Looking for Innerspring or Hybrid Mattress Recommendation for Shoulder/Hip Pain and Tight Lower Back

Mattress Talk Needs & Personal Preferences
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My husband and I are both side sleepers most of the time (with some back sleeping thrown in). We’ve tried about 5 mattresses. He hates memory foam and prefers old school innerspring. I’m 5’7" 155 lbs and he’s 6’4" 250 lbs. We are hot sleepers.

The mattresses we’ve tried:

  • Saatva Classic (resulted in back pain for him)
  • Costco’s Sealy Mount Auburn “Medium” (rock hard, shoulder/hip/back pain)
  • Kirkland S+F Lakeridge (rock hard, shoulder/hip/back pain)
  • An innerspring from US-Mattress that I don’t recall the name of that was just complete crap
  • Another I can’t recall at all

I’m trying to stick to Costco due to their return policy, but it’s looking like that’s not doable at this point. We just want a bed that relieves back pain and doesn’t cause all sorts of pain and tightness and hopefully lasts for a while so we don’t have to go through this search again in the near future.

Another option would be to get a topper for the S+F Lakeridge, which is our current one.

Note: There was a Serta that we slept on in an airbnb that is comparable to the Cobalt Calm Plush that was comfortable but we only slept on it for 5 days. An old-school 25 year old innerspring mattress in someone’s guest room also relieved back tightness for the week we slept on it.

Recommendations/advice would be very much appreciated!

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Hello eed1010.

Welcome to our Mattress Forum. :slight_smile:

Wow! Looks like you’ve tried quite the range of beds. How long did you test these beds for? Was it in-store, or did you have them home for some number of days before returning?

Okay, so so far:

  • Costco
  • No memory foam
  • Preferably innerspring or similar to a traditional innerspring
  • Looking to avoid back pain
  • Side sleepers

Side sleeping is the most common position, and because it has a “curvier” profile, side sleepers need layers they can sink into for pressure relief. Without the right support, you’re likely to feel pressure on your hips and shoulders, which could lead to soreness or numbness. A good comfort layer for side sleepers generally falls between 2-4” to create a deeper cradle and distribute weight more evenly, helping to fill in gaps and reduce pressure points for a better night’s rest.

As you’ve found, the firmer mattresses are creating these aforementioned pain points.

Well, no bed is going to be a cure for back pain unless a bed is the reason for the back pain. You can read more about the reasons for back pain on a mattress in this handy post. You may also find this forum topic interesting and/or relevant.

How do you feel about this current mattress? Is it feeling too firm, too soft?

NikkiTMU

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The S+F Lakeridge is too firm. We have shoulder/hip pain and tight lower backs.

This mattress testing experiment has been over the course of years. We tested each one for at least 6 months if not longer. I tracked down the other bed we tried. It was the Saatva Latex Hybrid. When I’d called to say we didn’t like the classic Saatva, they sent us a latex hybrid to try. We tested that for four months, but my husband got a tight lower back and hip pain from it.

I totally understand that a bed won’t cure back pain. Sorry, should have clarified my statement — it would be awesome to find one that doesn’t exacerbate it.

If Costco doesn’t have any good options, we’re open to going elsewhere.

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Hi again!

The good news here is that there are ways to remedy a too firm mattress. It’s when people are hoping to firm up a too-soft mattress where we end up having to give them some bad news.

In this case, it sounds like playing with toppers could be a potential way to provide the comfort and support you both require, but also to help prevent (or add) any additional hip and back pain.

In the previously linked post I shared Phoenix’s thoughts on lower back pain. I think in this case this section applies most:

In some cases a mattress that is too firm can also cause lower back issues because the body doesn’t sink in far enough to fill in the gaps in the small of the back and/or the waist (depending on the sleeping position) and the recessed curves of the back can sag. Finally if a mattress is too firm and there are pressure points on the hips (for side sleepers especially) then you may “twist” the lower body away from pressure which twists the spine and and puts it out of rotational alignment which can also cause back discomfort or pain in the area where the spine is twisted.

It sounds like you’re both not big fans of memory foam. Is that because it sleeps hot? Or is it the sinking/stuck in the sand feeling you’re looking to avoid?

