Latex vs Memory Foam

I am having lower back pains due to my sagging coil mattress. My wife sleeps on her side and I sleep mostly on my back. Would you recommend latex or memory foam mattress? Where would be few good places to look in Greenville, SC? What do I need to look for in the support layers of a MF mattress? What do you think about hybrid mattress’s? Thanks!

Hi Austinpage,

I don’t recommend either one because the choice between the two is really a matter of personal preference. The two main functions of a mattress are to provide pressure relief and spinal alignment in all your sleeping positions. Both softer latex and memory foam can provide good pressure relief if they are used in the in the thickness and softness that best matches your body type and sleeping positions. Latex in firmer versions also makes a great support material in the deeper layers. Polyfoam and innersprings are the other two more common support layers or components. Memory foam is too soft to be used in the support layers which is why a typical memory foam mattress will have polyfoam under the memory foam (in effect a “memory foam mattress” is really a “memory foam/polyfoam hybrid”).

You can read about some of the pros and cons of latex in this article and some of the pros and cons of memory foam in this article but the most effective way to know which one you prefer is to test various combinations of both in the stores. They are very different materials with a very different feel and performance but in the right layering and combination they can both be part of a mattress that provides good alignment which is the most common “solution” for back pain as it relates to a mattress.

Once again this would be a matter of personal preference. There are many people who prefer a latex/innerspring hybrid for example and would choose this over any other combination of materials and components. Hybrid comfort layers that use memory foam and latex can also provide a unique feel and performance and for example I personally like the feel of a thin layer of latex over a thin layer of memory foam with latex underneath this (although more people would probably prefer this type of layering with the memory form on top). No matter what material combinations you prefer in a mattress in the comfort layers or support layers though … if it provides you with what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and your Personal preferences) and it has the quality and value that you want (and you have confirmed the quality of the materials regardless of what they are) then you have found your “perfect mattress”.

The better choices I’m aware of in the Greenville, SC area are in post #2 here.

Phoenix