I bought a latex mattress from Original Mattress Factory and it arrived this weekend. I tested it out pretty thoroughly in the store, and it felt amazing there, but now that Iāve got it home and have slept on it a few times, itās killing my back. Iām a stomach-sleeper and the mattress is so soft that my hips sink in further than the rest of my body, putting my back at a weird angle. Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening? Iāve been looking at wool mattress toppers (or maybe another layer of firmer latex) and various other ideas but didnāt want to commit to anything until I got some advice on it; thought Iād ask you guys as from everything Iāve read, you all seem very knowledgeable.
I tried adding a crappy eggcrate foam pad I had lying around last night and that helped a little bit. Also stuck some boards I had lying around under the mattress to make it firmer; not sure if that will help or not, weāll see tonight I guess. Was thinking of sticking a pillow under the mattress right beneath my hips to see if that helps, but wasnāt sure if that would stretch the mattress? Any other ideas?
Iāve been getting a crash course in mattresses the last couple days but it seems it would take a lifetime to learn everything there is to know, and in the meantime, Iām not getting any sleep. Thanks for any help.
(Or, barring that, anyone want to buy a mattress in the Dayton, OH areaā¦?)
Thereās an old saying that comfort (pressure relief) is what you feel when you go to bed at night and support (alignment) is what you feel when you wake up. In most cases ā¦ people will just test for comfort when they are shopping for a mattress but alignment is more difficult to ātestā and this is just as important a part of how suitable a mattress may be for you.
The OMF mattresses uses good quality materials (Talalay latex with an inch of quilting foam) but the quality of materials has little to do with how suitable a mattress may be for any particular person and on the surface it appears (based on averages) that your mattress is likely too soft in both the comfort and support layers for your height/weight and sleeping position. Itās also much more difficult to firm up a mattress that is too soft for good support than it is to soften a mattress that is too firm for good pressure relief.
Before I add anything else though or make any suggestions ā¦ can you tell me what the mattress is resting on (what type of foundation do you have). Did you buy it as a set with their boxspring?
That may be good news. Original mattress Factory is unusual in that they sell their latex or foam mattresses on an āactiveā box spring which will make their mattress softer and could allow your heavier parts to sink in more than a rigid non flexing foundation. In most cases a latex mattress is used on a firm non flexing foundation so that the foam does all the work without the springs taking up some of the compression ā¦ particularly with heavier individuals. Foam mattresses generally donāt need the āshock absorptionā that many innersprings do.
So the first āstepā I would suggest is to put your mattress on a very firm non flexing surface (or on the floor for the time being) and if this helps then you know that replacing the box spring with a foundation that has no flex would at least be a step in the right direction. This may not fully solve the problem because the specs of the mattress still suggest it may be too soft for you but if this helps then at least it may partially solve the issue.
A pillow under your pelvis is also a very good idea for a stomach sleeper. Stomach sleeping is the āriskiestā of all the sleeping positions and with a soft mattress it tends to lead to sleeping in a swayback position which can cause back pain and discomfort. Itās also a good idea to use a thin pillow or no pillow at all for your head. A body pillow that can help you sleep a bit more on your side may also help.
So the first step is to put the mattress on a very firm surface and to use a pillow under your pelvis and see how that affects things.
One step at a time to see how much improvement is possible and how āevenlyā we can get you sinking in to your mattress without changing the mattress itself.
Hmm, okay, thank you for the advice. I canāt really put it on the floor right now (I have a tiny 1 bedroom, I have absolutely no room to put the box spring anywhere especially since my old bed set is still lying around), but Iāll see how the boards help tonight and if so, go get some plywood or something at Home Depotā¦
I do use a very thin pillow already (actually a feather pillow and I let most of the feathers migrate to the top, so itās only about an inch thick on the bit where I rest my head). Wish I could shift to another sleeping position but Iāve tried over the years and it just doesnāt work. sigh
Will it hurt the mattress if I put the pillow beneath the mattress itself, rather than just under my pelvis? I have weird sleeping issues and I donāt think Iāll be able to fall asleep if the pillow is on top.
Really just wish I could return it, but OMF has a pretty bad return policy and Iād lose a fair amount of money. sigh Iāll give it a couple monthsā¦
It wonāt hurt the mattress but it wonāt be as effective in helping with alignment. At least it could still be a step in the right direction though. I would start with the firm base (plywood or whatever your circumstances make possible). The goal is absolutely no flex.
This will give you a chance to see how this helps and then you could use the pillow (or folded blankets) under the mattress as the next step.
Another possibility (if the pillow helps) is something like this which may also help (but go one step at a time so that you can see the effect of each change).
Bear in mind too that there is a break in period with all new mattresses where the mattress will soften to some degree and the body will also go through an adjustment period but in your case this is not as likely to be the cause of your āsymptomsā.
If these steps help ā¦ then it may be possible to make a few other adjustments that may make some incremental improvements but itās important to go slowly and sleep on each change for at least a few days so that you can see the āpatternā of the change and not just go by one nights experience. One step at a time gives your body some time to ācatchā up" to the changes you are making.
Youāre absolutely right, I need to take this slower than I have been. I have just been kind of panicking a bit because the bed was so expensive (literally the 3rd most expensive thing Iāve ever bought, behind my car and my laptop) and because the return policy is so bad. I feel kind of sick to my stomach and like Iāve wasted a bunch of money. Not a good feeling. : \
Iāll try the boards tonight and see how that goes. Thanks.
Boards under the mattress helped enough that I went out to Lowes yesterday and picked up a sheet of plywood to cover the whole bed. Some stiffness this morning but no actual pain. Any other advice? Would a pad of some kind help, and if so, what kind?
The mattress remedy I linked earlier (or for testing some folded blankets under the pelvis area in between the mattress and the plywood) would probably be the next best option because it would lift up your pelvis which is probably sinking in too far.
The main issue is that your support is probably too soft and the deeper layers are responsible for this. A pad on top wonāt fix the deeper layers. The secondary issue is that the comfort layers are also probably too thick and soft and you are too far away from the support layers for stomach sleeping (your pelvis is being allowed to ātravelā too far to reach the support layers). A firmer topper may provide a small improvement in this (as firm as you are comfortable with) and slightly reduce the amount you are sinking in to the soft foam on top but it still wonāt āfixā the underlying support issue. A wool topper may also help to some degree (it may also reduce the overall amount you are sinking in slightly).
But I would try the blankets (or mattress remedy) first because the odds are better that it will have a bigger effect and then see where you are at when you have tried each of these for a few days.
Iām a stomach-sleeper and the mattress is so soft that my hips sink in further than the rest of my body, putting my back at a weird angle. Is there anything I can do to stop this from happening? Iāve been looking at wool mattress toppers (or maybe another layer of firmer latex) and various other ideas but didnāt want to commit to anything until I got some advice on it; thought Iād ask you guys as from everything Iāve read, you all seem very knowledgeable.