Bliss Latex Mattress Feedback and more questions (of course) Please

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi Phoenix – thank you so much for this wonderful forum. You have made my mattress shopping much easier…not that it has been easy. :S I thought I’d provide some feedback on my progress thus far.

Choosing Latex was an easy decision. I really hated the hardness and molding quality of memory foam in the store (never owned one). For five years I slept on a Sleep-Number-Bed which was awful. I used to wake up with pressure point pain and back pain and stiffness every morning. I tried every number from 30 to 100 and none of them made any difference. It was like sleeping in a hammock – wait – that must have been because it IS a hammock! :wink: Good riddance!

I purchased a Bliss Elegance mattress from the Healthy Back Store and have slept on it for a couple months. I definitely am sleeping much much better and more comfortably – no question about it – I love the latex. I sleep hot and have not had a bit of extra heat from the latex mattress at all – to me it even has a cooling quality if anything. The mattress has not had any odor and I am sensitive to chemical smells so definitely would have noticed that. It feels very supportive and very cushiony at the same time. PPP! I wanted to preserve the feel of the latex so tried jersey knit sheets without a mattress protector and that felt great. But I have cats and dogs so like to use a mattress protector so I put a regular mattress protector (the thin terry-cloth type) and regular sheets on it and they work fine too – although they do reduce the squishy-cushiony feel a bit – but it’s all good – I love the latex.

I am having two problems though. First, I don’t feel the Bliss Elegance keeps my spine in alignment. I weigh about 200 (although I am losing weight and will end up about 160) and most of my weight is in my hips and thighs. I am a side sleeper and it feels like my hips sink in too far and cause stress in my low back. Since I have back issues, I am having a difficult time teasing apart the pain caused by the mattress and the pain caused by my back problems. The second problem is I am having significant knee pain, of all things – in both knees and pretty much every night. I haven’t figured out how a mattress would cause my knees to hurt but have been wondering if it’s linked to spine alignment? Have you heard of that? ???

SO, I am about 90% decided to exchange the Bliss Elegance for a Bliss Essence…or maybe the Technogel Armonia which feels very similar and is running a very close second. A store employee suggested I should go to a totally different technology rather than just changing to another latex mattress. I don’t know. I do know I don’t want to start out needing a topper so am trying to buy a mattress that works for me. I figure if the Essence (or Armonia) start to feel too hard down the road – ie if I have pressure points – I can always add a topper to add cushioning. It’s hard to go back the other way.

I have found three different sets of specs on this forum for Bliss Latex Mattresses and would love to know which one is the correct one. I contacted my local Healthy Back Store and they say they carry the Active Fusion newest style Bliss Mattresses – and they all have the blue cover – but they also give different specs than the ones somebody posted on this forum.

My store says their Elegance and Essence Active Fusion specs are as follows:
ELEGANCE (12"):
3" Natural Talalay Latex 19 ILD
2" Natural Talalay Latex 24 ILD
6" Natural Talalay Latex 36 ILD
1" Support Stabilization Base Extra Firm Talalay latex 50 ILD

ESSENCE (10"):
2" Natural Talalay Latex 19 ILD
1" Natural Talalay Latex 28 ILD
6" Natural Talalay Latex 36 ILD
1" Support Stabilization Base Extra Firm Talalay latex 50 ILD

Someone on this forum posted the Bliss Active Fusion specs in June 2013 as follows:
Beautiful- AF all latex - 12" Natural Talalay = I THINK THIS IS THE ELEGANCE
3" ActiveFusion Fast Natural Talalay 21 ILD
3" Natural Talalay Pressure Relief 24 ILD
6" Natural Talalay Latex Support Core 36 ILD

Nature- AF all latex - 10" Natural Talalay = I THINK THIS IS THE ESSENCE
2" ActiveFusion Fast Natural Talalay 21 ILD
2" Natural Talalay Pressure Relief 28 ILD
6" Natural Talalay Latex Support Core 36 ILD

Does anybody know which is correct?

