The adjustable bed’s history dates to the relatively recent past. The forefather of all adjustable bed frames was created by Dr. Willis Dew Gatch at the beginning of the 19th century to make wounds after surgeries drain properly and heal faster. The bed frame consisted of three sections, each of which could be moved upon the necessity. Later, the bed frame construction was enhanced with additional features to correspond to hospitals’ needs and gained popularity for home use.
Modern adjustable beds have a few benefits that add more comfort to your lifestyle and help you cope with numerous health issues. Keep reading this blog to learn more about adjustable beds and find out what adjustable bed benefits may be helpful to you. And to start with, it’s essential to understand what an adjustable bed exactly is.
What is an Adjustable Bed?
An adjustable bed, also known as an electric bed, has a multi-hinged surface, which can change its position, tilting the upper body and lifting the lower body irrespectively of each other. The bed frame moves thanks to electronic components brought into action with a button. You can raise and lower the bed’s top and bottom to different levels according to your needs, and it’s much quicker and times more comfortable than piling up pillows to elevate your head or legs.
So, are adjustable beds better for sleeping? In short, yes. An adjustable bed, together with other means, works towards minimizing disturbing health-related factors that may worsen sleep quality and deprive you of a good night’s rest.
The adjustable bed helps reduce acid reflux, improve digestion, and blood circulation, to name a few. It is also good for alleviating back pain, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, and other health conditions deteriorating your sleep.
Main Benefits of Adjustable Beds
Nowadays, adjustable beds are getting more popular as a supporting instrument, which complements the treatment of multiple chronic conditions or helps mitigate temporary health problems.
Specifically, adjustable beds may:
1. Reduce Swelling
If you suffer from swollen feet or legs, lifting your limbs will help improve the outflow of the fluid accumulating in soft tissues and reduce swelling. Doctors recommend elevating your legs when sleeping slightly above the heart’s level.
2. Help with Heart Issues
Cardiologists say that sleeping on a flat surface might aggravate heart problems as the heart’s workload increases in the lying position. Elevating the upper body improves blood circulation by delivering more oxygen and reducing pressure on the heart, so it better does its job. Moreover, blood circulation improvement is significant for those with high blood pressure and diabetes.
3. Relieve Restless Legs Syndrome
Improved blood circulation also helps ease Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), a neurological sleep disorder that provokes sporadic leg movement, being the reason for inadequate sleep.
4. Mitigate Joints Pain
A whopping number of people – over 350 million worldwide – suffer from some form of arthritic pain. Unfortunately, it’s not within adjustable beds’ power to cure arthritis completely. However, the construction of an adjustable bed frame does help alleviate pressure on joints, giving people with arthritis temporary relief.
5. Provide Proper Back Support
Incorrect spine support often produces extra pressure on the sciatic nerve causing back pain. Adjustable bed frames release the pressure on your spine thanks to the zero-gravity position when your knees, torso, and head are lifted slightly above your stomach.
6. Minimize Snoring
Many people of all ages around the world suffer from snoring. This chronic condition typically happens when sagging under gravity throat tissues narrow airways, preventing the airflow from freely going through. Changing the sleeping position with an adjustable bed may help quickly reduce snoring and improve sleep quality. Sometimes, it’s enough to elevate a head for a small degree to decrease intensity of snoring or even get rid of it completely. Sleeping in an elevated position also helps with sleep apnea when airways are not narrowed but entirely blocked for a while.
7. Diminish Asthma Attacks
When sleeping on a flat surface, nasal secretions may come into the airways, complicate breathing, and aggravate asthma. Elevating a head zone helps reduce nasal drip and prevents coughing and wheezing at night.
8. Enhance Digestion
Lying flat can also cause some digestion issues, especially when you fall asleep after late dinner - the food comes from the stomach, which results in heartburn and indigestion, known as reflux. Thus, lifting the upper body doesn’t allow the stomach's content to leak into the esophagus and cause heartburn.
9. Help Fall Asleep Faster
If you have difficulty finding a convenient sleeping pose, the zero-gravity position may help you fall asleep faster, aligning your neck, spine, and hips and relieving pressure. Just push a button, lift your head and knees slightly above the heart level, and find yourself in a weightless position, giving you a new sleeping experience.
A Final Word
Undoubtedly, the list of benefits we’ve covered in this article is not extensive – adjustable beds can be helpful in many more conditions to both people who don’t have health issues and those who need extra care. To get even more value from an adjustable bed, it may be a good idea to combine it with an ergonomic mattress – check out what mattress types work best for adjustable beds. If you think an adjustable bed is something you may need and are ready to make a switch, browse our adjustable bed frame collection and reach out to us with any questions about the products!
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