Vital stats:
6’
165 lbs
soreness in left lower back/hip
predominately side sleeper but I’m all over the place (probably b/c my current mattress is uncomfortable)
I generally prefer a firmer mattress, but really just want the best alignment and relief. My shoulders, butt & hips are all about average in breadth for someone of my height/weight.
I live in NoVA near Tyson’s Corner.
I tinkered around on SleepEZ.com but got hungup on the selection of the 3 or 4 layers. I called their number and some guy on a cell phone with horrible reception picked up and I couldn’t hear him very well. Weird call routing…
Cost isn’t a huge issue but I want to stay sub-$1500 if possible. Sub-$2000 for sure.
Any help is appreciated. I’ve read all the guides/posts I could find on here, but I’m looking for some concrete suggestions. All I really know for sure is that I should get 3"+ on top and Blended Talalay.
Just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines about “how” to choose a mattress that is the best choice for you.
I don’t make specific recommendations because there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to use a formula or “theory at a distance” to recommend a specific mattress for someone else out of all the many thousands of options that are available in the market (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here) so while I can’t tell you which specific mattress to choose … I can certainly help with “how” to choose and if you follow the steps in the tutorial post one by one you will have the best possible chance of choosing a mattress that is the best match for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.
SleepEz is one of the members here which means that I think very highly of them and they compete well with the best in the industry. They are very knowledgeable, experienced, and helpful on the phone and if your first conversation had horrible reception I would call them back to discuss which of their options would likely be best for you. They (or any online manufacturer) will be the best source of guidance about their own mattresses when you can’t test them in person and they are in the best position to help you with the options they have available and help you “match” their different options to your body type and sleeping positions than anyone else.
All of their mattresses are certainly good quality/value and there are no “weak links” in any of them so it’s really a matter of deciding which of them would be the best “match” for you based on a more detailed phone conversation where you can provide them with more details about you, the mattresses you have tested or are used to sleeping on, your preferences, and the criteria that are most important to you.
Thanks for the quick reply. Today I visited a couple stores around me. I had a good experience at Healthy Back, and am leaning towards the Healthy Back Bliss Essence:
I’m sure you’re familiar with this model by now as I searched the forum and there are plenty of posts that mention it. Any final words on whether that is or isn’t a smart choice?
Two questions if you wouldn’t mind:
The sales guy insisted that slatted wood was bad for this mattress and that I need flat base. Either way, I need a new foundation since my current foundation is an old school box spring. But I’ve seen you recommend slatted on this site - so I want to make sure I’m not getting a flat base when I should be looking elsewhere for slatted.
The 5% referral discount - I didn’t mention it when he gave me my quote. I’m getting roughly 20% off already b/c Memorial Day sale. Is the 5% referral discount stackable with an already discounted price? Saving another 5% would be sweet.
The Essence uses high quality materials (blended Talalay and Talalay GL fast response) so if your careful and objective testing confirms that it’s a good match for you in terms of PPP and it’s also the best match for the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you compared to the other finalists you are considering then it would certainly make a good choice.
You can see my thoughts about a solid surface foundation in post #10 here. Unless there was a compelling reason to choose otherwise (such as wanting an adjustable bed which has a solid surface) I would tend to choose a firm non flexing slatted support surface with gaps between the slats of no more than 3" for a latex mattress. There is more about the types of support systems that generally work best for different types of mattresses in the foundation post here and the posts it links to.
Healthy Back isn’t a manufacturing or retail member of the site (the membership list is here) so they don’t provide a discount or bonus to members of the forum.