Latex Mattress Help

[phoenix]

Hi HoustonPerson,

First some of the basics that I link for anyone that is experiencing “symptoms” on their mattress so we are on the same page …

Unfortunately it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unique unknowns, variables, and complexities involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or any “symptoms” they experience so a mattress that would be “perfect” for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on.

Having said that … there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.

There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.

These posts are the “tools” that can help with the analysis, detective work, or trial and error that may be necessary to help you learn your body’s language and “translate” what your body is trying to tell you so you can identify the types of changes that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing (at least to the degree that any symptoms are from your mattress rather than the result of any other circumstances or pre-existing issues you may have that aren’t connected to a mattress).

The mattress is way less supportive than “Medium-Firm” - and does not provide enough support to my lower back and hips. I weigh 107 and have not had trouble with any other mattress hurting my lower back. I can sleep on hotel mattresses and an air mattress without pain.

There are no “standard” definitions or consensus of opinions for firmness ratings and different manufacturers can rate their mattresses very differently than others so a mattress that one manufacturer rates as being a specific firmness could be rated very differently by another manufacturer. Different people can also have very different perceptions of firmness and softness compared to others as well and a mattress that feels firm for one person can feel like “medium” for someone else or even “soft” for someone else (or vice versa) depending on their body type, sleeping style, physiology, their frame of reference based on what they are used to, and their individual sensitivity and perceptions. There are also different types of firmness and softness that different people may be sensitive to that can affect how they “rate” a mattress as well (see post #15 here) so different people can also have very different opinions on how two mattresses compare in terms of firmness and some people may rate one mattress as being firmer than another and someone else may rate them the other way around. This is all relative and very subjective and is as much an art as a science.

“Support” is often misunderstood because the goal of a “supportive” mattress is to keep the spine and joints in good alignment and this requires the type of contouring support that allows some parts of the body to sink in more (softer) and some parts of the body to sink in less (firmer) and this will vary on an individual basis and the overall firmness of a mattress isn’t necessarily an indication of how well it will keep your spine and joints in good alignment because it depends on which layers are softer and which layers are firmer. A mattress that is too firm won’t support the more recessed parts of your body (such as the waist or small of the back/lumbar) and a mattress that is too soft won’t support the heavier parts of your body (such as the hips/pelvis).

The Astrabed is noticeably firmer if I move over to the very far edge, with part of my buttock and hip just over the side of the bed, but not enough to throw me off balance. I would describe the center of the mattress (on my side and on his) as “sagging.” I actually checked the tag Astrabeds puts at the foot of the bed to see whether it was marked as used - since they take back the mattresses, I don’t know if they re-issue them or at least the latex guts of the mattress to new purchasers, but the tag did not indicate that anything was re-used or re-purposed.

There are some suggestions in post #4 here that may be helpful for a mattress that is too soft or is sagging but it’s very possible that this could be related to the support system under the mattress (your bedframe and foundation). An all latex mattress will generally do best with a firm, flat, and evenly supportive support surface underneath it that has minimal to no flex under the mattress and for larger sizes with at least one center support beam that has good support to the floor to prevent any sagging in the middle of the mattress. The components need to be strong and durable enough to support the weight of the mattress and the people sleeping on it without some of the parts bending, sagging, or breaking over time. The support surface under the mattress should have enough surface area to prevent the mattress from sagging through any gaps or spaces in the support surface over time but still allow some airflow under the mattress. I would suggest that in a slatted support system that any gaps between the slats are no more than 3" (with 1 x 3 slats) although less than that would be better yet.

You could confirm whether this is an issue by putting your mattress on the floor for a few nights to see if it makes any difference.

Just for reference … returned or exchanged layers or mattresses aren’t resold or reused as new (at least it would be against the law to do so and a reputable manufacturer wouldn’t take the risk of doing so).

My physical “symptoms” are: pain in my lower back when laying on the mattress which is particularly sharp in the early morning when I’ve been on the mattress a long time and especially upon rising; pain in the hips as I try to roll over, such that I use my arms and hands to roll myself by grabbing the side of the mattress or the arm of my husb. When I wake up, I have to first try to stretch out some of the pain. Sleeping on my side is better than my back, but I have to continually during the night move from one side to the other to reduce the pain of the sag on that side. I am naturally a flat on my back sleeper, so not being able to sleep on my back for 6 months has caused me sleep deprivation, which makes me want to sleep longer, which would result in increased pain in the back/hips if I gave into it. (I’ve started falling asleep on my sofa after dinner and catching a couple of solid, comfortable hours there, before moving to the bedroom.) In my natural state, I prefer sleeping most of the night on my back, with some portion of the night on my stomach. On the Astrabed, I cannot sleep or lie on my stomach at all, because the mattress lacks so much support.

In order to put into perspective why I had trouble identifying the cause of the pain, and that the mattress certainly is the cause, I am a person of appropriate weight and substantial physical conditioning. I weigh 107 and have never been overweight. I have never had a back injury or hip injury. I feel better as the day goes onward, because I’m not laying in the bed. I am a cyclist, runner, and active in other outdoor activities. I don’t experience pain during activities, just when I am trying to sleep on the bed.

While I can’t know for certain … based on your description (and assuming that your support system is suitable for you and the mattress and isn’t the cause of the problem) … the most common cause for lower back pain is a mattress that is too soft and either has comfort layers that are too thick/soft or a support core that is too soft and I would guess that this is what may be happening.

Your mattress is a component mattress which has the advantage of having layers inside it that can be rearranged (or exchanged) to change the level of support or the level of “comfort” and pressure relief.

It would be helpful (if you know) if you could let me know the firmness of each of the three layers in your mattress and the current order of the layers that you are using (I believe the “default” is a softer 2" layer on the bottom, a firmer 3" layer in the middle, and a softer 2" layer on top). If you aren’t sure you can call Astrabeds and ask them about the firmness of the layers in your order. You may also be able to check the relative firmness of each of the layers yourself based on “feel”.

Assuming that both of the 2" layers are the same and are softer (which may or may not be the case) … the first thing I would try is to remove the bottom 2" layer and sleep on the remaining two layers for a few days (the 3" firmer layer on the bottom and the 2" softer layer on the top) and see how it affects your sleeping experience. The two layers will be loose inside the cover but for now the goal is to see how the firmer configuration changes your experience and your back pain when you sleep on your back.

Phoenix