Hi,
Did a bunch of research and reading here on the site back in 2014, and ended up ordering a 12" bamboo bliss full latex from Brooklyn Bedding. I’m 5’ 10" about 205 lbs and a side/stomach sleeper so the BB rep recommended a level 5 on their firmness scale.
I didn’t feel like I was getting a very good night’s rest, so about 5 weeks later I exchanged the comfort layer for a level 6 - I thought that maybe the 5 wasn’t soft enough for me to sink a bit into.
I still wasn’t getting a great night’s sleep and would toss and turn all night and wake up with low back/sciatica pain along with soreness on the top of my shoulders so about 6 months later I ended up trying a level 8, which is what has been in place since then.
So fast forward to today - I’m still not sleeping well on the bed and want to try something else and looking for advice. I’m not what sure what the ILD numbers are for my particular mattress as well as the comfort layers I’ve tried over the last 2 years but i’ve been in contact with dreamfoam bedding and they can get me another comfort layer in whatever firmess/softness I want but would rather not guess again since it’ll be $200.
I was thinking about going with a level 4 firmness to see if my problems are coming from my current setup being too soft - figured since the level 5 I first had wasn’t that great for me, it’s possible that I actually needed to move to one that was slightly firmer than that, but instead I had moved to something softer which made the problem worse. Again, just a hunch so hopefully someone has better advice for me.
here’s the best example photo i could find of what my position looks like Page Not Found | Monster.com
thanks!
Hi mantrasia,
While it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because they can be very complex and there are too many unique unknowns, variables, and complexities involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and 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 other circumstances or pre-existing issues you may have that may not be connected to a mattress.
The most common (although not the only) cause for lower back pain is a mattress that is too soft and this would be especially true if you spend time sleeping on your stomach because a softer mattress can lead to sleeping in a swayback position when you are a stomach sleeper.
While it’s only possible to make an educated guess because the only way to know for certain whether any combination of materials and components will be a good match for you with any certainty will be based on your own personal experience (and nobody has a crystal ball that can know for sure) … based on your comments it would make sense that a firmer comfort layer would be less risky and be worth trying.
Phoenix
Makes sense, thanks Phoenix - i’ve read some other posts on here where they tried sleeping on the mattress with the comfort layer removed for a few nights to try to confirm whether a firmer mattress was needed or not prior to going down that path. Given what I have and what i’m experiencing, do you feel that would be helpful for me to try as well?
Hi mantrasia,
While the base layer may not be soft enough to provide good pressure relief when you sleep on it directly … if removing the comfort layer and sleeping on just the base layer for a few days (or a little longer if possible) improves your back pain then it would certainly “point to” a firmer comfort layer being a good idea and I think it would be well worth trying.
Phoenix
great, thanks again for all the advice and help over the years!
