Hi Jostarr,
While it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because there are too many unique unknowns and variables involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of PPP or any “symptoms” they experience … there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.
There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.
These posts are the “tools” that can help with the analysis, detective work, or trial and error that may be necessary to help you learn your body’s language and “translate” what your body is trying to tell you so you can identify the types of changes that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing (at least to the degree that any symptoms are from your mattress rather than the result of any pre-existing issues you may have that aren’t connected to a mattress).
[quote]I sleep alone on the bed and am an 80 yo male, 6 ft, 215 lbs. I am basically a side sleeper. When sleeping on the bed without any topper, I feel pressure in my shoulders and hips. And, I wake up with lower back pain.
Using the new 2", 20 ILD topper, my shoulder and hip pains are gone. But, I still wake with the lower back pain. Even if I just lay on the bed on my back for 10 minutes or so I feel the same lower back pain. My theory, and it is just a hunch, is that the topper is thick enough, but too soft. Before I make any changes, I wanted to hear your thoughts. I have a one time chance to make an improvement. I can exchange the 2", 20 ILD topper
for a 30 ILD or a 44 ILD one…[/quote]
Based on your description it’s possible that your mattress is BOTH too soft and too firm. In other words your mattress may have comfort layers that are too soft and thin to provide good pressure relief so that the symptoms that are related to pressure points would be from feeling the firmness of the deeper layers in your mattress (which would account for the topper helping you with your pressure point issues) AND the deeper layers or components in your mattress could be too soft to provide suitable support and keep you spine in good alignment over the course of the night.
If a mattress is still in very good condition and there are no visible impressions or sagging or soft spots in the mattress (particularly under the heavier parts of your body such as your hips/pelvis) and the only issue is that it is too firm then a topper can be a good option to add some additional softness and pressure relief although there is always some risk and uncertainty involved in adding a topper if you haven’t tested the combination in person because the mattress itself along with your own body type, sleeping position, and preferences can affect which specific topper would be a suitable choice on any specific mattress.
On the other hand … a topper is not a particularly effective way to “fix” a mattress that is already too soft or that has developed soft spots or sagging and at best it may provide a temporary or partial solution and at worst it can make some of the issues you are experiencing worse. If you add a firmer topper to a mattress that is too soft then the new comfort layer (the firmer topper) may end up being too firm to be comfortable for you to sleep on AND the topper will usually still “bend” or compress into the layers underneath it that are softer or have developed soft spots or are sagging so you can end up with BOTH comfort layers that are too firm and uncomfortable and support or transition layers underneath it (that were meant to be softer comfort layers) that are too soft to provide suitable support underneath the topper.
The most effective solution for a mattress that is too soft (either comfort layers that are too thick/soft or support layers that are too soft) or has developed soft spots or is sagging is to first identify the layers that are the cause of the issue and then removing and replacing layers that are too thick/soft or that are sagging.
There are some suggestions in post #4 here for a mattress that is too soft and assuming that the there is no flex in the support system under your mattress and it’s providing good non flexing support (you can test this by trying your mattress on the floor to see if it makes any difference) It may be worth trying the mattress upside down with the topper for a few days to see if this makes a difference with your back pain as well. This “test” would reduce the effect of the softer layers of your mattress that are deeper in your sleeping system and if this helps to reduce your back pain it would “point to” the cause of your issues being the comfort layers in your mattress which could be too “thin/soft” to isolate you from the firmness of the deeper layers in your mattress but may also be too soft to provide a suitable transition or support layer with a topper on top of them. Some of the other suggestions there may also help with your lower back pain as well.
I would be hesitant to replace your topper with a firmer once since you could bring back the pressure issues you were experiencing previously (which it helped with) and it’s possible that you would be back to having a combination of pressure issues and lower back issues.
While a thinner topper in combination with the softer layers in your mattress may also provide “enough” pressure relief to isolate you from feeling the firmness of the deeper layers in your mattress and would put you closer to the firmer support layers in your mattress (which can provide better support/alignment) … since you were experiencing lower back pain on the mattress without any topper at all and with a 2" topper it would be less likely to make a significant difference in your lower back pain and you may find that a thinner topper would be less effective at pressure relief as well.
Phoenix