Help me Think this Through

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Phenix, great job with the site! Super helpful for all of us non lemmings. :stuck_out_tongue:

After using the site to help us identify what we were delving into with purchasing a new mattress this past month, we pulled the trigger on a new one from a local small independent maker here in Boise, Leisure Industries. Mike the owner (3rd generation) was great and we were able to talk through the process with him very easily.

We selected a mattress with the following specs bottom to top -
Aloe Vera cover
3" Visco 5lb mem foam
2" Talalay Elastic 29 iLD
3" of 2.5 HR foam
4" Polyfoam

It seemed about right in the store. Several nights in and we are no longer sure.

We both mostly sleep on our sides and variations of that with me shoulders to front and my wife shoulders to back. I am 170 she is 125

My pain is at the shoulders. My quick take based simply on what it feels like is that I am hitting the support layer in that zone.

My wife is also having upper back and shoulder pain. She seems to be tossing and turning more than she used to in our old bed, simply because I am noticing it. After reading various threads here my guess is that she is twisting her shoulders and thus getting the upper back pain. maybe her tossing and turning is her going beyond just twisting.

With the the above specs and associated symptoms We are trying to determine if this would this be a too-soft comfort layer issue or a too-hard support layer issue?

During the purchase process we slept on a mattress we both thought comfortable in a hotel. it is the Enso Denali puregel mattress. I believe i have read here that their materials quality is a little concerning, but the layering spec on that bed is as follows from bottom to top -

Cover
2’ Puregel mem foam
2" HR support Foam
3" Tri Tech Memory Foam
3" HD Poly
Also has a foam encased edge

How would this bed compare with the one we purchased?

Mike at Leisure will change out the bed to anything that works for us, but I want to make sure to try and go with the best option based on results. He has a similar model to our that uses coils in the support layer that might be a good way to add a little give to the support where needed? We also still have our old memory foam topper that we could throw on for a couple nights to see what happens to gather more data so to speak.

Thanks for all the advice and things to think about.

2

Hi drugolf,

Congratulations on your new mattress first of all … you certainly made a good quality choice :slight_smile:

[quote]Mike at Leisure will change out the bed to anything that works for us, but I want to make sure to try and go with the best option based on results. He has a similar model to our that uses coils in the support layer that might be a good way to add a little give to the support where needed? We also still have our old memory foam topper that we could throw on for a couple nights to see what happens to gather more data so to speak.

Thanks for all the advice and things to think about. [/quote]

IMO it’s much too soon to even begin thinking about making any changes to your mattress. A new mattress will break in over the first few weeks and you will also go through a period of adjustment to any new sleeping surface so I would tend to wait a month or so (or a minimum of 2 weeks) before thinking about any changes.

Post #2 here and post #2 here also have more information about the break in and adjustment period for a new mattress and also have some “non mattress” suggestions that may be helpful as well.

If you begin to think about making changes too quickly it can become overwhelming because your experience will change as well so you will have a moving target and the best suggestion (outside of the non mattress suggestions) in the first few weeks is normally to do nothing at all.

[quote]Cover
2’ Puregel mem foam
2" HR support Foam
3" Tri Tech Memory Foam
3" HD Poly
Also has a foam encased edge

How would this bed compare with the one we purchased?[/quote]

There is more about the different ways to compare one mattress to another in post #9 here but there are too many differences between them in terms of their design and materials (and not enough specific information about the second mattress) to be able to predict or even guess at how they would compare in terms of PPP or “feel” for any specific person outside of your own personal testing or experience (or of course any insights from the manufacturer who would have personal experience with both mattresses and would know much more than anyone else about how they compare).

Phoenix

3

Thanks Phoenix!

I should have said we are in our 3rd week on the mattress. NO doubt though that we want to make sure we give it the appropriate time. When I talked to mike at Leisure he was cool about the timing since I have already given him a heads up.

Of course in between sleeping in this new bed we have been going camping and sleeping on various ground and air mattresses so we probably are all messed up as it is! I am suggesting to my wife that she try a little bit fluffier pillow to see if her head is not aligning with the new better support.

Would you say our mattress as specified would be on the firmer side of things or medium?

4

Hi drugolf,

After 3 weeks you would probably have a better idea (I thought you had slept on it for less time) but your camping experiences could certainly skew your experience so I would make sure that you’ve had a few “normal” days. Checking the effects of different pillows can be a very good idea because it’s very common to need a new pillow with a new mattress because the distance between your head and neck and the mattress may have changed. Making sure that the thickness of a pillow is enough to keep your head and neck in good alignment can make a significant difference in upper body pain and shoulder pressure.

Each person’s definition of soft and firm can be very different and body type and sleeping positions will also affect the sensation of softness and firmness so a mattress that is “too soft” for one person can be “too firm” for the next.

I also don’t have any personal experience on your mattress so I don’t know anything about the specific properties of the memory foam in the top layer or how all the materials would combine together and feel for me (much less someone else) but if I had to guess I would say that for me it would probably be somewhere in a medium range but of course my definition of medium may be very different from someone else. Because you have slept on your mattress you would be in a much better position to tell me how firm or soft your mattress feels to you than the other way around :).

Once you have ruled out some of the “other” suggestions in the post I linked and given things a bit more time for your experience to stabilize then if it still feels too firm for you it would be time to consider softer versions of either the memory foam (possibly lower density) or the latex layers depending on the specifics of your experience and “symptoms” and on how much more softness or pressure relief you need but Mike will know more about the options and materials he has available and can help “talk you through” the changes that would have the highest chance of success based on your input and on his experience with the specifics of the materials he has available.

There is more information about the various “symptoms” that people may experience on a mattress and on some of the possible reasons behind them in post #2 here and the posts it links to that may be helpful (in theory) but quite frankly if you are dealing with a knowledgeable and experienced manufacturer I would put more faith in their suggestions and advice based on their knowledge of their mattresses and materials and the more detailed information that you can provide in a conversation than I would on a more “theoretical” approach.

Phoenix