Given you spend a third of your life in bed, it is worth taking some care when buying one.  Take your coat off and wear loose clothing (unless you make a habit of going to bed dressed to the nines).  You must lie down (you can tell nothing from simply sitting on the edge of a bed) and roll around (there is no point lying as if you on a mortuary slab if you sleep on your side).  Ask a friend, partner or showroom assistant to look at your position to ensure the support is correct (you should look as you do standing up – so make sure your hips do not sink in too much or stand up too far).

Take a book with you to read and make a day of it.  Savoir Beds take things a stage further – they will arrange for you to ‘test drive’ a bed at one of the luxurious hotels that use them, and refund the night if you buy.  Furthermore, if after a month of sleeping on it, you feel your Savoir Bed is too soft or firm we  will re-make it, adjusting it accordingly, free of charge.

Firm is not necessarily best, and ‘orthopaedic’ is simply a marketing man’s term for hard.  You need the correct level of support to ensure that your spine is in its natural position.  This means you must sink in to the bed to some extent, or your spine will bend unnaturally. If you lie on your side, your hips and shoulders need to sink in to make sure you get support around waist level.

If you lie on your back, your bottom must sink in to ensure your lower back is supported.  So, the lighter you are, all other things being equal, the softer the bed you require.  Also, joint problems tend to point to a softer bed.  Of course your partner probably requires something totally different, so either get a zip & link bed set with different supports or a one piece mattress with different support levels on each side.