Deconstructing the mattress-buying process can help mold patients find and maintain a healthier sleep environment.
Just the other day, I got the following question from a reader:
“Hello. I was wondering if you could recommend a mattress that is good for mold patients? Also, do you have information on how to clean a mattress before you bring it into your home and how to protect it. Maybe a dust cover?”
What a great question! But, it is one that is actually more difficult to give a straight answer for than you would think!
Before getting sick from mold, I never really thought twice about my mattress. I actually think every mattress I had ever had prior to getting married was a hand-me-down mattress from either my parents or one of my sisters. I was always happy to not have to purchase a new one, and to just sleep on whichever one was given to me. Sleep came easy to me then, and the “health” of my mattress did not seem to affect my body whatsoever.
Fast forward to where I am today and where my health is today, (much better, but I still am and will be forever, I think, very mold- and chemically- sensitive); and I feel entirely differently about the whole mattress situation. In fact, my mattress has been one of the items in my home to either make or break a wellness spurt. When you consider the fact that we spend 1/3 of our lives in bed/sleeping, this makes a lot of sense. If your bed and mattress aren’t healthy, you probably will suffer the effects of that. It became clear to me that I was going to have to rethink my mattress when we finally moved back into our home and had to get all new furnishings. Our new mattress sent me into a downward health spiral. My husband had found an allergy-friendly foam mattress and had it delivered to the house. The minute he unwrapped it in our bedroom, I knew it wasn’t going to work for me. It was off-gassing terribly and made my throat and body itch just to be in the same room with it. It literally took me a week to recover and to get the plastic-y, chemically smell out of our room. Have you ever tasted a smell? That is the best way I can describe just how inflammatory it was to my body. I tasted the chemicals from the mattress in my mouth! Thankfully, we were able to return it for a full refund. But, finding another mattress was quite the ordeal. Who would have thought that there was so much to worry about and consider in terms of my health and what mattress I was sleeping on?