mattress fits your needs.

All Mattress Direct factory direct show rooms have mattress specialists trained to fit you for the best mattress for your sleep needs.  Plus, Mattress Direct makes shopping for the right mattress easy with our nationwide guaranteed lowest price factory direct savings. You get the lowest prices on everything in our showroom up-front so we can focus on finding the best mattress to help you.

Mattress Direct is a factory direct showroom for Tempur-pedic, Sealy, Stearns and Foster, iDirect, King Koil, and Campbell Mattress of Missouri. We proudly carry mattresses made in USA such as the Sealy Posturepedic, King Koil, Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid, Sealy Conform, Tempurpedic Cloud, Tempurpedic Conform and Tempurpedic Flex, Stearns & Foster Estate, Stearns & Foster Lux Estate, Stearns & Foster Reserve and Stearns & Foster Hybrid. We are locally owned and operated serving the greater St. Louis area and growing. Please visit our factory direct mattress showrooms so you get the lowest price and the very best mattress for your particular needs.

The science of sleep continues to evolve. In the past, scientists believed that sleep was a time when the body and brain shut down to rest and recover. In contrast recent research shows that our minds are highly active while we sleep.

Hormones levels increase during sleep which are shown to aid in cell repair, growth, and digestion. Processes that increase memory and learning also take place in the brain throughout sleep.

During sleep your brain repeatedly cycles through 4 different stages of sleep in a specific sequence. REM stages of sleep involve Rapid Eye Movements and the Non- REM stages do not. You will move back and forth between various stages of REM and Non-REM sleep

Non-REM sleep stages
N1- The transitional stage between awake and sleep. This stage is very light sleep and generally lasts less than 15 minutes. Breathing, heart rate, muscles and eye movement all slow. Your temperature wants to drop in this early stage of sleep.

TIP: Phase Change Material like Tempurpedic Breeze, Sealy Chill, or Bedgear Ver-tex Mattress Protectors can help drop your temperature during early N1 stages of sleep to help you get to sleep faster.

N2- is the next period of sleep. This period generally lasts less than 30 minutes. Your heart rate slows further, brain activity slows, and muscles further relax. Over half of your sleep every night is spent in stage N2.

N3- sleep allows the body to feel rested. This sleep is also called Delta sleep because Delta waves are a type of slow brain wave activity that can be seen on EEG readings during deep N3 sleep. Waking up from this stage is more difficult. Delta wave sleep occurs for longer durations in younger children. As we age our time in N3 sleep decreases.

REM sleep

After you sleep through the first 3 stages of Non-REM sleep you will cycle into and back out of the 4^th and final deep sleep stage. REM sleep. During REM sleep your eyes twitch and most intense dreams occur. Your limbs become immobile, possibly to prevent movement while dreaming. Brain activity increases to levels that may be greater than when fully awake.


Every stage of sleep is important. The key to feeling rested when you wake up is the quality of your sleep in each of these stages. When your mattress keeps you awake tossing and turning or has you  feeling sore in the morning you aren’t getting the deep restoring N3 and REM sleep you need, because your body is interrupted during earlier stages of sleep to subconsciously address your discomfort with your mattress. 

If you are constantly tossing and turning and waking up (even after 8 hours of sleep) feeling tired. It could be that you are not getting the quality REM sleep that you need. Come see one our of sleep specialists to be properly fitted for a mattress. 

Mattress Direct is a factory direct showroom for Tempur-pedic, Sealy, Stearns and Foster, iDirect, King Koil, and Campbell Mattress of Missouri. We proudly carry mattresses made in USA such as the Sealy Posturepedic, King Koil, Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid, Sealy Conform, Tempurpedic Cloud, Tempurpedic Conform and Tempurpedic Flex, Stearns & Foster Estate, Stearns & Foster Lux Estate, Stearns & Foster Reserve and Stearns & Foster Hybrid. We are locally owned and operated serving the greater St. Louis area and growing. Please visit our factory direct mattress showrooms so you get the lowest price and the very best mattress for your particular needs.

Keeping the Bed Clean: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Destroying Dust Mites. – by Justin Taylor

How often do you wash your sheets? Do you ever vacuum your mattress? What level of action is really necessary? Follow these tips to ensure a great night’s sleep free from dust mites and other allergens that may infiltrate your bedding.

1. Wash your sheets in hot water at least once a week

 120-130F water will kill those disgusting dust mites that dine on your dead skin cells while you sleep.

