Best mattress for a bad back

While shopping for a new mattress, you may come across the term “Posturepedic” and wonder what it means. You’re not alone in questioning how it differs from other types of beds.

 

Where does the word ‘Posturepedic’ come from?

The word ‘Posturepedic’ is a contraction of the words posture – the position in which a person holds their body — and orthopaedic — the medically correct position of skeletal and associated structures of the body.

Sealy Posturepedic is the culmination of continuous research and ongoing development of sleep systems and their interaction with the human body. When you lie on a Posturepedic mattress, it’s more than just springs, foam and fabric.

What is a Posturepedic mattress?

Diagram of the basic Posturepedic criteria

A Posturepedic mattress is made with three parts in mind: support, comfort and durability. Getting the right balance of these three areas is essential.

Here’s how it works:

  • The spine needs to be correctly supported to allow surrounding muscles to relax
  • Relief of pressure points minimises the body’s need to toss and turn during sleep
  • ‘Orthopaedically correct design’ is the balanced combination of these two elements

Support

While you might assume that every mattress is supportive, we know based on our testing that not all mattresses are created equal. The Sealy Posturepedic range is based on a history of orthopaedic research to provide the right amount of posture support for your needs.

Different springs provide different support. The springs inside a Posturepedic mattress are inner spring coils. Made of titanium alloy, these metal springs are light but very strong, and provide the deep support based on the criteria developed by the orthopaedic surgeons who designed the first Posturepedic mattress many years ago.

From a support perspective, Sealy has invested a lot of research and development into the Open Coil Technology, which is central to the Posturepedic support system. Inherently, the Posturepedic support system is a transfer of motion. The mattress senses your body weight and responds with the right amount of support needed.

posturepedic-difference

Comfort

Mattress comfort comes from its foam layers. Building a great mattress involves far more than stacking them together. You need to make sure all the layers work in combination for the right feel, whether soft, medium or firm. Having the right layers in place helps dissipate pressure and relieve any soreness.

The Sealy Posturepedic range prides itself on using superior comfort layers. There are architectural principles and designs that are established to ensure all of the layers work together harmoniously, and continue to do so over time. The comfort layers of a Posturepedic are made of a mixture of memory foam and gel-infused visco which provide extra cushioning, allowing you to ‘sink into’ your mattress a bit more.

Durability

The last component isn’t so much about mattress functionality as its longevity. The foam forms the comfort layer of the mattress, but we still need to ensure its durability. A common problem with mattresses is that they begin to sag and deteriorate over time, which can be detrimental to your health.

Sealy performs quality testing each month on a variety of components in a NATA-accredited facility. Our giant foam database means that we can narrow down where any problem areas are and address them at the source. We test for density, fatigue and durability.

When you opt for a Posturepedic mattress, you are getting a product with components that have been subjected to fatigue or wear and tear testing. One of the tests conducted is Cornell testing. Our Cornell device presses into the mattress with 102kg of force 100,000 times, the equivalent of someone sitting in the same spot repeatedly. We do this to see how the materials withstand continual pressure, ensuring that the mattress will stand the test of time. 

The Posturepedic difference

A Posturepedic mattress is one that is built strategically to help provide proper support for the entire body with the comfort of a great night’s sleep on a mattress that is guaranteed to function properly for ten years. Choosing Sealy will help you achieve a quality night’s sleep, and wake up feeling rested and ready to take on the challenges of a brand new day.

Research & development

Innovation is at the heart of Sealy, and it is the continuous investment in technology which has allowed us to become the number one mattress brand in Australia.
Innovation is at the heart of Sealy, and it is the continuous investment in technology which has allowed us to become the number one mattress brand in Australia.