I’m a side sleeper, and looking at either SleepEZ or Brooklyn Bedding latex. The shoulder I lie on has always been prone to discomfort (on a medium-firm innerspring) because the mattress doesn’t have enough “give.” But if my body is out of alignment. my hips hurt.
So do I aim for a fairly soft latex (for my shoulders) or firm (for hips)? The Custom Sleep Designs approach seems ideal, but it’s out of my price range.
Hi powerdog,
Even in a non zoned mattress I would tend to aim for both. Firm enough in the deeper support layers to “stop” the hips/pelvis from sinking down too far and then “just” thick and soft enough in the comfort layers to relieve the pressure in your shoulders and “allow” them to sink in far enough. Each layer interacts with every other layer above and below it so it’s always the balance between them (comfor, support, and/or transition layers) that makes the design successful for a particular person. Layers don’t act independently of each other in other words.
If I had a choice though I would always tend towards slightly firmer (and again firmness/softness depends on whether you are talking about “support firmness” or “comfort firmness” and on the thickness, not just the softness of the comfort layers). I would also tend towards “bottom up” choices meaning that I would first make sure that the deeper layers are firm enough so the hips/pelvis are “stopped” and then add the appropriate softness and thickness for the comfort layers to “allow” the shoulders.
You can always fine tune a mattress that needs a little extra thickness or softness in the comfort layers but it’s not nearly as effective to try to “fix” a mattress that either isn’t firm enough in the deeper layers or is too thick/soft in the comfort layers. It’s much more difficult to change the support layers (unless you have a mattress that offers this as part of the design) or to “take away” thickness from the comfort layers.
Phoenix