Latex mattress help!

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Forgive me for rambling, but I’m desperate. I am in a mattress-buying nightmare and need help!

My primary concerns are 1) my long-standing sensitivity/allergy to many chemicals and dyes and 2) my very narrow shoulders and wider hips which can be problematic with mattresses. Also, I have mild sleep apnea which is not an issue if I sleep on my side, but I must sleep on my side. I’m a writer and researcher by trade, but sheesh, I am completely overwhelmed with all the mattress considerations. I purchased a Serta Honoree firm plushy top mattress recently, because my Simmons innerspring mattress had become a giant cavernous hole and because I was concerned about chemical off-gassing from memory foam with my allergies. After a week or two, I developed intense, radiating back and shoulder pain and numbness in my fingers. One day, one of my hands actually turned grayish blue and stayed that way for hours after I got up. So, I switched the mattress for a Serta iSeries Vantage Plus medium/firm innerspring mattress. It arrived a few days ago and holy moly–the mattress reeks of chemicals. Seriously reeks. I have aired it out for two days with open windows and a fan, and still, the entire room is permeated with a chemical smell. With my allergies, this is impossible. Throughout this ordeal, I have been sleeping on my sofa off and on for several weeks, and have developed pretty severe daily back pain. I am afraid I’ll end up losing the money I paid for the Serta, but the back pain and nerve problems and allergies are even bigger concerns.

So, I’m wondering about latex mattresses. I’ve never seen one. I’ve read all about them. I’m thinking a natural latex mattress with no synthetic latex and no polyfoam or memory foam or any other gaseous sort of foam would be best, but I don’t know where to begin. I was almost sucked into the Astrobed site, but I found a great post here about that. I’m concerned about latex being too firm, as well, as I need to relieve pressure on my shoulders when I sleep on my side.

I live in the Huntersville, NC area. Thanks so much!

2

Hi Need2Sleep,

The first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

There is more information about organic, natural, chemical free, green, and “safe” materials in post #2 here and the other posts it links to that can help you decide which materials you are comfortable with having in your mattress and that can help answer your questions about “how safe is safe enough for me?” because these types of issues are complex and are generally specific to each person and their individual sensitivities and circumstances.

Post #2 here also has more about the different ways to choose a mattress (local or online) that can help with how to make the most suitable choice in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) and how to minimize the risks of making an unsuitable choice with each of them.

The choice of material is always a personal preference and while latex is a very high quality, “safe” and durable material … like all materials not everyone will like how it feels so it makes sense to test a range of latex mattresses that use different types and blends of latex in different firmness levels to get a sense of how you feel about latex in general.

The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Charlotte, NC area (subject to the guidelines here) are listed in post #2 here.

Phoenix

3

Thanks so much! I’ll be reading these links, and I just called Todd at Lake Mattress and will be going to his shop soon.