Dreamfoam Mattresses -- Lower-back pain woes

This is an update from this post.

About two months ago, I purchased a level 7 (24 ILD) ultimate dreams mattress from Dreamfoam, After having about two weeks of back pain every morning, I decided that the mattress was likely too soft, and my pelvis was sinking in a bit too deeply. After posting about it here, I called Chuck and spoke to him about exchanging the level 7 for a level 5, which I ultimately did decide to go ahead with. I received the level 5 (32 ILD) a little less than three weeks ago, and while the back pain is a little better, I’m still waking up miserable. This mattress is significantly firmer than the previous. When you initially lay on it, it almost feels too firm, but when you take into account how deeply you are sinking into it, it feels much more like the softer level 7. My girlfriend thinks I’m a lunatic, and that I’m supposed to accept waking up miserable as part of getting older, but I have a hard time believing that a 30 year old should be experiencing any significant pain like this every morning without cause.

What is so frustrating here, is that now that I’ve tried two different firmnesses, I find them both to be bad for the exact same reason. You’d expect one to be too soft, and the other too firm, but in reality, the problem is they are both too “saggy.” In both, my pelvis will sink significantly farther than my shoulders. On my back, this is less of a problem, but on my side it causes my spine to be quite misaligned. I had thought that a firmer ILD would solve this issue, but it hasn’t done enough to keep me pain-free beyond about 4 hours of sleep.

What’s more, is that I know if I were to order an even firmer mattress, I’d be getting into territory where it would become uncomfortably firm. As it is, this level 5 causes me a bit of pressure point pain in my shoulders and the top of my hips. A firmer level might raise my pelvis up, but it will come at the cost of other pains.

My main problem is that I don’t know how to proceed. I’ve considered sending them both back and shopping locally, but sending both these mattresses back will cost me nearly $200. I’m considering going back to a spring mattress, but despite all the problems I’ve had with these latex models, I really do love the certain qualities of them. It seems a shame to walk away from that.

By the way, this issue of sinking too deeply in the pelvis was present with spring mattress as well, but it was far less pronounced. I’ve considered a zoned mattress, but they’re prohibitively expensive from what I’ve seen.

I’ve also thought about adding slats or something under the middle of the mattress to prop up my pelvis, but, in my mind there is something kind of wrong about having to jerry=rig a new mattress into being comfortable. Also, I’d be worried about damaging the foam in some way. I’ll do it if necessary, but I’d rather have a mattress that works without modification. Not to mention the additional cost. This exchange is already pushing me way over the original budget.

Thanks for any advice. I’m at a loss right now. It hurts my brain to even think about it any more.

Hi Eido,

I’m sorry to hear that your mattresses aren’t working out as well for you as you hoped for. Unfortunately there are too many unknowns and variables involved for me to make specific suggestions based on “specs” (either yours or a mattress) and I also don’t know anything about your body type, sleeping positions, or the mattresses that you have slept on in the past and done well with … but there is more detailed information about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.

There is more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.

These posts are the “tools” that can help with the analysis, detective work, or trial and error that may be necessary to help you learn your body’s language and “translate” what your body is trying to tell you so you can make the types of changes or additions to your mattress that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing.

When someone describes a mattress as feeling “saggy” then that’s usually just alternative terminology that describes a mattress that in some way is too soft and that is “allowing” the heavier parts of your body to sink down too much. This could be either because of comfort layers that are too thick or soft and/or support layers that are too soft for your specific body type, physiology, sleeping style, or other circumstances or health conditions that can affect how well you sleep on a mattress or how well it keeps you in good alignment in all your sleeping positions over the course of the night.

There are also some suggestions about mattresses that are too soft in post #4 here that may be helpful as well and the first thing I would check is to make sure that the foundation under your mattress isn’t contributing to the “symptoms” you are experiencing. You can check this by putting the mattress on the floor for a few nights and seeing whether your sleeping experience changes.

I would also make sure that you talk with Dreamfoam because they would be more familiar with your mattress and may also have some suggestions that may be helpful based on feedback from their customers that have had similar issues to yours.

Based on the very limited information in your post though it seems to me that in one way or another both of your mattresses “as a whole” may be too soft for you.

If the comfort layers of your mattresses are too thick or soft for you or the support core of your mattress is too soft for you then it’s possible that a different latex or latex/polyfoam hybrid that has a different design or different firmness levels in the layers and components inside it may be a good “match” for you. Zoning can also be helpful for those that have more difficulty finding a a suitable mattress or that have more “challenging” circumstances (see post #11 here about zoning) so it’s also possible that a particular zoned mattress that has a zoning configuration that is a good match for you may be a good choice (and zoned mattresses come in many budget ranges) but the only way to know whether any mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP with any certainty (regardless of the design or the type of materials inside it) will be based on your own personal experience.

Phoenix