Getting a good night’s sleep is essential to staying happy and healthy. In fact, it can not only increase your concentration during the day but lower your risk of serious health problems. A suppportive mattress is key but buying a new one without doing your research first can lead to sleepless nights and achy mornings.

Plus, mattresses can cost anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands, so, you’ll want to make sure your chosen one is worth the investment before you buy it. For more guidance, see our review of the best mattresses – a tried and tested guide of the very bestfrom the likes of Simba, Emma, Dormeo and more. Here, however, we’ve put together everything you need to know before you hit the high street (or browse the web – online-only mattress companies are hugely popular), from the different types of mattresses to firmness levels and so much more.

Whether you’re a side sleeper or suffer from chronic back pain, read on to find out what option is best for you. Open-spring mattress: Also known as open-coil or continuous-coil mattresses, these contain one long piece of metal wire coiled into numerous springs. There’s also an additional border rod or wire to maintain shape and provide structure.

It’s a great value-for-money option, although the sides are machine-stitched rather than hand-stitched, they are lighter than other models, making them easy to turn. They tend to be less supportive than other mattresses, so are most suited to guest bedrooms or.