Bed and spine health

By Kim Sang-hyuk

In archaeological museums such as the Romano-Germanic Museum in Cologne, Germany, it is very common to see stone beds. Did ancient people use such stiff beds comfortably?

From documentaries about ancient people’s lives, aristocratic or royal families ate food or gave orders while lying down on the bed. Back then, it was regarded as a symbol of representing their social status.

In the medieval era, a bed was regarded as a social tool; there were social beds in the living room, and such beds spoke for owner’s social power or interior taste.

However, although many people believe that the bed plays a critical role in the interior perspective, much more emphasis is placed on the mattress these days as it is closely related to our health. Much research has been conducted to develop a mattress that is both comfortable and beneficial to our health.

Correlation between mattress and spine disease

Looking at this relation by types of spine disease, a herniated lumbar disk has some correlation to mattresses, and there are greater correlation between chronic back pain and characteristics of the bed.

From the “European guidelines for prevention in low back pain,” (LBP) it is said that there is no robust evidence for or against recommending any specific chair or mattress for prevention in LBP (evidence level C).

However, it stated that the medium-firm mattress is better for controlling the persisting symptoms compared to the hard mattress (evidence level C).

Evidence levels are used to measure the credibility and universality of research results, and since level C is medium-low level, thus there should be additional research to support this result better.

As many are aware that good night sleep is very important in relieving stress and tiredness, a good nights sleep may have an impact on the pain level during the day time.

Thus, if the stress on the body is not adequately relieved while sleeping, it may have an adverse effect on the daily pattern and the level of back pain. A neutral position is recommended while sleeping, as the back should not have pressure on a certain part.

To maintain a neutral position, the pressure on our body should be equally dispersed, and this is related to the firmness of the mattress. Many studies involving patients and biomechanics already support that dispersing pressure is beneficial to our spinal health.

Also, research indicates that a medium-firm mattress can increase the quality of sleep, and help relieve non-specific LBP. There are some studies indicating that a soft or water mattress is good for your spine, however the water mattress should be avoided for its tactile sense most times.

The right level of firmness when choosing the mattress

In 2003, a paper published in The Lancet by Kovacs stated that level 5 or 6 on the European Committee for Standardization’s 10-point scale provides an adequate level of firmness. There are many mattresses that indicate the mattress firmness, thus it is recommended to look for this if you have severe back pain.

The writer is director of the spine center at Bumin Hospital Seoul in Gangseo District. He was named in the 2014 edition of Marquis Who’s Who.