Do You Need a New Bed if You Have Parkinson's?

Parkinson's makes moving in bed hard, and that's the part you can change

Not everything that makes these nights hard can be fixed at home. Turning over and getting out of bed are the parts you can do something about at home, so that's where to put your energy first. We asked Laura Phillips, Senior Parkinson's Adviser at Parkinson's UK, about sleep and beds in October 2026, and she told us what the night is actually like:

Look at how much of that is about movement. Before you buy or change anything, spend a few nights noticing which bit is hardest for you: rolling from one side to the other, sitting up in the morning, or waking at the same time each night. If you share the bed, ask your partner what they see, because they're awake for parts of the night you won't remember.

Laura also told us that sleep problems can be a symptom of Parkinson's itself or a side-effect of medication, and that sleep can be broken when medication wears off during the night. The Parkinson's UK page on Parkinson's symptoms and sleep says the same: "If your Parkinson's drugs wear off during the night, stiffness, tremor or pain may interrupt your sleep." It adds that uncomfortable muscle spasms can happen as levodopa wears off.¹ If that pattern sounds like yours, speak to your specialist or Parkinson's nurse. A new mattress won't change when your medication wears off.

Then there are restless legs. The charity's page on restless legs syndrome says symptoms "generally get worse in the evening or at night", which is exactly when you're trying to settle.³ If they're keeping you up, that's one for the GP.

Try a sliding sheet and a bed rail before a new mattress

The first things I'd try are cheap, and they go on the bed you've already got. A sliding sheet can help you turn and a rail helps you get up, and Laura was clear about that order; she said it before anything else about mattresses.

A satin or sliding sheet is slippery, so there's less grip between you and the bed when you roll. Parkinson's UK adds a warning I'd underline twice: use satin sheets or satin pyjamas, never both at once, because together they "could make you slide out of bed too quickly". Putting a satin sheet on a double is the same faff as any fitted sheet, with the bonus that it slithers off one corner while you're tucking in the other, so do it with two people if you can.

The rail is the other half. The charity's page on managing sleep problems lists "bedside grab rails, to help you get yourself in and out of bed independently".² A rail gives you something solid to hold while you sit up and push off. I'd fit it on the side you get out of, even if the other side has more room. Laura also says your needs will change over time, so look again next year at what works this year.

In England you may not have to buy any of this, and I'd find out before you get your card out. Under getting out of bed, the NHS page on household gadgets and equipment lists a grab rail, leg lifter straps and things to raise your bed.⁵ It says a needs assessment is free, and that equipment and small adaptations "will be provided for free if you're assessed as needing them". So ask social services at your council for that assessment. In England and Wales, the GOV.UK needs assessment finder takes your postcode and points you to the right council.⁶ In Scotland, ring your council and ask what they offer. In Northern Ireland, social care is run by the Health and Social Care Trusts, so ring your local Trust instead.⁷

If you'd rather talk it through with a person first, ring the charity's helpline on 0808 800 0303.⁴ It's free and confidential, and its advisers include specialist Parkinson's nurses, so ask them about equipment for getting in and out of bed. The lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and Saturday 10am to 1pm.

• A sliding or satin sheet on the bed, or satin pyjamas instead, never both
• A grab rail fitted on the side you get out of
• Bed height measured against Laura's guide
• A leg lifter strap or bed raisers, if an assessment says you need them
• Asked the council (or in Northern Ireland, your Trust) for a needs assessment
• Rung the Parkinson's UK helpline about equipment

Get the bed height right for getting in and out

If there's one thing I'd check before anyone mentions mattresses, it's how high your bed is, because I think the right height turns standing up into a push instead of a climb. Laura recommends independent advice on the height, since the right one depends on how you move:

I like that last sentence because it's about your body and nothing else. With your hips level with your knees or a touch above, I find your legs are in a good place to push up from. With your hips lower than your knees, every morning starts with climbing out of a dip. Go too high and your feet stop resting flat on the floor, which is the other half of Laura's measure. A bed's listing gives you its height in centimetres and has no idea how long your shins are.

