Hi redwinger,
The first thing I would suggest is a more detailed conversation with Christeli because they would have much more specific knowledge of the properties of the different foams they use and the effect of the different configurations on an a"average" customer. For example I don’t know the temperature sensitivity or relative softness of their different density memory foams or the relative softness of each configuration in terms of “pressure relief” softness or “support” softness (see post #15 here) and when you are trying to fine tune or customize a mattress it’s important to identify the underlying cause of any symptoms you are having in terms of primary support, secondary support, or pressure relief (see post #4 here) and more specific details of the symptoms you are experiencing. This way it’s more likely to identify which types of changes have the highest odds of success in improving the specific symptom you are working on reducing or eliminating.
In general though I would take a symptomatic approach and identify the specific symptoms you experience on any combination rather than the “feel” of the mattress which is more subjective and not necessarily related to specific symptoms.
In your description of the original layering it seems that you didn’t have any symptoms (at least that I could see from your description) and the main issue you had was the impressions and recovery of the memory foam. If this is correct then this may just be the normal response of memory foam which takes more time to recover than faster reacting types of foam (which is why some people talk about a feeling of “sleeping in sand” with memory foam). This by itself doesn’t indicate the need to make any changes unless you also have specific symptoms on the mattress (muscle strain or soreness, back pain or discomfort, or pressure points which lead to limbs tingling or falling asleep or pressure points that are sore or other symptoms that can be identified). Did you have any specific symptoms in this configuration?
This is where their knowledge of the different components would be necessary. I would have thought with more memory foam on top than with your original configuration that the impressions would have been more not less so this may have to do with the specific response and characteristics of each layer which I don’t know. Again though … your specific “symptoms” would be the guideline I would go by. Did this configuration cause you any pain or discomfort in any of your sleeping positions? Can you describe how it differed from the original configuration outside of the “holes” that you felt.
One of the most important “clues” to what may be happening is also to identify the specific changes in any symptoms in each configuration because this can also point to the direction of change that may be most beneficial to you. This means that it would be helpful to contrast and compare the differences between the two different configurations you have tried and how your symptoms changed.
All of this is made much more complex of course because you are also dealing with a back condition which may mean that unusual combinations may work better for you than it would for someone else whose back was healthier and in a more normal range.
This is the part I’m not clear on and it would be helpful for any guidance from them (or on the forum) to know the specific type and location of the pain along with the sleeping position you experience it, when it happens, more about your body type and weight and sleeping positions, the temperature in your room, the type of mattress you had before and how your symptoms on this mattress differ from your previous mattress, the differences between your symptoms on the two configurations, and any other information that may be helpful in identifying the underlying cause of any pain or discomfort and what type of changes have the best odds of correcting it.
The first step (outside of talking with them) is to identify specific symptoms that you experience in each configuration rather than just how each combination “feels”. It’s the actual symptoms that are always the most important and how the mattress “feels” can be dealt with as a preference issue rather than as a necessity.
Phoenix