Allergies, back pain due to cheap mattresses

On many streets in Ho Chi Minh City, it is not difficult to see shops setting up mattresses on the sidewalk and inviting buyers to buy them at the price of 170,000 - 200,000 VND/piece. Most of the cheap mattresses are of unknown brand and origin.

Mattress is an item closely related to health so it needs to be carefully chosen - Photo: Ngoc Duong

The owner of a mattress store on Nguyen Oanh Street (Go Vap District) introduced us to a mattress 3cm thick, 1.4m wide, 2m long, priced at 420,000 VND.

Unknown composition

The seller introduced the mattress as being made of white, sterilized, hard foam with ventilation holes so it is airy, does not stuffy the back and does not get hot. Mattresses with brocade covers are more expensive than cotton covers.

Mattresses made from compressed cotton are more durable, take longer to sag, and are therefore more expensive than those made from compressed foam. The compressed foam is produced in Korea, the facility imports the core and fabric and then processes it.

A mattress store on Phan Van Tri Street (Go Vap District) also sells all kinds of mattresses at attractive prices: "Mattresses are priced at 170,000 VND, Korean cotton mattress 1.6m x 2m x 0.1m costs 850,000 VND".

With the same thickness of 5cm and width of 1m, the mattress made of compressed cotton costs 500,000 VND, while the foam mattress costs only 280,000 VND. This employee explained that "mattresses made of imported foam and compressed cotton from Korea are the cheapest of all types".

According to records, apart from famous brands, mattresses introduced as Korean products only have "Korea" and a few Korean words on them, without ingredients or materials.

When asked about the type of mattress she is using, Ms. Vu Thi Huyen Trang (22 years old, student) said she is using a mattress bought for 200,000 VND.

“I bought a mattress sold on the sidewalk because I thought the ones in stores were more expensive. I used a cheap mattress because it fit my student budget, even though I knew a more expensive mattress would be better,” said Trang.

There are no quality standards for mattress products.

The director of a mattress manufacturing company said that mattresses are divided into many types such as foam mattresses, rubber mattresses, spring mattresses. The weight of the mattress is an important factor in determining the quality. The heavier the mattress, the better the quality, the higher the elasticity, and the longer it can be used without becoming flat.

The cheaper the mattress, the less rubber density, instead the manufacturer adds more foam so it quickly deflates during use. There are many types of cheap mattresses that are initially 10-15cm thick but after a period of use, they are only 2-3cm thick, especially the middle of the mattress is often concave while the two ends of the mattress are less deflated.

Similarly, with spring mattresses, a good mattress will be very heavy due to the many springs attached, some up to more than 100 springs, while a cheap mattress only has a few dozen springs, leading to poor endurance and quick damage.

During the production process, chemicals used to mix and process rubber or foam mattress materials are all tested to ensure that they are within the permitted list and do not contain carcinogens.

However, this compliance is only carried out by large, branded manufacturers, while mattresses of unknown origin are difficult to control.

Another important factor when choosing a mattress that few consumers pay attention to is the upholstery material. According to manufacturers, major brands when importing mattress upholstery fabric must go through a quality inspection process, meeting standards before being allowed to import.

Mattress covers greatly determine the user's feeling such as hot or itchy, allergic... Meanwhile, with floating products on the market, the cover material is very uncertain. Some countries in Europe, America... mattress covers are also required to be made from fireproof materials, in Vietnam this regulation is only for large hotels.

Although it is a product closely associated with people's daily activities, up to now, the quality and function of mattresses are self-declared by businesses, and no agency has checked the quality of products sold on the market.

Middle-aged people need to pay attention

Dr. Nguyen Dinh Phu, deputy director of People's Hospital 115, Ho Chi Minh City, said that depending on age and spinal disease condition, lying on poor quality mattresses will have different effects.

For example, in young people, the muscular system and ligaments around the spine are strong and healthy, and the bones are still good, so choosing the type of mattress is not too strict.

However, for people from middle age onwards, bone quality gradually decreases over time, often accompanied by diseases such as spinal degeneration, spinal spurs, vertebral collapse, spinal stenosis... which can have complications of nerve compression, causing numbness in the thighs and feet, more seriously can cause muscle atrophy, lying on poor quality mattresses will affect health.

Lying in the wrong position or lying with excessive curvature (such as lying in a hammock, lying on a mattress with too much elasticity or a mattress with too much hardness, a mattress of poor quality, or not ensuring ventilation when the patient lies down) will affect the spine, causing scoliosis, curvature, and spinal deformity, and may have abnormal progression of pre-existing diseases.

This is a slow, continuous effect that lasts for many days and months, leading to more spinal curvature, collapse, and compression of the spinal nerves without the patient knowing.

According to Tuoitre