I have a firm 6 inch core from Arizona premium mattress and a 3 inch topper in both medium and soft from sleep on latex. I have been rotating back and forth with the toppers but I fee like I am not getting enough support in the lower back. I am a side sleeper, 5’11, 170lbs and skinny build. The soft topper relives pressure points in hips and shoulders, but my lower back hurts. The medium topper caused some pressure points in hips and shoulders with less low back pain, but I still have low back pain nonetheless. I think the problem may be the firm core. I’m not sure if it’s not firm enough to keep my hips from sinking in too far? Also, the core is 85% synthetic which seems like it could effect the supportiveness as opposed to all natural. I have also tried the 2 inch toppers and they did not give me enough pressure point relief. I also tried the Combi-Zone pocket coils in the past and found it was supportive in the hips but not enough for the rest of my back causing alignment issues. Just looking for some advice. I was thinking of trying sleep on latex firm toppers as a support core since they seem to be firmer that Arizona premium mattress’s firm core, but I’m not really sure where to go from here.
Welcome back to the forum ! Thanks for your question.
Thanks for your support of expert trusted members Arizona Premium Mattress and Sleep on Latex! I think highly of their component knowledge, design expertise and customer support ethic. Sorry to hear of your lower back pain problems; that can be certainly frustrating to deal with. Now, some questions for you, mnn4532: are you using all Talalay/ all Dunlop latex or a combination of the two in your DIY? How long have you had your mattress? What size is it? What are you using for a foundation? Have you reached out to either Arizona Premium or Sleep on Latex for their thoughts?
You can better determine what’s going on with your spinal alignment using some pictures. If you have a smart phone, you should be able to use the timer feature in picture mode to give you time for setting up the shot of your lying on the mattress. It would be interesting to see how your neck, shoulders and lower back all align using each of the 2 configurations you described, as well as how your pillow is supporting your head and neck. Have you changed pillows with your new setup? The core being a blended latex most likely would not impact the support/ firmness that you feel. Firmness is related to ILD/ density, with the higher of either number yielding a more firm foam.
[quote]Just looking for some advice. I was thinking of trying sleep on latex firm toppers as a support core since they seem to be firmer that Arizona premium mattress’s firm core, but I’m not really sure where to go from here.
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You may consider a check-in with Sleep on Latex before placing an order, the TMU Support Team can help with that if you like. We can explore a bit more as well, following your answers to the above questions. Let us know what you decide and good luck .
My own experience from trial and error…I too have a Soft (ILD 20) dunlop, and a Medium (ILD 30) dunlop from Sleep on Latex. I too swapped them and found the same problem (not enough support with back for soft, too hard for hips and shoulder, medium). I then got a combi-zoned 8" coil believing that if I used the soft dunlop with the extra support from the center combi-zoned (the center is firmer) it would fix my problem. I was wrong! What I ended up doing was going back back to the regular 8" quantum edge pocketed coils, and bought a 3" talalay medium (ILD 28) latex topper. This is a perfect setup for me! I am a side-sleeper, 6’4", 225lbs. Hopefully you can return or exchange your latex toppers what for works for you! One more bit of advise would be a talalay topper with an ILD rating of 24. I know of one vetted vendor from this forum that sells it BUT, they DO NOT offer returns (3" Natural Talalay Latex Mattress Topper - Mattresses 24/7)-choose the medium soft selection. Obviously be cautious with your choices as most of these DIY products can be costly and/or difficult to repackage to return to the vendor. Hope this helps save you time, money, and experimentation. ~Spoon
I’m using all Dunlop. It’s a queen. It’s not that old because I keep swapping out layers. Arizona premium mattress originally suggested a medium latex core for my build. but I thought that would be too soft for me and have not reached out to them since. The foundation is a wood box spring with roughly 2.5 inch slat spacing over the bed frames woods slats. The bed frame slats have like 5 inch spacing so I did this for added height and proper spacing between slats. There is also wood center supports attached to the bed frame so there is no sagging. I will have to try and take some pictures to see what’s going on there with alignment. The pillow is a low profile memory foam which seems to be working pretty well as I don’t really have neck issues, more so just lower back.
Thanks for the suggestion, i will have to look into that a little more. I looked at the specs on Legget and Pratts website and its interesting that the ILD for that model in 8 inch is 531 everywhere but the edges and the combi zone is 486 everywhere but the center and edges. So it appears to be firmer in the areas I need the support. The problem for me with the combi zone is that it was like a cliff between the center and back area. It supported my hips but not the rest of my back. That would probably be better for a black sleeper but not a side sleeper.
Like spoonman01, I too tried the combi-zoned 8" coil base but not matter what comfort layer combo I threw at it, I could never get it to work. I never did try the QE Bolsa but if you ever did go back to springs that would be the one I would suggest. The base and comfort layers work in tandem with each other which is why it’s so hard to get something really dialed perfectly. Changing one item then affects both the comfort and alignment while sleeping. It sounds to me like the core is too firm which is not allowing you to fully sink into the mattress which is needed to provide proper back support. The more curvy you are, the more important this aspect is for your sleeping comfort. The 3" comfort layers are simply not enough to take up the space to fully support your back properly (which is then done by your muscles/tendons all night…which is then why it’s to painful when you wake up in the morning). You could try stacking both toppers to try it and see how it feels but I think you’ll find the base needs to be softer (more conforming) in the end to really be able to get the alignment you need to sleep well.
Thanks for the reply. Going softer in the core, rather than firmer, might be the solution. After reading your reply that makes more sense.
How does the QE Bolsa compare to a medium latex core in terms of firmness? The springs are the cheaper option so I would prefer to go that route. Also, there seems to be a 6 inch and 8 inch option with the 6 inch appearing to be firmer based on the specs on Leggett and Pratt’s website. I guess I’m asking what firmness level they would be considered. Arizona Premium mattress has the 6 inch and Latex foam factory has the 8 inch.
! Thanks for your question.
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