La noodle or wool topper for our soon-to-be-ordered latex mattress (have herniated disc)

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
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Good evening, Phoenix–

First I want to say THANK YOU for your dedication to sharing your knowledge on the complicated and confusing topic of mattresses. Your passion for helping people in their quest to find a restful and rejuvenating night’s sleep is apparent, and you have a gift for being diplomatic and realistic at the same time. Bravo! (Also thank you to everyone who has taken the time to post-- the information shared and received has been invaluable in my research.)

I have been reading this site on and off for a few months, digesting the information in doses, and believe I am finally ready to pull the trigger with the help of my Christmas bonus. I have known for some time that latex would be the best choice for my husband and I, and plan to go with the SleepEZ Organic 10,000 queen model (which I found thanks to this site. The discount is appreciated, and I agree with many other posters that I have been surprised to reach the owner on the phone each of the times I have called with questions.) I realize it would be ideal to try out some latex mattresses in person, however Fox mattresses in Daytona, FL is the only “recommended” dealer nearby (about 2 hours south of us) and I know I will need more than 15 minutes lying on a mattress to realize if it will work. Additionally, I do most of my shopping online due to a demanding job schedule/little free time, and the ability to switch out layers with Sleep EZ is very appealing.

My question here is twofold: part one regarding the mattress, part two re: the topper.

Here is our info:
Me: 33 years old, 5’7" 150lb… 75% side sleeper (with a pillow between my knees), 25% on back (pillow under knees)
Due to stress and inactivity, a hernaited disc in my lower back has been flaring up recently. Also- I often have pain in my upper shoulders- part stress, part sleeping on our tired spring mattress on my side.

Him: 39 yo, 6’1" 200lbs… he also sleeps 75% on his side (hugging a pillow to keep shoulders from collapsing) and 25% on back.
My husband is quite active in many physical pursuits and doesn’t have the pain issues I have. He does, however, tend to sleep “hot” and sweats in his sleep.

We tend to like cushy, softer sleep surfaces - although neither one of us enjoys the feel of memory foam- and are currently sleeping on a compacted down comforter on top of our horrible mattress. (When we first switched from my full pillow top to his queen mattress sans pillow top my hips and shoulders were on fire so I pulled the old comforter out of the linen closet.) Not ideal, I realize. Which is why I am here!

Shawn at Sleep EZ recommended soft/med/firm for my side of the bed + med/firm/x-firm for my husband’s side. After speaking with him and perusing this site I feel that Talalay would be our latex of choice (SleepEZ offers the choice of the two with no additional cost), as it is more uniform in its surface. Also-- I realize now after educating myself on this site that support is key, so I want to be sure that our set-up is soft on top but provides proper support. and I am eager to hear your thoughts on the Dunlop vs. Talalay for our case.

Part two of my question is regarding a topper. (Not necessary, I realize, but we like that cushy feeling.) I’ve narrowed it down to the Cozypure La Noodle shredded latex topper and (their?) wool topper. I am aware that the wool, in addition to being more expensive, will compact eventually. However, its temperature regulating properties appeal to me as my husband “sleeps hot.” I have read conflicting opinions here regarding whether latex regulates body temperature/is cooling or not. What is your take, Phoenix? Would one of these toppers be preferable for my herniated disc issue?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you have a moment.
Many thanks!

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Hi wesleylaine,

Thanks for the kind words :slight_smile:

I think that the choice between Talalay and Dunlop is primarily one of personal preference because they do have a different “feel” with Dunlop being a little less “responsive” or lively as well as getting firmer faster than Talalay. While this can make it more “supportive” in the sense that it can “stop” the heavier parts from sinking in quite as much … support and alignment are different and alignment is the real key and is based on how evenly you sink into a mattress.

Both have a variety of ILD’s available and are very “supportive” but in general Talalay has a softer “feel” to it even in the same ILD. Given your preferences and the information you have given … my tendency would be to go with Talalay (based on “feel”, softness, and ventilation/temperature regulation). Bear in mind though that while my own personal preference is Talalay … when my daughter went to buy a mattress recently she tested both and preferred Dunlop all the way through her mattress so this preference doesn’t necessarily run in families much less in the population at large :slight_smile:

The first thing I would suggest is to sleep on the mattress “as is” first to see how you respond to it for the first few weeks. You may be surprised to find that you don’t need a topper at all. The 10000 has wool in the cover which would already add to temperature regulation and I would base my choice on your personal experience on the mattress which will give you a much better reference point for what if anything to add.

I am currently testing the LaNoodles and it is a very “fluffy” topper which is somewhat of a combination of a featherbed and latex in terms of feel and performance. It is surprisingly soft given how relatively thin it is and it’s great for adding a softer hand feel and a touch of extra softness without the risk of a thicker topper in terms of alignment. A wool topper will tend to be firmer and provide more localized pressure relief than overall pressure redistribution. Of course being shredded latex and using less latex material in the topper … it is also more ventilating than a solid latex layer which along with the organic cotton cover would translate into cooler sleeping for most people. The latex inside can also be re-arranged to either be even or have more latex in certain areas since it is “free flowing” inside the cover.

On the temperature control side however … wool will be more temperature regulating than latex because although latex is the most breathable of the foam categories … it is still a foam which is an insulating material, it’s just less insulating and more breathable than other foams which in turn means it tends to sleep cooler. Wool can also hold moisture inside the fiber which keeps it away from your body which in turn helps temperature control because higher humidity feels warmer than lower humidity against the skin. You can read a little more about some of the many factors involved in sleeping temperature in post #2 here.

So I would first sleep on the mattress for a few weeks to assess what if anything you need to adjust and then based on your experience of both softness/firmness (and pressure relief and alignment) and sleeping temperature I would choose any additional topper based on my actual experience.

I think that this would depend on both alignment and pressure relief because with a herniated disk it can be very important to have both pressure relief and to make sure you are sleeping in neutral alignment. While clearly sleeping out of alignment would not be a good idea with a herniated disc, it may also be sensitive to pressure if you were sleeping on a layer that was too firm which can also cause tossing and turning and “twisting” away from the pressure which also wouldn’t be good. The real answer would be “just enough” softness to relieve pressure without sacrificing support. I think that the 10000 is in the right ballpark for both but again I would use your own personal experience and any specific “symptoms” you experience after a reasonable adjustment period rather than any “theory” ahead of time to decide on what if anything you may need to add. Once you know which if any “symptoms” you want to deal with … then matching them to the specific qualities of different toppers is much easier.

Hope this helps

Phoenix

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It does help, thank you!

For some reason it didn’t occur to me that trying the mattress on its own would be a preferable way to start a proper evaluation since we’ve done little physical research as of yet. I’ll start with just a mattress (Talalay to start) and see how we/I react to that before I start tweaking/adding toppers.

We have just planned a trip to NC after Christmas and I plan to call a few recommended/mentioned manufacturers I found listed on the site (Rocky Mountain, Colton and Sleep World) to see if we can make arrangements to try some latex options in person while in the area.

I appreciate your insight and the additional information you shared that I hadn’t gleaned from other posts.

Happy holidays, Phoenix!