I have been wondering why are waterbeds marketed basically for wealthy people as an ego flattering place to sleep in. According to adverts waterbeds are good for two things and the other is sleeping.
I bought my first waterbed in the beginning of the 1980s, as they came to Finland. The reason was very simple: one morning I could hardly get out of bed, because my back hurt so bad. I thought that I have to find me a better mattress so that my back would hold me up as it did before.
I went to a furniture store and tried a water mattress. I heard that it effects the body like when we are swimming: the body feels lighter than on terra firma, because the body weight reduces in certain relation to how much it pushes water aside. Pregnant women can sleep on a water mattress on their stomach.
I didn’t understand much of this theory, but the rest of the day I was feeling as if I was floating in seventh heaven. I was grateful and deeply satisfied. I couldn’t really understand for what reason.
Following day I went back to the shop and made a payment plan for the mattress, although it took ten times my monthly income.
After I had slept one week on the water mattress the back pains were just a memory.
Before I got the water mattress I was never hungry. I tried to remember to eat one proper meal per day, because people theoretically need food to stay alive. Sometimes however, I was on the way all day long, busy settling my affairs and when I returned home in the evening it occurred to me that in addition to breakfast I hadn’t eaten anything during the whole day.
In the first week as I was adapting myself to the water mattress I drank plenty of water. In the evenings, before going to sleep I placed a water jug on the night table just beside me. After one week my back pain was gone, but the appetite came back. Food had a delicious taste in my mouth and I began to enjoy eating.
When I had menstrual pain I fell into my mattress and relaxed. As I was lying on the bed I didn’t feel alone. When I wanted to sleep I fell asleep, although I was not feeling tired.
Before I got to know water mattresses I couldn’t speak so clearly that I could have managed my things by telephone. This was originally the reason for my back pains. In the beginning of the 1980s I didn’t have a wheelchair. The only way for me to have understandable communication with people was to write everything on a paper. So with the help of a crutch I went to see officers and employees in diverse bureaus, companies and service points. After I had slept one year on a water mattress my articulation suddenly clarified so much that I could settle my matters on the phone.
I saw the benefits of a water mattress very clearly and I find it weird that it doesn’t belong to the most common medical appliances.
Someone told me in the 1980s that water mattress was originally developed to treat patients with skin burns. I can imagine that the cool vinyl bed is ideal for this purpose, but a water mattress has obviously other medical effects as well. I believe that doctors know this.
Water mattress for therapy use
When I search water mattresses for therapy use on the Internet now I cannot find anything that would directly refer to therapy use.
For children, however, a water mattress is a playground comparable to a trampoline. A Chinese manufacturer of water mattresses developed for this purpose markets them by emphasizing the training of muscle coordination and body balance.
One website gives instructions for a home made giant water mattress for children’s garden plays . If I would have a garden or a wide passageway at home I would buy second hand water mattresses to form a walking platform. Of course only, if the structures of my house bear it.
A Youtube-video introduces a different alternative for a water mattress:
Walking on water
Waterbed for Cows
(Dual Chamber Cow Waterbeds)
Doggybed
So, water mattresses are recommended for animals and their medical effects seem to be widely known. Despite of that we hardly ever hear a doctor recommend a water mattress to patients who have joint pains and other problems.
See also:
DIY: How to make a giant outdoor waterbed
Global Animal: Dairy Farm’s Waterbeds Improve Milk Quality And Cow Health
Youtube Videos:
Walking on Water 1
Walking on Water 2
Cows on Waterbed