THANK YOU
Cindy

2

Hi crstroup,

It’s certainly possible that a mattress can aggravate knee pain because like any other joint in the body it needs to rest in it’s natural alignment and not in the outside of its natural range of motion. If your hips or thighs are sinking down too far when you are side sleeping then it can cause the lower extremities which are lighter to be higher than the upper leg which could flex the knees sideways and cause stress in the knee joint. In some zoned mattresses there is a firmer zone under the knee for this very reason. Back sleepers can also benefit from a pillow under the knees to flex the knees which can also help with tension or pain in the lower back.

Lower back pain can also be from a mattress that has comfort layers that are too thick and soft which can cause the pelvis to tilt and bend the spine out of its natural alignment as well.

The Elegance would probably be closest to the PLB Beautiful which is a very soft mattress and there are many people that are in a higher weight range that love the “feel” and softness of it but don’t do as well with alignment because the upper layers are quite thick and soft. It’s not uncommon at all to see this in my experience (and several forum members have had similar back alignment issues with the Beautiful). Of course it would also depend on physiology because each person can have a different weight distribution and sink into a mattress differently depending on the shape, surface area, and weight of each part of their body.

I don’t know the specific makeup of the Healthy Back mattresses because in the past they have used their own design that was similar but not the same as the PLB mattresses and there have been several versions of the specs posted including post #1 here and post #11 here. You can compare this to the version 3 designs of the Pure Latex bliss which are in post #2 here and the version 2 PLB designs which are in post #1 here (which at least until very recently are still being made in some areas of the country). Version 1 was the same as version 2 except they used an inch of firm polyfoam on the bottom layer instead of the latex. The specs you posted are the version 2 Beautiful specs but this can’t be correct for the Elegance because they use the fast response talalay in the top layer and doesn’t come in 19 ILD (only 15, 21, and 27 ILD).

If I had to guess I would say it was most likely the same as the version 2 Beautiful except they replaced the top inch of 19 ILD latex with 15 ILD talalay GL fast response (which used to be called Celsion and PLB calls Active Fusion fast response) but they are the only source of information that can verify this.

Either way the Elegance has at least 5" of soft latex (or softer) in the top layers

Phoenix

3

Oh that does make sense (about the knees). I do carry weight in my hips and thighs so I suspect what you describe is what is happening. Very strange. I am going to test drive the Essence and Armonia one more time and make a decision. Probably going to go with the Essence as I just love the feel of latex – so comfortable!!! And like you said, why pay more for 1/2" of gel on top. I will keep you all posted. And I really do appreciate your help!
Thank goodness you are here…there!
:lol:

4

I want to provide some feedback on my Bliss experience – and have to say that it is indeed, blissful! I went to a local Northern VA Healthy Back Store last August and purchased the Bliss Elegance - the softest one of the Bliss line. It felt great in the store and for a few nights at home but then I noticed my back and knees were really bothering me in the morning. I gave it a couple months to be sure but just never got completely comfortable on the bed and it wasn’t easy to turn over or get out of the bed or sit up on the bed because it was so soft – had such thick comfort layers. So I exchanged it for the Essence – the middle firmness – and have now been sleeping on it for five months and just love it. It’s a great mattress and I highly recommend it. I also recommend the nice guys at the Tysons Healthy Back Store. Very helpful and knowledgeable.

And that YOU Phoenix for all of your help. Buying a bed is such a difficult job. Thank you for making it easier for me.
Cindy

5

Hi crstroup,

Thanks for taking the time to share your update and feedback … I appreciate it :slight_smile:

It’s great to see that you and your mattress are getting along so well and now that you are past the initial break in and adjustment period you can reasonably expect things to stay that way for many more years!

Phoenix

6

So after 7 years of sleeping on the Bliss Essence, I developed a pinched nerve in my back. Not caused by the mattress, but not helped by it. My physical therapist thinks I might need a firmer mattress. The Healthy Back Store clerk (who seems pretty knowledgable) suggested going with a softer mattress because it would support my lower back. I am 210 lbs and a side sleeper. Most of my weight is in my hips. Does that make sense? And I wonder if a topper might do the trick instead of a whole new mattress.