How to buy an orthopedic mattress

Hi Ladies & Gentleman

I have been suffering with chronic backache of recent years. My doctor said that I should look at buying an orthopdeic mattress.

I have always thought them to be firm, and, from what I’ve read on the internet, firmness creates pressure. :unsure:

I’d appreciate any advice.

Many thanks.

PS (Why hasn’t England got such a wonderful mattress forum such as this???)

Hi angeloalbertini,

Unfortunately there is no specific or meaningful definition of an orthopedic mattress and a mattress that is a good match for one person’s back, body type, sleeping style, and personal preferences may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on.

The goal of every mattress purchase is to choose a mattress that is a good match for you and that provides the primary support, secondary support, and pressure relief that keeps your spine and joints in good alignment in all your sleeping positions and a mattress that does this for one person may not do so for someone else … even if they have similar back issues. There is more about primary and secondary support and their relationship to pressure relief in post #4 here and in post #2 here.

As you will see in the links … a mattress that is too firm can provide poor support under some parts of the body just like a mattress that is too soft can provide poor support under other parts of the body. The goal is always to find a mattress that keeps your spine and joints in neutral alignment in all your sleeping positions and that provides “just enough” pressure relief in your most pressure prone sleeping position (usually side sleeping for most people).

While I’m not familiar with the UK market … the mattress shopping tutorial here has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice and find a mattress that is a suitable “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and all the other criteria that are important to you no matter which country you live in because the steps would be the same in every country.

Outside of North America there may be a little more research involved to find the manufacturers and/or retailers that are knowledgeable, experienced, and transparent about the materials in their mattresses, but of course your comments or any questions you may have along the way that I can help with are always welcome :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Hello Phoenix

Thank you so much for such a detailed reply. You have been incredibly helpful and i really appreciate that.The articles that you gave me links to were great. I paid particular attention to post 2 and 4 which i found helpful. I actually discovered a couple of other excellent posts on your website.

Your 5 steps to a perfect mattress was helpful, Five steps to your perfect mattress - Support and Alignment - The Mattress Underground :slight_smile:

There is so much to read once your start… I found some other articles i think more for the UK market… I dont know whether you want to read them. I’ll put the links here for you just in case. The information is a little thin but seemed to be focused more on buying mattress as you ended up on there mattress websites site afterwards! Typical! :S https://cutpricemattresses.wordpress.com/2014/11/26/what-is-an-orthopedic-mattress/

So far your site seems to be the most information packed so i will continue to read and eventually i will post the conclusion to my mattress hunting journey!

Once again thank you so much for the reply you have been most helpful.

Kindest Regards
A Albertini

Hi angeloalbertini,

There is a fair bit of incorrect or misleading information in the page you listed and as you mentioned it’s appears to be more about advertising and marketing than it is about providing accurate information.

I think that the Wikipedia page here is much more accurate when it describes “orthopedic mattress” as more of a marketing term with little specific meaning than anything else.

Phoenix

Hello again

Great thank you, i’ll look at the wiki page right now :slight_smile:

Thanks again