Hi doctorx0079,
Thanks for posting the new info. Original Mattress is a very good factory direct retailer and I am glad that they provided the complete specifications set for the Serenity Latex mattress which is a good product with no weak links. This info can certainly help with finding something comparable that meets your budget. The old latex version that Original sold about 7 or 8 years ago was very similar except that they used 32/36 ILD Talalay latex as their “core” and it was a great seller, hopefully, they bring back a similar version.
You make a very good point about “the pillow” and experimenting with the mattress pillow combination. Finding a suitable pillow can be as hard as finding the best match mattress. The key, of course, is to maintain a more neutral cervical/upper thoracic alignment in all sleeping positions, but not many of us have what many physicians might describe as “normal” curvature in this region.
For sleeping on your side, it is imperative to maintain a pillow of sufficient enough thickness and substantial enough in filling to not collapse and have your head sink too much laterally. When you sleep on your back, one generally wants the pillow to be a bit thinner so that you’re not sleeping with too much forward flexion. That is why “shapeable” pillows (ones with filling that can be moved into different levels of thickness) are popular for people who sleep both on their side and back. Down, shredded foams (latex, polyfoam and memory foam), buckwheat hulls, kapok, wool, silk, synthetic fibers, and flaxseed are just a few of the offerings in this category. Additionally, many of these styles of pillows are available with an inner casing that allows accessibility to the fill to allow removal of the fill material in order to customize thickness. You may wish to check out our newest member DIY Natural Bedding that has more than a dozen DIY pillow and kit offerings and also CozyPure with their newest LaNoodle Latex Pillow custom-fill with zipper. and you’d have the advantage of being able to interface with both of them as both are extremely knowledgeable and experienced with pillow materials and configuration.
One tip for side sleepers is to place a large pillow or body pillow in front of you and rest your free arm on this pillow. This takes some of the stress off of the neck/shoulder complex. Additionally, you may wish to experiment with placing a pillow behind your shoulders when sleeping upon your side. This allows you to lean back slightly against the pillow, effectively abducting your scapula and rolling your shoulder joint forward a bit, and this can also help relieve some stress for you.
In the end, just like you mentioned, it does come down to quite a bit of experimentation, but you’ll want to be sure that you’re considering a product using more durable materials. Pillows are a very personal choice and different people will have very different pillow preferences or different opinions about what they perceive as firm and soft or the general type of pillow that “feels” good to them but some of the information in the pillow topic here and the posts it links to can help you choose a pillow that is the best “match” for you and the mattress you are sleeping on.
Thanks for the post and I look forward to hearing about your progress.
Phoenix