Desperate for your advice!

Dear forum members,
I will kindly ask you for your advice what to do next. Short history: In our quest for a better bed I purchased the Ultimate Dream Euro Top from Dreamform Bedding (Amazon.com).
The bed is firmness # 8 with (19 ILD -3’) and Chuck was great to deal with. I also purchased a 3"4" wool topper from St. Peter Mill in MN (a wool topper was recommended in one of the discussions).
The problem is that both of us feel pressure/pain in the shoulder area and the hips area. We are both side sleepers.
I am 6’ – 200 lb. and my wife is 5.2- 170 lb. I am 46" at shoulders and 42" at the hips and she is 43" at the shoulders and 44.5" at the hip area.

My first action was to add under the wool toper - 1" Talalay (soft -23-25? They do not specify from Foambymail) that I had from before and it helped with the shoulder problem but the hip area pressure remains. We also tried 2.5" coolgel foam topper but we had pain over the whole body so we took it out after only two nights althogh no pressure disomfort.

My question to everybody is what should I try next? I read the reviews of the Seven Comfort Latex topper https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/review-of-the-seven-comforts-latex-topper

Do you guys think it can help or will I be better buying 2" 14 ILD latex top?
I am so desperate for a good night sleep so any input will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

Hi aero1,

I think the first step is to identify as much as possible the underlying causes of your “symptoms” and then to see what may have the best odds of relieving it. Without first knowing what is causing them … adding layers more randomly can lead to ever more difficult, costly, … and frustrating … choices. This may involve some experimentation because each person may respond differently to different materials and layering because of all the variables involved that can’t be “predicted” with height /weight/ and sleeping position information (although it can be helpful in more generic terms).

The first step I would take is to sleep for at least a week on the mattress without any toppers (if you haven’t done this already) and then try to identify as accurately as possible what you are experiencing on the “bare” mattress.

It would also help to know the details of all the other layers or components you are using including the base the mattress is on and any mattress protector you are using.

Once you have a reference point of the mattress by itself, have identified any specific symptoms from sleeping on this (as specifically as possible), then this may help point to what the next step may be. It’s also important to make sure that you make any changes incrementally and slowly so that your body has time to adjust to each change and you can see a pattern in how it feels before making the next change.

Your upper layers are quite thick/soft for your body weights and rather than the hips being “pressure” problems the possibility exists that your hip issues could be a result of hyperextending the hip joint (it’s sinking in too far) which can also cause pain that may seem to be pressure issues because they are in the same area. In other words your challenge may be alignment related in your hips as much as pressure related (or how far you are sinking in) in your shoulders.

Have you already slept on the mattress by itself for long enough to identify any specific issues with it without any toppers?

Phoenix

PS: I should also mention that the FBM layer should be treated as a complete unknown which is “unpredictable” except through random trial and error because the odds are good that it isn’t “soft” and probably isn’t Talalay (see post #2 here and post #2 here for more of my thoughts about dealing with FBM for any purchase where getting what you order is important).

Thank you Phoenix!
As always your responses are very helpful and informative.
The base under the 3" - 19 ILD latex is foam - 8" / 2.5 lb high density. The mattress is on a box spring(from our previous mattress and in a very good shape).
We tried to sleep two nights just on the mattress without any toppers but we both felt pressure at the hips and at the shoulders area. That is why I decided to purchase the wool topper (one other member found this to work the best with the same firmness # 8 ).
I do not have any mattress protector and I really do not want to spend any more money if not necessary.
Thank you again for all of your help!

Hi aero1,

Is your box spring an “active” type with some spring in it or a solid firm type with no flex at all?

In general a foam mattress does best with a solid non flexing foundation so considering that there is a fair bit of soft foam on top of your mattress (relative to your weight) it may be worthwhile testing the mattress on a solid surface (or even the floor) to see what differences it would make (if your current box spring has flex to it). It would be particularly helpful to see how this affected your hip area.

A wool topper can reduce the compression and firm up a mattress that has soft foam on top (like yours) and it can also provide some localized additional pressure relief for a mattress where the comfort layers are firmer (unlike yours). Each person’s experience and perceptions can also be very different.

I think that a shredded latex topper may have better odds of providing both some extra pressure relief and less risk of alignment issues (see post #2 here). While there are no guarantees … again because what works well for one may not work well for another and I’m not so sure what the underlying cause of your discomfort is (and it may be both alignment and pressure relief issues in different areas) … I think at least the odds are better that it may help.

Phoenix