It also sounds like the Saatva latex hybrid didn’t go well. Do you happen to remember if it was medium/firm?

If that’s the route you’d like to explore, I’d suggest perhaps a soft talalay topper 3 - 4" in thickness, preferable with a company that has a great exchange or return policy.

The other option would be to explore more traditional pillowtop + innerspring beds, instead. Something like the DLX Classic may be worth considering. If so, definitely call them and explain to them what you’ve mentioned to us. The Classic is a doublesided, flippable bed with a soft side and a medium side and has a more traditional mattress feel as opposed the foam slabs in a typical hybrid.

NikkiTMU

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Thank you! We don’t like memory foam mainly because of the sinking/stuck feeling. We also are hot sleepers, so that hot aspect isn’t ideal either.

Saatva Latex Hybrid was a medium I think (on the firm side, as opposed to soft). It wasn’t as rock hard as the Mount Auburn or Lakeridge.

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As Doctor of Chiropractic and someone that has worked on designing, testing and working hand and hand with thousands of customers over 20+ years, I can tell you that I completely understand the challenges you are experiencing and would be happy to help! The mattress I created called Back Science really addresses all of the issues you are both experiencing, including solutions that Saatva was not able to address. First, if you look at how Saatva is showing their zoning, you will see that it is accomplished by putting an extra piece of memory foam under a portion of the mattress layering, which is not the same. The Back Science mattress offers more structured lumbar support through its double zoned, patent pending Lumbar-Flex interlocking support that does not have the speed bump like raised portion Saatva uses which can definitely put more pressure on the hips, which is a concern. Also, Back Science was specifically tested with the Mattress Checker App. to objectively verify that your postural alignment will be properly maintained in order to help prevent the lower back from sinking too deeply, while allowing more pressure on the shoulders, which can lead discomfort and potential back problems over time. The Back Science Mattress is something I created after many years of seeing patients who suffered from back and shoulder issues due to poor mattress support and was developed by specifically performing hundreds of postural checks using the App. to really ensure that it works.

Another difference comes from the quality of the coils and density of the foams used. With Back Science, we are using extremely high-quality, all U.S.A. made components, such as our over 1,000 count individually wrapped coils and is a true hybrid system that uses a Hypergel foam on the surface, which will give that weightless pressure relief, but with a much more buoyant/springy surface that differs substantially from memory foam, but is far more contouring than a traditional quilted cover and therefore, more pressure relieving on the hips and shoulders. Another difference between Saatva and Back Science is that Saatva our two companies offer a 365-night sleep trial, but to that point, you will never know how a mattress will perform until you sleep on it, so unlike Saatva, our full 365-night trial allows for free customizations if needed to first try and solve the issue before returning or exchanging the mattress. That is part of Back Science’s success, though 9 out of 10 Back Science users love the way the mattress performs without any modifications. In your case, I really believe that the Back Science Series 3 would be perfect for relieving your shoulder and hip issues. However, if modifications are needed, it is a simple exchange of comfort and/or zone layering via UPS that can insert into our proprietary GripLock™ modular cover system.

Regarding the mattress causing your body to heat-up, you will be happy to know that our Back Science Hybrid Series mattresses all use our patented Airflow Transfer System that allows air to ventilate through the thousands of small holes in the top foam layers and channel out the sides, while allowing the reverse to also occur in order to get up to 100 Xs more breathability. According to a recent TrustPilot.org Survey, 96% of the respondents were cooler on Back Science than their last mattress.

Lastly, I will add that I get the privilege of working direct with thousands of customers thanks to our flagship Ultrabed mattress store location in Southern California and I can tell you from my many customer interactions, that Back Science does bridge that gap that is found when traditional spring mattresses and memory foam mattresses won’t solve the problem that is required when someone requires more pressure relief, but does not want to sink in too much and gets hot.

I hope that helps explain things, but feel free to write back if you have any questions, You can reach me back at this forum or email us direct. Also, if you do purchase a Back Science mattress, be sure to use the 10% off TMU10 discount code we give to The Mattress Underground members.

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