Lower back and hip issues, looking at memory foam and wondering if best choice? Help Phoenix

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi there. Thank goodness for your great forum, and thank you of course :cheer: Done much reading here and elsewhere already

I am having some back and hip issues ( 44 yr old) and need a new bed, current one is 9 years old and I guess I waited too long to change it, it dips a LOT towards the middle, it was an $1800 Serta.

Anyway I am looking at Memory Foam and there is a crazy amount of choices, most being bad of course like with Spring Mattresses, companies only care about money as you well know. Note I am in Toronto Canada so have quite a few options that way too.

So here is my question for you that I hope you will answer, please keep in mind that I would never come back and say, “this bed you recommended is horrible” or anything like that. I just think you are very schooled in this arena, and would really value your opinion!!!

Please let me if you were going to spend up to 2K or so, which bed would you buy if you were me? I am thinking medium firm, not sure if this is best for me and my breaking down body or not, I would rather go a little firmer than I need at first as after a year and especially 2 I am sure things will be quite a bit softer. I am a side sleeper. I am also thinking 4lb density (everyone seems to agree this is about the right lb density to combine comfort and durability) for the top 6" (or like 5lb for top 3" if memory foam, and 3 or 4lb for 3" under that). Not sure if a base of only 2lb is dense enough to hold up over time, seems many manufactures are doing this though. Note I do get warm easy, so Tempupedic may not be best, not sure how much their breeze options really work. Possibly gel infused memory foam might be best for top layer. I am leary of going with more than 3" of memory foam for the top layer as I think it might end up getting too soft, with heat it conforms but even more worrisome for me is what will this foam be like in 2 years time? Likely not providing much support and possibly making the bed too soft again putting me back to square one.

Maybe this is a good option: http://www.costco.com/Novaform-14"-Serafina-Gel-Queen-Memory-Foam-Mattress.product.100031193.html

I have heard/seen that Latex is possibly the best of all options.

If you could give me your top 3 models of choice maybe and/or top 3 manufacturers you think I should stick to that would be fantastic!

There are so many to choose from, Novosbed is quite active here, maybe they are a sponsor? They seem to make decent stuff, so hard to judge from internet reviews there are so many fake ones posted for everything these days. I do worry about the 4" of memory foam (or more) on their beds also, and for the Sonota wonder if 3.7lb for the Gelfoam is dense enough to be durable for long haul.

Thanks SO much for your help!!!

Cheers

Jason

2

Hi jayjonbeach,

You’ve probably seen both of these but just in case you haven’t … the first place i would start is post #1 here and the information ,steps, and guidelines it includes. Toronto also has many better options and possibilities and they are listed in post #1 here. A forum search on “toronto” (you can just click this) will also bring up many posts and threads with feedback from members in the Toronto area.

As you can see in mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here … I can only speak to quality and value of a mattress, help you identify any possible “weak links” or risks, and help “connect” you to better options and possibilities in your area or online. There are just too many variables and unknowns for me to tell anyone what to buy out of all the thousands of options that are available (many of which I don’t even know about and most of which I have never tested). My role is to help you with “how to choose” rather than “what to choose”.

2 lb base foam is a good quality and durable material in a base layer and I would have no problem buying a mattress that included it. The support layers are not usually the weak link of a mattress as well and the upper comfort layers are much more important part of determining the overall durability of a mattress.

The only way to know the quality or value of any mattress is to know the details of all the layers that are inside it. While Tempurpedic has some good quality mattresses … I personally wouldn’t consider them in terms of value when there are so many choices available that use the same quality of materials and have much better value.

As a group … memory foam is generally the “warmest” of the foam materials but there are also many other factors that are involved in sleeping temperature that you can read about in post #2 here and some of the newer more open celled and faster response memory foams or gel memory foams are cooler than the less open cell slower response memory foams that were more common a few years ago.

You can read some of my thoughts about the Serafina here and about buying from Costco in post #4 here. Again though … you would need to know the details of all the layers in a mattress (either from them, searching the forum, or searching the internet) in order to know its quality or value and make any meaningful comparisons with other mattresses. Neither of these would be my first choice by any means.

Unfortunately I don’t have a top 3 or a top 10 or even a top 100. Again … my goal is to hep you with how to choose not what to choose because nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress. I base my assessments on what is in a mattress not by the brand label that is on it.

The membership list is here and Novosbed is not yet a member but there are a number of new members that will be added over the next few weeks so I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw them on the list relatively soon :slight_smile:

You have a bit of reading to do first but if you follow the steps one by one you will have the best possible odds of making a great choice :slight_smile:

Phoenix