Top Adjustable Bed For Seniors [Short Guide]

If you are looking for the top adjustable bed for seniors you’ve come to the right place! In this short guide, you will learn why adjustable beds can help many ailments and how to pick the best one.

Let’s face it, sleeping is probably the most important factor for overall health, yet the older you get the harder sleeping can be.

You might suffer from discomfort or pain that’s preventing you from falling asleep, acid reflux and sleep apnea are also very common in older people.

Some people simply develop insomnia, the inability to fall or stay asleep as they become older. This can be detrimental to your health so it’s important to do your best to get sufficient sleep.

To learn how to improve the odds for a good night of sleep, check out my article How to improve sleep for seniors.

Your bed naturally plays a big role in how comfortable you feel during the night. An adjustable bed is a big investment and it’s not a magic bullet, but in many cases, it can improve the quality of your sleep significantly.

But it can be overwhelming to choose one as there are so many options. You might also be wondering if you actually need an adjustable bed.

The Importance Of Sleep

Before we look at my recommendation I want to take a moment to talk about the importance of sleep to your health and quality of life.

While being active, getting enough exercise, and having a balanced healthy diet is very important for your health, they are actually not as critical as getting enough sleep.

Many people sleep way too little in the modern hectic world. While most seniors have the time to sleep, they can still suffer from health issues that reduce sleep quality or cause insomnia.

It is a common myth that seniors need less sleep than young adults, while research suggests it’s not true. You need about the same amount of sleep your whole adult life. Between 7 and 9 hours being the typical need.

Some people have significantly reduced need but this is actually very rare. Most people that sleep only 5 or 6 hours per night are actually chronically sleep-deprived. It’s possible to get so used to it that it becomes the normal state of being.

And this is where the importance of sleep to your health comes in. While acute sleep deprivation can cause slight cognitive decline, it’s the long term effects you should be worried about.

During sleep your body and mind regenerate. Even a slight sleep deprivation reduces cognitive functions, wreaks havoc on your metabolism, and increases the risk of many ailments like heart disease, diabetes, and even dementia.

So investing in sleep quality is always wise and insomnia and sleep issues should never be treated lightly. So how can an adjustable bed help you?

What Is An Adjustable Bed

An adjustable bed is a bed that has a (usually powered) mechanism that allows you to adjust the elevation of the different parts of the bed.

The reasoning behind this is that some conditions and ailments will get relief when you are not actually lying flat but have either your upper body, legs or both raised a bit.

There are a few types of adjustable beds commercially available. There are manually adjustable mechanisms and motorized mechanisms.

In a manually adjustable bed, you need to get up and adjust the mechanism by hand while a motorized version will allow you to adjust the different components with the push of a button while lying on the bed.

Adjustable beds are great for reclining comfortably while reading before bed for example, but are they actually healthy for you?

That, of course, depends on your situation and ailments but adjustable beds have been used to alleviate sleep apnea, acid reflux, leg swelling, snoring, and lower back pain just to name a few.

It’s important to acknowledge that an adjustable bed doesn’t necessarily help any of your symptoms as there can be a multitude of reasons for most of these ailments.

Some of these have more scientific research behind them than others but it seems that many are based on anecdotal evidence from users.

Do You Really Need One?

So adjustable beds have their uses, there are few considerations you should make before investing in an adjustable bed, however.

My first recommendation is to talk to a certified medical professional about any of the health issues you are trying to solve.

While adjustable beds do offer some relief from GERD or back pain, for example, you need to assess with a medical problem if this a possible solution for you and if you need other treatment as well.

The worst-case scenario is that the adjustable bed masks your symptoms while the underlying cause keeps on progressing.

Adjustable beds are more expensive, heavier, and not as durable as most regular beds and it’s good to be aware of this when considering your options.

Another thing I recommend you do is to make sure your sleeping environment is good for sleep and you have a good routine for bedtime. I talk more about this in the aforementioned “How to improve sleep for seniors” post.

In short, your bedroom should be well ventilated, dark, free of unnecessary electrical devices, and the temperature should be a bit on the colder side, taking into consideration your personal preferences of course.

This way you can rule out any simple solutions for improving your sleep before investing in an adjustable bed.

That said, if a medical professional recommends an adjustable bed or you just want to invest in your sleep quality, an adjustable bed is a great way to improve the comfortability of your sleeping environment.

What To Look For In An Adjustable Bed?

So what should you look for in an adjustable bed?

Firstly I recommend that you pick a model that comes with a standard size base so you can fit the mattress you prefer on it. This is because finding the right kinds of mattresses that work with the machine can be hard if the bed has proprietary systems.

I also recommend you get a model with a motorized adjustment system. While this adds price and more moving parts, it’s extremely convenient compared to a bed you have to adjust manually.

You will not likely use the bed in the same position all the time, and might even have a need to adjust the position during the night. I’m sure you can imagine what a hassle a manual adjustment system is in these situations.

You’d have to get up and lift the heavy components during the night. Probably hard to get back to sleep after that and it’s potentially dangerous doing this tired.

If you live with a partner, it’s wise to invest in a bed that has two separate adjustment mechanisms and mattresses. The adjustment needs are highly individual and a single setting is rarely comfortable for both partners.

Top Adjustable Bed Online

I recommend you get an adjustable bed from a local dealership if it’s possible for you to test it out and arrange transportation. This way you know from the get-go that the bed is suitable for you.

But if you want to order a bed online so you can have it delivered on your door, I recommend you order from Amazon because they generally have very good delivery conditions and you can in many cases return a product if it doesn’t turn out to be what you hoped for. But remember that you always have to make sure this is the case with your chosen dealer and location.

So what is the best adjustable bed on Amazon for seniors? After doing extensive research in my opinion it’s the Classic Brands Comfort Upholstered Adjustable Bed Base. (That’s an affiliate link, I earn a small commission if you buy through it. It costs you no extra and helps me run this site. )

It’s available in 5 sizes and has almost 5000 user testimonials with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5.0.  You can order the bed with or without mattresses and you can choose to have separately adjustable bases for couples.

It has the best rating with the most user reviews of all adjustable beds on Amazon. I personally always pick something that has been tried and true as witnessed by user experiences.

It’s of course always wise to read through some of the reviews and see other options to make an educated buying decision.

Conclusion

I hope you found this post useful and it helped you decide if and what kind of adjustable bed you need. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me through the comments section below.

Adjustable beds can be a great investment for your life quality if you find they help to alleviate your nocturnal symptoms or insomnia.

That said the benefit they offer is highly individual, so I recommend you rule out any other causes that might be affecting your sleep quality before investing in one.

Sleep is the most important activity for our health so investing in a high-quality mattress and a comfortable sleeping environment is always wise.

If you do decide to get an adjustable bed, I hope it offers you relief, relaxation, and enjoyable hours of slumber.

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Thanks for reading and see you next time.