February 09 2011 Wednesday at 02:09 AM

A Guy's Guide To Buying A Mattress

Shopping for a new mattress can be quite intimidating. Most people have no idea where to start to look or how much it is going to cost them, let alone what size mattress they want.
How do you know if you need a new Mattress? Here are some signs:
1. You're mattress is older than you.
2. When you really need a good night sleep you choose to sleep on the couch.
3. You started naming your bed bugs and leaving them chocolate on their pillow.
4. You wake up with aches, pains, stiffness, and numbness and your name isn't Abe Vigoda.
Survey says? You need a new mattress. So here are some tips on how to shop for one that is right for you. Ironically, we used to be told that, if you have a bad back, you need to sleep on the firmest mattress possible. Well, studies now strongly suggest that this is, in fact, why we have bad backs now. Those springs pressing against your pressure points all night are no good for you!
Once this was realized, we saw the emergence of pillow-top mattresses, euro-top mattresses, and now memory foam mattresses. So what's the difference?
The Pillow-Top - Basically, this is just a standard innerspring mattress that the manufacturer has essentially sewn a soft padded topping on top of, giving it a pillow feel. The thought behind it is that you still have the support of the springs in the mattress without having to sleep directly on top of them.
The Euro-Top- Basically, this is just a more dramatic version of a pillow-top (hence the name). It's much thicker than a pillow-top and it sewn right on the actual mattress so there is no space between the two like on a pillow-top.
The Memory Foam- Originally developed by NASA to improve aircraft cushions, it is now the biggest success story in the mattress industry today. Memory Foam molds to the contours of your body while still having the resiliency to maintain it's original form when you are not lying on it, preventing it from getting saggy or lumpy.
TIP: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BUY A TEMPUR-PEDIC MATTRESS TO OWN A MEMORY FOAM MATTRESS!     
Don't overpay for the name brand.
At the end of the day, we all have different budgets, different comfort levels, and different backs... so I say there is no clear right mattress for everyone. What I would suggest is that if you can not afford a full memory foam mattress set, at least try to buy a set that has some memory foam in the pillow or euro-top portion of the mattress. Also a mattress is a big purchase but it's your back we are talking about so don't be cheap. One easy way to save a few bucks on the purchase is to stay away from the big name brand mattresses.