You need two numbers, a second pair of hands and a tape measure, which will be in whichever drawer you check last. Sit on a kitchen chair with your shoes off and your feet flat, and have someone measure from the floor to the crease behind your knee. Then sit on the edge of the bed where you usually get in and out, and have them measure from the floor to the top of the mattress right beside you. Do the second one with you sitting there, because the edge squashes down under you, and a bed's height on a listing is taken with nobody on it. Write both down in centimetres.

Whatever your number says, keep Laura's first point in mind: the right height depends on how you move, and that's what an occupational therapist or physio is for. The NHS page on Parkinson's treatment says an occupational therapist can "help you work out practical solutions and ensure your home is safe and properly set up for you", and that a physiotherapist can work with you to relieve muscle stiffness and joint pain through movement and exercise. Take your two measurements to the appointment so they're starting from real numbers.⁸ These are the routes to getting the height looked at properly:

1. Ask your specialist or Parkinson's nurse about seeing an occupational therapist or physio, and take your two measurements with you.
2. Ask social services at your council for an assessment for equipment or home adaptations. The NHS page on home adaptations says "An occupational therapist will visit you at your home", and that they'll walk around with you to see what you struggle with, so show them the bed.⁹
3. Ring the Parkinson's UK helpline on 0808 800 0303 if you're not sure which route suits you.

And when you do get up, take it in stages. The charity says getting up slowly and sitting up in bed before you stand may help you avoid dizziness.

If you do change the bed, try it before you buy

Sometimes the old bed really is past it, and then a new one is worth having, as long as you've tried it doing the things you find hard. Laura's advice lands in the same place: she told us mattress choice is a personal preference, that what suits one person may not suit another, and that if possible you should try different types of mattresses and beds before buying. A different bed can help once the small changes are in and the height is right, but only one that suits you.

Lying still on your back for two minutes tells you very little. You'll feel daft rolling about on a showroom bed in your coat, and it's still worth doing. Roll from one side to the other a few times. Sit on the edge and stand up, then lie back down the way you do at home. If you share the bed, bring your partner and have them do the same, because it has to work for both of you. Parkinson's UK puts the reason plainly: "Not every type will suit your specific needs, or be right for you."

What to feel for is my view, not Laura's. A mattress that springs back under you is easier to turn over on than one you sink deep into, because there's less of a trough to climb out of every time you roll. The edge matters as much as the middle: it's where you sit to put your socks on and where you push off to stand, and an edge that sinks when you sit is a bed that's lower than it looked. When getting up is the hard part, I'd put bed height and edge support ahead of firmness every time.

An adjustable base is the one place I think the extra spend earns its keep, for anyone who struggles to sit up in bed: the head end lifts you most of the way before you've had to do anything. If that's you, look at mattresses that work on an adjustable base, try the base itself before you buy it, and ask your occupational therapist whether it suits how you move. If it's your partner's sleep that suffers when you turn and shift in the night, our guide to mattresses for restless sleepers covers beds that are easier to turn on and disturb a partner less.

Tell your GP or Parkinson's nurse about new or sudden changes in sleep

You know your own nights better than anyone, so you're the one who'll notice when something shifts. That's when to tell your GP, whatever your normal looks like, and there's no set number of hours to measure yourself against.

The words to hold on to are "new or sudden". What a GP or Parkinson's nurse needs from you is what changed and when it started. Laura also told us that disrupted sleep can affect physical and mental wellbeing, so the sooner it's looked at the better, and that a partner can help explain the problem to the GP. She made one more point that's worth hearing before you spend anything: not every symptom is down to Parkinson's, and not every sleep problem will be helped by a different mattress or bed. GPs may be able to offer treatment or refer you to a specialist, which a new mattress can't.

A week of notes makes that appointment far easier, and it saves you trying to remember Tuesday at half past three in a short appointment. Fill them in each morning, and if your partner was awake for any of it, let them fill in the gaps. The diary below stays in your browser, so print it before you go.

If restless legs are part of your nights, the NHS has its own advice on when to see a GP about them.¹⁰ And if the pattern in your diary lines up with doses wearing off, take it to your specialist or Parkinson's nurse instead.

Questions people ask about beds and Parkinson's