Latex is a PAIN! Need Advice, Please

[phoenix]

Hi madinsomniaz,

The first night we thought the bed firm, and in the morning had aches :blink:. We know to give our bodies time to adjust, so we waited 2 weeks. No better. We both have spine issues and we’re both side sleepers. The store has a 60 day swap-out comfort guarantee, but we were wary of going with a lower ILD for 2 reasons: 1.) we didn’t want to compromise spinal alignment, and 2.) we read that lower ILD’s can form depressions sooner.

Using thicker/softer comfort layers can actually help alignment and improve support for side sleeping especially (it can fill in the gaps in the sleeping profile). Firmer certainly isn’t always better (and it also depends to some degree on the layers involved because the upper layers are “comfort” layers and the deeper layers are “support” layers).

While it’s true that softer ILD’s are less durable than firmer ILD’s if the material you are comparing it to is exactly the same … latex is more durable in any ILD than it’s equivalent in other types of foam (such as polyfoam) so durability is always relative to what you are comparing it to. There is little “value” in having a mattress that would last you 20 years but is too firm to sleep on.

We decided a topper was the way to go and purchased an 3" all-wool topper in cotton casing. It felt GREAT for about 3 months, until it packed down. Now we’ve got neck/back pain from sleeping in a well :pinch:. In the meantime, our exchange period has expired. Enter the idea for a latex topper!

You can “fluff up” a wool topper to some degree by shaking it out or airing it out in the sun but wool does get firmer when it packs down. Neck pain (and possibly even upper back pain) can be a pillow issue as much as a mattress issue and it may be worth experimenting with this to see if it helps.

Ok, so we know we prefer talalay, and we’ve read a cotton/wool case can firm up a mattress, so the only question left is What ILD?

There are many variables involved in choosing the type, thickness, and ILD (where applicable) of a topper and it depends on the body type of the person along with their sleeping positions, their preferences, and the specifics of the mattress or sleeping system it’s being used on (the same topper will feel and perform differently for the same person on different mattresses). Choosing a topper can involve some trial and error but the topper guidelines in post #2 here and the posts it links to are based on your assessment of the mattress (or sleeping system) that the topper will be added to and your “best assessment” of how much more pressure relief you believe you need and may be helpful as a starting point (and hopefully an ending point :))

would “most” people be able to tell a 24 from a 28?

It would depend on the specifics of what else was in the mattress, the thickness of the topper, and on the sensitivity of the person but I think that “most” people would be able to tell the difference in most cases yes. You aren’t in a weight range that I would be concerned with going a little bit lower than 24 ILD and once again … no matter what you choose if it’s too firm for you then it would have little value to you no matter how long it lasted.

Phoenix