If your bedding must be washed in cooler temperatures look for additives that kill dust mites to add to your wash.

2. Protect your pillow
They can’t run, they can’t hide. Often over looked, the pillow is the kind of place a dust mite would want to retire. Many keep their pillows for years.

According to Ohio State University up to 10% of your pillow’s weight can be dead dust mites and their excretions. Pillow protectors will eliminate the ability for mites to infest your favorite pillow. A good quality and well-fitting pillow is worth investing in so be sure to protect it.

3. Protect your mattress    

Either vacuum your mattress at least once a year or better yet, invest in a protector.
Protect your mattress with a mattress protector to keep dust mites, bed bugs, sweat, oils or accidents away from your mattress. Many protectors are now available that not only protect your mattress but allow you to sleep cool all night long.  If you are adding a protector to a mattress that was unprotected it may be a good idea to spend some time cleaning the mattress with a vacuum to remove any dust mites you can before using the protector.

4. Throw your comforter in the dryer

Drying your comforter for 20-30 minutes can decrease the dust mite populations that live within.

5. Keep the humidity low

Dust mites love the humidity. You can slow their growth in numbers by avoiding humidifiers in the winter and running air conditioners or dehumidifiers in the summer in humid climate.

With this 5 pronged attack plan the dust mite populations in your bed shouldn’t stand a chance. Be sure to keep surfaces dusted and carpets vacuumed throughout the house to help eliminate dust mites everywhere else. 

Sleep well!

You will see two main varieties of mattress when you shop for a mattress traditional inner spring mattresses and memory foam. Both are fantastic depending on your own personal preference and sleeping style.

Memory foam you sleep more inside the mattress, while innerspring mattresses you sleep more on top of the mattress.

All memory foam mattresses are made of foam but some mattresses are cooler than others.  Gel has some limited cooling properties, but try more advanced cooling methods like Tempurpedic Breeze technology or Sealy Chill cooling technology if you tend to sleep hot.

Tempurpedic is the most recommended style of memory foam mattress. It is made entirely of advanced TempurMaterial. Tempurpedic pioneered advanced cooling technology with Tempurpedic Breeze which gives mattresses a cool to the touch feel so you sleep cool.

Many cheap memory foam mattress brands come and go. You may have tried a mattress before that was not good quality, but trusted brands like Tempurpedic have very high standards.

TempurMaterial is proprietary just to Tempur-Pedic. Their material conforms better and lasts longer. Plus, Tempur foams adapt to pressure better so you sleep with less tossing and turning. If you sleep with a partner they will appreciate the fact that memory foam mattresses isolate motion.

Tempur-Pedic offers 2 varieties of all foam mattresses. Tempurpedic Contour mattresses are firm, but adapt to provide pressure relief and great alignment. Tempurpedic Cloud mattresses give an initial feel of softness, while still providing a lot of support. Both styles are available with extra Breeze cooling.

Sealy Conform is another great option for those seeking a memory foam mattress. Conform mattresses use different technology throughout their line. Most of their memory foam has what Sealy is known for—their Posturepedic technology. The center third of their memory foam is reinforced to support you where you need it most. The all memory foam Sealy Conform mattresses have new improved Chill memory foam.

If you like the ease of movement that can be provided by an all spring mattress you may wish to look into a hybrid design that uses coils and memory foams in combination. Tempurpedic Flex mattresses and Sealy Hybrids have a more traditional support feel while providing the benefits of memory foam to ease pressure on shoulders and hips.

A hybrid memory foam mattress replaces some of the bottom support layers of a memory foam mattress with a traditional coil support system to bring back the feel of being on top of a mattress while allowing the memory foam on top to conform to your natural curves.

Sealy Posturepedic Hybrid or Stearns and Foster Hybrid mattresses are an excellent choice if you want memory foams but want to keep some of the traditional feel of a spring coil mattress.

If you like a sleep on top feel a traditional spring mattress or a hybrid could be the right one for you. Many of those style mattresses also have many cooling features as well. If you sleep mostly on your stomach, typically a firmer spring mattress (especially one with Posturepedic technology) would give you the support or firmness needed.

The best way to find out which one is right for you is to come in to your local Mattress Direct and feel each type for yourself. Your own unique body will be able to feel how the mattresses conform and support you. So wear comfy clothes and get ready for a nap. The longer you lay in a mattress the better of an idea you will get for the feel of it and how it will be for an entire night. Our sleep specialists can guide you until you find your perfect mattress!