Thanks for taking the time out to make this site and responding to all the posts and hopefully my own. This is a really valuable resource, that I unfortunately came to a little late to, so I apologize for the long initial post.
I’m a back and reluctant side sleeper, I have a thinner, wide shoulder build about 5’ 8", and have shoulder injuries on both shoulders. I start out on my back and end up on my side towards the end of the night even though it’s not ideal. I also lift heavy weights and which creates soreness and stiffness that confused my mattress testing and I fluxuate my body weight between 140-150lbs. I’ve taken time off weight lifting because I just can’t recover fast enough from sleep deprivation and even taking off time from work just to deal with some of this.
Anyhow 3 months ago. I bought an OMI (Organicpedic) Duo in all Talalay, after struggling for the past 6 years with 3 different mattresses (a tempurpedic, ripping it apart and throwing a latex layer on top of its old polyfoam base and now the OMI Duo). I found what I thought was good materials and allowed me to configure at home without sales people confusing things. I made the mistake of not knowing enough and being pretty beat down I bought something that probably isn’t quite right and fairly expensive (although seemingly constructed well).
Not sure if anyone else here lifts heavy weights, but it was a bit confusing being sore, and then going to test mattresses on different days as pressure relief becomes the main issue I noticed most, and spinal alignment and support just wasn’t even that noticeably uncomfortable to me until after I recovered from the soreness, making this a moving target.
So I veered with a fairly soft split configuration of the top Soft Sculpted, middle Soft, bottom Medium or Firm. This made my hips sink in too much over time, but felt better on my shoulders, so I got a layer exchange and went to something a little more average S* M F. I currently have a few more layers than that, so I’m considering how to move forward from here.
As mentioned above, the current layout of the bed that seems to support my back sleeping position ok:
Soft* (Sculpted layer, which 3.5" and softer than the 3" Soft)
Medium
Firm
I’ve tried a ton of combinations S* S F, S* S M, S* M S, S* M M, S* F S, S M F. And have access to these layers for the time being until I ship a 2 back.
After reading the guides and as many related posts as possible, I’ve come to the conclusion I may need to use an adjustable tension slat system, zoned latex, or something else if you might have a suggestion. But my main problem is I my hips/butt tends to sink in when the top and middle layers are Soft Sculpted and Soft, which seems logical now after reading, but moving to the S* M F gives me shoulder problems when sleep on my side and it’s more significant if I’m sore from lifting.
If possible, I was hoping someone might point me in the best direction from here. I’m thinking an adjustable tension slat system, like the one at Sleep works (which is close by, I’m in San Francisco), or even IKEA (just unsure about the quality of the tension adjustment)
Problem that I noted from reading is the mattress is technically around 9.5" of layers the top one being sculpted though. So I bought some wood and but in between my slats just to see if it would be noticeable. It’s subtle but it is.
The other option seems to be zoning and I was thinking a 2 or 3 zone piece of latex for the middle layer would be ideal, however they seem really hard to find and still probably not that soft on the shoulder section. So I’m wondering if anyone knows more sources for this or if it would be best to have something custom made? I saw some discussion about custom sleep design, but not sure if they would take on something more simple. My concern is the cost, time, and effort will have to be fairly exacting and I still am not sure if it would work. Also considering differential construction with a zoned top layer instead, but but some to have pros and cons. Also I found this person’s notes online fairly helpful and seemed like they took on your guide to heart.
My main question is what do you think the most optimal direction might be? Adjustable Tension Slats, Zoned Latex, or something else?
I’m going to visit sleep works right now and talk to them, but when doing a search for zoned layers it seemed a little grim. Although it seem like some might think zoning would be more optimal given the thickness of the mattress or leaving the latex compression unaltered.
Hoping to keep cost low if possible, but will spend a little more as necessary. The bed cost me a small fortune, which I’m regretting a bit.
One thing I did note specifically is the OMI mattress cover combined with a Gotcha Covered Mattress protector and fitted sheet seems to really reduce the pressure relief of the talalay latex. I.e. if unzip the mattress and lay directly on the latex it’s pretty amazing and my shoulders are less irritated, which makes me think there could be simpler solution. Like placing the top layer over the mattress cover and wrapping it with the mattress protector.
Any help whatsoever is really appreaciated, thanks.