To give a quick rundown of the gist of the problems I’ve been facing for the past few years: I’ve hardly been able to sleep without waking up with some type of discomfort and pain or another.
Many doctor visits and 3 mattresses later, hardly anything has improved for me.
The peculiar thing is that all these pains improve massively after a single night’s sleep on my parents’ house guest room, where they keep a 15+ years old mattress (exact same type they’ve been using for their own bedroom)
Being at least a decades old mattress I know it’s not a pocket sprung one, and it doesn’t feel at all like any modern bonnell mattress I’ve tried either.
An older thread named Why do I sleep better on cheap innersprings (non-pocketed) than anything else? offers some insight, but perhaps you could help me some more.
The mattress in question:
-Is only 18cm (7 inches) in height
-Little in the way of comfort layers, yet somehow still more comfortable than any modern mattress that boasts of ‘high quality comfort layers’
-It feels like the body is about to come into contact with the coils, but they don’t feel ‘pointy’ or jabbing the body like on a cheap bonnell mattress
-It’s fairly noisy
-It feels noticeably firm when you first lie down, but not in an intrusive way. ‘Firm’ as in good support, but cushiony enough that you won’t feel your limbs numb with pain the morning after
-After years upon years of use, it’s developed two dips, a minor one in the shoulder area and another in the hips area. In that regard too it’s different. The two dips are contained in the specific pressure point areas, in a way that the mattress as a whole looks like a terrain of hills and valleys.
Fairly ridiculous request overall, but since any label or marking that could help identify the brand and more importantly the type of mattress is either faded or gone.
Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Ishmael_1.
I’m sorry to hear of your ongoing pain on waking up - it certainly sounds like your old mattress is not providing adequate support any longer.
Your mattress is specific to you and your PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences0 and based on your stats (Height, BMI, Sleeping position(s) and any underlying health issues. To begin with, if you have not already, you can read the mattress specifications you need to know so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the mattress durability guidelines here to get an overview of what you are looking for in a new mattress.
You have certainly set up an interesting challenge for yourself! While, as you have described, its’ impossible to tell what type of mattress is at your parents’ house, I can certainly make a few points and observations. You mentioned you did not like the Bonnell coils you have tried…Bonnell coils are hourglass shaped, and are interconnected with a metal mesh to make the spring system. While this provides uniform support, some people, as you have found for yourself, find this aggravates their pressure points and causes discomfort. It sounds like your parents mattress is an older innerspring pocketed coil, where the more coils, the more responsive and motion controlled it is. These usually have a layer of latex or memory foam above the coils to provide both comfort and support.
Simply based on your statement the mattress is ‘decades old’ and that it feels ‘like you are about to come in contact with the coils’ we can make an informed guess that this was some sort of latex or blended material that is quilted into the top – at that age, memory foam would not likely be that comfortable to sleep on.
You further say it has’ developed ‘dips’ in the shoulder and hip area – this is common with older mattresses. That these are contained may indicate that portions of the comfort layer/innersprings are breaking down. These dips can cause issues with spinal alignment and joints over time, good that you seem to have not experienced this with your occasional use.
Since you know the mattress thickness is about 7 inches, and that you want to avoid Bonnell coils, you might want to take a look at the offerings of the trusted members of the site, many offer pocketed innerspring coil mattresses with latex, foam, or hybrid components. While you can try to approximate the feel of your parent’s old bed, only you can tell which materials, mattress thickness, and support systems will be right for you, ideally by trying them out in person. You may want to reach out to any Members whose mattresses you are interested in as well, as they have experience in matching the feel of older mattresses for consumers; though you have limited info on the one you are trying to match, it would give them an idea of where to start.
Hope this gave you some points to follow up on.,
Basilio