I’m 5’10", 150 lbs, mostly a side sleeper. My wife and I have been tried several mattresses in recent years, hoping to find one that doesn’t give me a sore back, but no matter what we try, I wake up with a sore lower back. Most recently we tried a Nest Hybrid Latex and love the feeling of the mattress when we first lie down. But inevitably I wake up sore, even after trying different firmness options. So we’re preparing to return it and go back to our previous mattress, a Saatva innerspring, which also makes me sore but a little less so.
Occasionally when I travel and stay in a hotel, I get good sleep on a hotel mattress, but for the most part, I am super confused and unsure why I can’t find a mattress that is compatible with my back at home.
Welcome back to the TMU Forum ! Thanks for your question.
Ongoing lower back pain is quite frustrating and is an indicator of any number of things, most often improper spinal alignment from incorrect mattress support. Thanks for mentioning your height, weight and sleeping position as these details help better understand your sleep preferences relative to optimal mattress construction. Could you also describe your wife’s personal statistics?
Sorry to hear that your Nest Hybrid Latex didn’t quite suit your comfort preferences. You don’t say which firmness of hybrid that you tried, but perhaps dunlop latex’s feel was not quite what you are used to, compared to your Classic Saatva mattress.
We have chatted briefly in the past regarding hotel beds in general, but I failed to ask for specifics of whether you noted which brand innerspring mattresses you liked from your different hotel visits, perhaps you could speak to those a little. Looking forward to learning of your thoughts.
My wife is 5’7", 130 lbs. She tends to feel fine on most mattresses, and really likes the Nest hybrid latex with the soft latex layer on top. I’ve been using a medium latex layer on top, which is more comfortable than the soft. The Saatva we have is a “Plush soft” since the luxury firm seemed quite firm.
Re: hotel innersprings, I don’t recall which exact brands the mattresses were. I think one was from a marriott and carried their own name, others were typical big name mattresses, ex: Sealy. I don’t know why one of these would be more comfortable than a latex hybrid though.
Thanks for the update on your wife’s personal statistics, that is helpful for understanding what mattress materials and layering combinations you each may have preference for. You both are of BMI/ normal weight ranges and as she “tends to feel fine on most mattresses”, your comfort preferences are what we’ll address for now. Your sore back may result from improper spinal alignment on your mattress, which could be caused by a variety of factors. When you have time, try this experiment: have your wife take several pictures of you while you are laying on your side of the mattress (in your preferred side sleep position), to review how your head, shoulders and hips all align. You might be surprised to discover visually what you have been “feeling” during your sleep in terms of whether you are not sinking enough into the mattress, whether the pillow is causing awkward positioning, etc.
These hotel mattresses may simply be constructed differently, mdrnsleepr. In recent years as hotel chains have become more competitive in differentiating their brands to consumers, much research has been devoted to creating private label hotel mattress programs. Hotels have made significant investments in providing guests with better beds and better rest while travelling and depending on the hotel chain, the mattress varies from something you may recognize as a “big name”/ Sealy to one that is uniquely customized for that hotel brand. Fun fact: if there was a hotel whose bed you are particularly a fan of, you may try calling their Concierge desk and asking if someone can tell you more about their beds, they may be able to help . Looking forward to hearing more updates and which way you decide to go from here.
This is great advice, it’s how we were able to see issues when I was in the process of building my own mattress too. I would suggest taking photos of both you and your wife so you can see how the two compare and why one might have back pain while the other doesn’t. As someone that has back pain with store mattresses I too have noted the same thing with hotel mattresses and basically came to the conclusion that the store bought ones are designed to be throw-aways in a few short years where the hotel ones seem to be much better constructed. The other issue is a home bed you sleep in the same place in the bed every day for years where a hotel bed has a far more varied use and seems to break down much more evenly over time.
Appreciate you comments of support, Mattrebuild as well as your suggestions to @mdrnsleepr. You make good points regarding a home bed’s higher use level vs. that of a hotel bed’s more varied/ more intermittent use and with an individual’s preferred sleep positions being used on a daily basis, a mattress’s components durability (or lack thereof) play a significant role in how long it will properly support the user. Another point of importance that I forgot to add earlier is laying on your pillow in the picture for a complete view of your body’s alignment, as well as photographing each of your preferred sleep positions in cases of multiple ones (a back sleeper’s alignment for example would be quite impacted by too high/ too thick a pillow for proper alignment). Routine pillow replacement is important to maintaining a comfortable, healthy sleep environment too, something that’s a bit trickier to address as often we develop something of an attachment to a favorite pillow over time… .
! Thanks for your question.
. Looking forward to hearing more updates and which way you decide to go from here.