My previous mattress was causing a lot of pain. I thought that a latex mattress would be the solution because a lot of people love their latex mattresses. I received the mattress in the first week of November and have been sleeping on it every night since. The problem I’m having is it feels too firm. My should does not sink in so I’m having should and arm pain. I also have pain in my hips. At the same time it feels like it’s not supportive enough for my hips so I experience tightness in my hips and over the next few days the tightness goes up my side.
I have to roll over many times because it hurts and each time I have to roll over I wake up. It has not been the bliss I was hoping for. I’m looking for suggestion on how to make it better.
I’m 5’6", 180lbs and am mostly a side sleeper. The mattress I got is five layers of two inch layers. They are firm, firm, medium, soft, soft.
Thank you for your replies. I didn’t think to remove one of the soft layers because my brain thinks that if the mattress is too firm then I need the soft layers. I have now removed one of the soft layers and will give that a try. I will report back later if that works.
Are these layers Dunlop or Talalay or Blended Talalay? Where did you purchase these layers from? SoL’s firm dunlop ILD is different from the firm Dunlop from another vendor. So, all these details matter.
I suggest calling the store where you bought the mattress and asking their advice. I am 115 lbs side sleeper and I sleep on Soft on top, medium in the middle and firm on the bottom (3" layers). That was the best combo I could find that would be soft enough for my hips and shoulders but firm enough for my back.
All of the layers are all Dunlop. I bought the mattress from Sleep Majestic which is a few shops from MFC and Natures’ Embrace. I believe it’s manufactured by Nature’s Embrace.
I’ve removed one of the soft layers and interestingly there is more give and my shoulders sink in more. Sleeping on my side still feels a bit like I’m not fully supported and am getting tightness along my and hip. I’m thinking about removing the other soft layer but wanted to give this a bit more time first. I do get to exchange up to two layers but I didn’t want to rush into it quite yet.
I also purchased a latex mattress Dunlop. 3 in of firm 3 in medium and 3 inches of soft. It was anything but good. It’s highly resilient. And that resilience is not firm but pressure coming back from the product itself. It’s very resilient! It is very difficult to fix. The main problem I found out though is that the medium is much more resilient than the firm it might be better to put the soft on the firm and the medium hello The Firm. You might notice that the pushback is not as much. But Dunlop is very dense and very hard to sleep on I found. I bought t a l a l a y 19, which is soft. I thought it would be good. I made the construction firm medium soft. Very difficult to sleep on. I changed it to medium firm soft. It was much easier to sleep on. Still it’s not ideal and I wish I did not go down this rabbit hole. I should have just looked at Consumer Reports and bought their recommendation. Or maybe I will buy a spring system but latex was not the right product for me at all. I’ll repeat myself it’s just too resilient. Good luck this has been my experience. And anybody reading this I warned you latex is a tricky customer.
Yeah that was my experience as well with latex. I love that it’s worked so well for others but for me it was too resilient. After going a bit insane trying to find the perfect one I ended up with a pillow top innerspring.
Don’t know if you’re still working in this, but a few thoughts:
There are Latex people and there are memory foam people. The feel is very very different.
I believe Talalay has a considerably softer less bouncy feel than Dunlop
Personally, having slept on 9" of Talalay for 20+ years now, I’m afraid of Dunlop in the upper layers.
At the very least your experience confirms my worry about Dunlop, as I suspect that’s an issue.
I’d first decide what feel I was looking for vis a vis memory foam vs latex. I’d next pick up a medium in either one and replace the top lay with same. “Soft”, in either memory foam or Talalay, seems something I’d want in 1", not 2". It at all.
In fact, I’d be really tempted to buy 3" of medium talalay and dump both top layers. If the 9" v 10" left you with too much space in the cover I’d test first, then drop in 1" of HD foam (firm) at the base or medium in the middle.
Mind you I know just enough to be dangerous, so talk this over w/somebody smarter than I am…
Thank you for the suggestion. I am still looking for ideas. I switched my pillow to a flatter one and that’s helped a bit. I haven’t gotten the pain in my hip bone.
It’s gotten colder so I switched to a heavier comforter. I know that latex doesn’t respond to heat the same way that memory foam does but I feel like the soft layer is too soft and my body sinks right down but my knees and ankles don’t so I get pain in my knees and ankles. I’m considering putting the soft layer under the medium or even the firm layer. Or going with Cramnero’s suggestion of moving the firm layer higher to the top.
Since my last reply I have switched up the layers and it’s now soft, firm, medium, firm. Initially, it felt very firm but my shoulder sinks in more. It’s been a couple of weeks and I’m feeling like there isn’t enough support and I’m getting a sore lower back but my shoulder isn’t sinking in enough. I contacted the company and they suggested two options:
Soft
Med
Firm
Firm
Firm
or
Soft
Medium
Medium
Firm
Firm
I responded back to ask how to decide which option to go with. It would mean I would have to exchange one soft layer for either a medium or a firm depending on what I decide.
I’m looking for feedback from anybody who has tried either of these options or have any suggestions. Thank you in advance.
Since your shoulder is the priority here, I’d probably lean towards the 2nd recommendation. I’m late to this convo - can you let me know what the thickness of each of the layers you already have are?
Hi Nikki,
Currently I have five 2" layers of different firmnesses. They are soft, soft, medium, firm, firm. Two layers of soft was too soft I removed one layer and that is much better.
My main issue is that my shoulders don’t sink down enough on this mattress so I’m experiencing shoulder pain. At others suggestions, I tried different configurations and the one that allowed my shoulders to sink in the most was soft, firm, medium, firm but it was also causing low back pain. My favourite configuration is soft, medium, firm, firm but my shoulder doesn’t really sink down and my low back still hurts a bit but it’s tolerable.
I contacted the company to ask what suggestions they have and they suggested the below options. Honestly, I don’t know much about latex mattresses and I don’t understand how adding another layer of medium or another layer of firm would help my shoulders sink down to a comfortable level.