Hi, I recently joined after spending the whole day looking at mattresses online and researching the various types of materials. Your site is the most informative I’ve ever seen regarding mattresses. It’s truly an encyclopedia and better than asking your friend what he thinks about his mattress.
Now to the question:
Three months ago I bought an IKEA slatted king bedframe for my 3 year old spa sensations 8" foam mattress. The spa sensations metal foldable bed frame broke and I thought I would upgrade. Both of the Spa Sensations products were from Walmart and cheap. The new frame/old mattress combo was fine for the first 3 weeks, but then the pain started.
I wake up every day now when I sleep for 6 hrs or more with incredible back pain about 3 inches below the base of my neck and extending down the middle of my back along my spine. The only thing that has changed in my life is the frame. Physical activity, work, etc. is the same.
I’m 99% sure it’s the frame/mattress combo. So, I don’t want to change the bed frame because I really like it and spent $$$ on it. I’d like to replace the mattress and I hope this corrects the issue.
I was thinking about getting the Tuft and Needle 10" based on all the reviews. Also, for metrics, I’m 29 years old, 5’10 ~200lbs maybe a few more, but not an excessively large physique. Would the Tuft and Needle give me the support and comfort I need in a King with the OPPLAND slatted King Bedframe? I’m torn between the Med. Firm Best Mattress Ever and the Tuft and Needle. Both seem pretty good for support and comfort. I usually fall asleep on my stomach. I’ve never experienced chronic morning back pain before without some obvious cause to point to, i.e. passed out on a couch, or floor, drunken sleeping etc. This pain and the mattress/ bed frame debacle is all new to me.
I read your posts about the Millenials and one size marketing. Spot on and with such clarity. Amazing!
Any other advice, tips, wisdom on deciding before taking the plunge would be great.
Thanks and I appreciate the great site!
-Ian
Welcome to the site … and thanks for the kind comments
[quote]Three months ago I bought an IKEA slatted king bedframe for my 3 year old spa sensations 8" foam mattress. The spa sensations metal foldable bed frame broke and I thought I would upgrade. It was fine for the first 3 weeks, but then the pain started.
I wake up every day now when I sleep for 6 hrs or more with incredible back pain about 3 inches below the base of my neck and extending down the middle of my back along my spine. The only thing that has changed in my life is the frame. Physical activity, work, etc. is the same.[/quote]
It’s also possible that the mattress has softened and changed because many of the Spa Sensations mattresses use lower quality materials that can soften or begin to break down relatively quickly.
An easy way to know whether it’s the mattress or the foundation is to put the mattress on the floor. A good foundation should provide the same non flexing and rigid support as the floor and if the mattress works well on the floor then it’s more likely to be the foundation and if you have the same issues with the mattress on the floor then it’s more likely to be the mattress.
While it’s not really possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because there are too many unique unknowns and variables involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or any “symptoms” they experience … 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 make the types of changes that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing.
It’s also possible that the reason for your “symptoms” is a pillow issue rather than an issue with your mattress or your bedframe.
I’m not sure which of the Ikea slatted base systems you have in your bedframe but a flexible slat system can also change the feel and performance of a mattress compared with a non flexing rigid support system (it can either be detrimental or beneficial depending on the person and the mattress) and the flex in the slat system in your Ikea bedframe could also be contributing to the issues you are having as well. Once again you could confirm this by sleeping on your mattress on the floor.
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would be very cautious about about using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because any mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (see post #13 here).
I would keep in mind that the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
There is more information about the new breed of online mattress that I call “simplified choice mattresses” in post #1 here and there is more about the specifics of the Tuft & Needle and some of the other simplified choice mattresses in post #2 here in the same topic.
The Tuft & Needle uses good quality and durable materials and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress in terms of durability for those that aren’t in an unusually high weight range but the only way to know how well you will sleep on any mattress will be based on your own careful testing or your own sleeping experience. Like all all the simplified choice mattresses they have a great return policy that lets you try the mattress in your bedroom instead of a showroom with little risk so the “worst case” is that if the mattress isn’t a “good enough” match for you in terms of PPP and you don’t sleep well on it that you can donate/return the mattress for a refund.
Spa Sensations is one of many Zinus brands that tends to use lower quality materials (such as 3 lb memory foam) in their mattresses which would be a weak link in the mattress and I would normally suggest avoiding them. I believe that the Spa Sensations 8" memory foam mattress uses 2" of memory foam over 2" of supersoft polyfoam over a 4" polyfoam base layer but I don’t know the density of each of the layers. You would need to call the retailer you purchased it from to find out the quality/density of all the layers (a knowledgeable retailer should know the specifics of all the mattresses they sell) but it’s very likely that the memory foam is 3 lb and I would avoid any mattress that uses 2" of 3 lb memory foam in the upper comfort layers of the mattress.
A forum search on Spa Sensations (you can just click the link) will bring up many more comments and feedback about them and their mattresses but the gist of all of them is that I would avoid them unless you can find out all the information in this article so you can confirm that they meet the minimum quality/durability guidelines here.
