Tossing and Turning All Night? 9 Bad Mattress Symptoms (And When to Get a New One)

Did you know that your mattress could be responsible for your lack of sleep? Getting a bad night’s sleep can affect you in many different ways. You may not be able to function as well at work, you may get sick easier and it can even affect your mood.

It could be time to replace your mattress with a new one but how do you know when the time is right? Here are some bad mattress symptoms that signal it’s time to make a swap.

1. It’s Been Over 8 Years

Generally, most mattresses have a guarantee of 8 years. That’s why many people only ever replace their mattresses every 8 to 10 years. However, you may be finding that your mattress is feeling worn down, even though it’s younger than 8 years old.

What most people don’t realize is that the comfort ingredients often wear down a lot faster than mattress springs. So, even though your springs are still bouncing perfectly, the spring cores may have been lost a long time ago.

2. You Never Feel Refreshed

When you wake up in the morning, you should feel refreshed and well-rested. If you’re going through each day feeling like you didn’t get enough sleep the night before, it could be time to replace your mattress. 

When you aren’t comfortable sleeping in your bed, you tend to toss and turn a lot throughout the night. This makes it much harder for your body to fall into a REM cycle. We need REM sleep to deal with everything life throws at us.

3. Aches and Pains

Yes, that’s right. Your mattress can cause you aches and pains. The one place that you’re supposed to get rest and strengthen your body can also hurt your body if the mattress is too worn down.

If you’re waking up with a backache, neck ache or shoulder ache regularly, it could be a significant sign that your mattress isn’t doing your body any good.

When a mattress starts to wear, your mid-section (the heaviest part of your body) begins to sink into the mattress, causing your body to curve as you sleep. This usually results in persistent back pain.

4. You’d Rather Sleep on the Sofa

If you find yourself nodding off more easily on your sofa than you do when you’re in bed, it’s a big hint that your mattress isn’t comfortable enough. Perhaps you contemplate sleeping on the floor or in your kid’s beds instead of your own. 

It could be something to do with the firmness of your mattress. There are different degrees of firmness to choose from, so it’s important to try out a mattress before buying it.

You should do your research on how to buy a mattress with the correct firmness for you to ensure you get the right comfort levels.

5. Your Mattress Keeps Waking You Up

Are you repeatedly woke in the night by the sounds of springs or creaking boards? It could be a simple problem to fix if you can reach the springs or boards without harming your mattress.

However, most springs are placed within the center of your mattress and it’s impossible to reach them without totally destroying the mattress first. In this case, you may want to opt for a different type of mattress in the future.

6. Visible Dents

If you’ve made yourself a human-shaped dent in your mattress, it’s a good indication that it’s time for a new one. You may try and get as much use out of your mattress as possible by turning it around or upside down but often, that only prolongs the problem.

If the sagging in your mattress hasn’t started to have an effect on your sleep yet, it soon will. It may even cause you pain over time.

7. Allergy Symptoms

Are you noticing that you have allergy symptoms at night and first thing in the morning? Allergy symptoms are often similar to cold symptoms- congestion, sneezing, coughing or even skin rashes.

Over the years, our beds collect dust and with it comes dust mites. These dust mites like to bury themselves in the cotton top-layers of mattresses. The longer you sleep in a mattress with dust mites, the worse your allergies can become.

8. Your Weight Has Fluctuated

There aren’t many people who stay the same weight over the span of a decade. There are lots of things that can have an effect on our weight. Some of these include dieting, surgery, illness, and pregnancy.

When your weight fluctuates, it puts more or less pressure on your mattress. So, what may have been comfortable for you a few years ago, may not be as comfortable today. 

9. You Sink Into Your Mattress

You may not be able to notice a visible sag yet but if you feel like you’re sinking when you lay on your mattress, it won’t be long before you need to replace it. That sinking feeling is a sign that your mattress is starting to soften too much.

This softening may not seem like a big deal at first but you will gradually start to become more uncomfortable as the months go on.

What to Do About Bad Mattress Symptoms

Bad mattress symptoms can affect the way you feel, the way you function and force you to take longer to bounce back from illness. The only thing to do when you experience any of these symptoms is to replace your mattress with a new one. 

Check back often to never miss our latest!