What key factors affect your sleep? Surface comfort, the “showroom sensation”, is important. Long-term, it also matters how well a mattress distributes your weight, supports your spine and relieves pressure, and how durable the materials are. 

Motion transfer

Perhaps you sleep like a log. But if your partner is moving around or getting up and down, on a conventional mattress the effect is like a wave. You get bounced around in his or her wake. Memory foam mattresses are famous for not transferring motion. Latex mattresses are next in line in their ability to absorb motion, allowing more serene sleep for both you and your partner. The natural density of latex means that although it’s very resilient, it’s not “bouncy.”

Pressure points

In a conventional mattress, steel springs or coils are covered by layers of filler, batting, or foam. But in time (often surprisingly little time, even in expensive mattresses), the layers that cover the springs lose their cushioning capacity. Then you have hard steel and compressed fibers pressing up, while the weight of your body presses down. The pressure blocks circulation, most often in the hips, shoulders, or lower back, which causes pain, which in turn causes you to shift away from the spot. Hence, “tossing and turning” while you sleep. Pressure points not only hurt, but they can prevent you from ever reaching the deepest stages of sleep (Stages 3 and 4) that are most healing and restorative. You wake up tired and sore, and the loss of deep sleep over consecutive nights or weeks can weaken your immune system.

Body impressions 

A brand-new conventional mattress or futon may feel like a dream. Over time, however, in the gravity-battle between the weight of your body and cheap or inappropriate materials, your body will win. Sooner or later a permanent and uncomfortable hollow will develop where you have been lying, and the mattress loses its capacity to support your spine in proper alignment.