| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MAY 17, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| PERSONAL BUSINESS
Sleeping Your Back Pain Away Todd Toriscelli was skeptical when air-mattress maker Select Comfort (AIRB) gave a presentation last February to National Football League trainers about its bed's health benefits. ''I just thought a mattress is a mattress,'' says the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head trainer. But after trying the bed, he plans to have the team use it in training camp this August. He also recommended it to quarterback Trent Dilfer, who has low back pain. ''He raves about the bed,'' Toriscelli says. Companies such as Select Comfort and Simmons are selling high-end, pliant beds as help for aching backs. They say the best mattress is not as hard as a board, as many believe, but one that conforms to your body's curves and keeps your spine aligned while you sleep. ''The majority of people who have back pain have it in the morning, and doctors have no idea that a mattress can make the difference,'' says Dr. Elliott Menkowitz, a Philadelphia orthopedic surgeon who, with the National Foundation for Spinal Health in San Francisco (www.nfsh. com), is gathering bed data. One way bed makers are trying to make sleeping more comfortable is to use pillowtops, a layer of foam and fibers stitched to the main mattress. Pillowtops raise the height of mattresses, so many require special sheets. They also make for costlier beds. A King-size, Swedish-made Dux bed, for example, sells for $7,000. A Dux has a top layer of flexible steel coils to conform to your shape and a stiffer layer for support. Above the coils is a padded layer, plus pillowtop. Joan Levine, a Bronx (N.Y.) retiree who suffers from back pain, says she balked at first at buying a bed that cost more than her daughter's car. Now, she loves it. Similar in feel to the Dux is Simmons' BackCare line, for which Menkowitz was a consultant. The beds, which also use pillowtops, have five zones. It is more giving under the shoulders and hips and stiffer under the curve of the back and lower legs. Beds that dispense with springs entirely also are getting popular. Select Comfort's air mattress even lets each side be inflated separately, so partners can customize their respective areas. Tempur-Pedic, meanwhile, takes a space-age approach. Its all-foam beds are curiously soft and firm at the same time. Topped by three inches of polyurethane foam developed for astronaut seats, the bed reacts to your heat and softens under the heavier parts of your body but stays firm under the lighter ones. One fan is Myrtle Beach (S.C.) retiree Dick Johnson, who has arthritis in his lower back. ''I always woke up stiff in the mornings,'' he says, and had to do stretches to loosen up. He tried an air bed, but couldn't get the pumps to work right. Then he got a Tempur-Pedic. After six months, he no longer needs those exercises. ''Alternative'' beds take some getting used to. Amy Chen, a New York teahouse owner, couldn't adjust to the ''squishy'' feel of her Tempur-Pedic and returned it. Whatever brand you're considering, ask lots of questions and test several on the store floor, lying in your usual position for at least five minutes. If you can, sleep on your decision. Some companies offer trial periods of as long as 90 days--and your money back. Since you spend a third of your life in bed, it had better be the right one. By Pam Black EDITED BY AMY DUNKIN _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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