Hi pl4nt,
I don’t have any specific knowledge about the Dutch market but the general information, steps, and guidelines in the mattress shopping tutorial here would be just as relevant in any country as they are in Canada and the US (which is the market that I’m familiar with).
Some of the specs of a mattress may be listed differently in Europe than they are in the US and Canada (they will tend to use kg/m3 for their memory foam and polyfoam specs instead of lbs/ft3) so you can convert the foam density guidelines on the site from one to the other by using the density conversion calculator here. For example … the polyfoam density of the mattress you linked is 38 kg/m3 which converts to 2.37 lbs/ft3 which is a high quality and durable material.
Lower back pain when you wake up in the morning is a typical “symptom” from a mattress that doesn’t keep you in good alignment over the course of the night. There is more about primary and secondary support and pressure relief in post #2 here and post #4 here and there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience on a mattress and the most common causes for them in post #2 here.
[quote]I don’t know if this forum is the right place to ask for advice, also because it seems to mostly cover mattresses that are sold in the US (and, as I pointed out, I live in the Netherlands), but I’m starting to get tired (literally) of this whole mattress thing so was hoping you might give me some good recommendations. Maybe it helps to know that I am female, late 20s, 5’ 6, 150 lbs, sleeping (mostly on my side, sometimes with one leg pulled up) in a queen by myself, and have a bit of a pear shape (ie short legs, quite heavy thighs/ bum, however not particularly wide hips bones compared to the rest).
and best buy according to a Belgian consumer organisation.[/quote]
I would also be very skeptical about “best buy” recommendations because each person is different and a mattress that is a great “match” for one person in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) may not be a good match at all for someone else and may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on.
Unfortunately nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that make each person unique for anyone to be able to make specific suggestions about which mattress may be the best “match” for someone else based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or "theory at a distance (see ]post #2 here).
While some zoning configurations can certainly be helpful for many people … they can also be detrimental depending on how well your body type and sleeping positions fit the specific zoning pattern of the mattress. There is more about zoning in this article and in post #11 here and post #2 here but your own personal testing and/or experience on a mattress will be the only way to know whether a specific mattress or zoning pattern is a good match for you.
While I can’t help you with any specific suggestions because I don’t know anything about your market … I’m certainly happy to help with “how” to choose or to answer any specific questions you may have that I am able to answer or to act as a “fact check” about any of the information you are given in your research.
Phoenix