Mattress for L5-S1 Disc Herniation

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi there, I have a herniated disc at L5-S1 and I’ll be getting surgery to fix it soon. Since this is the case my top priority is looking for a mattress that supports my back and gives me proper alignment.

I’ve read through most of the articles on this website and I think the mattress that would be right for me is a Latex Foam (natural latex) Queen sized mattress, on the firmer side of things (mid 30’s ILD perhaps?) though I’m not 100% sure as I’m new to this.

I’m 32/M, no other medical problems. 5’10", 165lbs. I sit most of the day for my job. I generally sleep on my back and my side (never on my stomach). Not married so it’s just me sleeping in the bed. I live in the Seattle area. My budget is up to $2000.

Any advice for my situation and where I can go in Seattle to find a place that releases their specs for beds?

2

Hi grandnexus.

I’m sorry to hear about your back issues, but I’m glad that you are on the way to getting it repaired. I’m sure your orthopedic surgeon has already discussed the importance of having a properly supportive sleep system, which would certainly align with leading sleep ergonomic research.

Thank you for taking the time to do some research on the site. You can read for months and still learn, so I appreciate you browsing through the information I’ve provided.

While nobody can speak to how any specific mattress will “feel” for someone else or whether it will be a good “match” in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP because this is too subjective and relative to different body types, sleeping positions, and individual preferences, sensitivities, and circumstances and you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress … outside of PPP (which is the most important part of “value”), the next most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. Certainly latex is a very durable material. This is the part of your research that you can’t see or “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the specifics of its construction and the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new so I would always make sure that you find out information listed here (which I think you’ve already done) so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase. Just in case you haven’t already, please read the mattress shopping tutorial here.

In its simplest form, it comes down to…

  1. Careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial) to make sure that a mattress is a good match for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP … and/or that you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you can’t test a mattress in person or aren’t confident that your mattress is a suitable choice.

  2. Checking to make sure that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you are considering relative to your weight/BMI range that could compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress (see the durability guidelines here )

  3. Comparing your finalists for “value” based on #1 and #2 and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your specific criteria and the quality/value guidelines I linked earlier in this reply, the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Seattle/Tacoma area are listed in post #2 here.

Better retailers will provide the specifications about what is inside of their products, as this is the only way you can determine quality and durability. If they don’t move on to the next retailer.

I look forward to learn about your experience and choice. Good luck with your surgery! :slight_smile:

Phoenix

3

Hey Phoenix, so I went to the store “Soaring Heart” that was in your post. I found two mattresses there that “fit” me I think.

One is a 6" thick latex Dunlap matress, organic. No chemicals and has no flame-retarded chemicals. It has a wool/cotten wrap and is certified by Gots and Goas (whatever that is). It is $2400 (jesus). The organic wool topper is another $1200.

The second one I found is a Organix Latex Shikibton, 4" inch organic latex wrapped, pretty much same as above, just 4". 2" wool topper which is $900. The matress is $1350.

Good lord I had no idea all this stuff was so expensive. My budget was $1500-2000. Now, I CAN go to $3000 without a problem, but I need to be sure that what I’m buying will help and protect me for the next decade.

I laid down on the bed for a while, they were comfortable, but honestly I didn’t feel like they were $3000 comfortable.

Am I missing something?

4

Hi grandnexus,

I’m glad you visited a store and were able to find a few products that “fit” you. Your opinion is the one that matters most, and the guidance of a knowledgeable consultant can be very assistive. As you know Soaring Heart is a member of this site and I think highly of them and the quality of their products and their knowledge and transparency.

I think what you meant is that you found a Dunlop mattress that uses no chemicals to meet the federal flammability guidelines? It is true that by using a natural fiber like wool that a mattress manufacturer can pass the flammability regulations without the use of any additional chemicals. The two certifications you mentioned, GOTS and GOLS, refer to standards that the covering and the foam has been certified to meet. Here is a page on the Soaring Heart site that talks about their particular certifications.

There is more information about the three different levels of organic certifications in post #2 here and some of the benefits of an organic certification in post #3 here and there is more about the different types of organic and safety certifications such as Oeko-tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold, C2C, and CertiPUR-US in post #2 here and more about some of the differences between organic and safety certifications in post #2 here and there are also some comments in post #42 here that can help you decide whether an organic certification is important to you for environmental, social, or personal reasons or whether a “safety” certification is enough. As you weren’t sure what GOTS and GOLS meant, I would tell you to read through this section.

It is true that latex tends to be one of the more expensive foams to produce. It’s also true that it is more expensive to maintain and meet certain certifications.

Latex is certainly a durable product and with good care it would very reasonable to expect at least a ten-year comfort life. There are numerous stories of people keeping their latex mattresses for over two decades, but I personally consider anything over a decade to be "bonus time for a good mattress.

As far as “protecting you,” I’m not quite sure what you mean by that statement. There certainly is no one material or mattress guaranteed to treat or fix a pre-existing condition, especially one as serious as yours. The best thing that you can do to protect yourself is to follow the guidelines that I mentioned in my earlier reply and make sure that you are selecting something using quality materials (you certainly are considering good materials so far), then make sure that it fits within your own PPP. And a good retailer certainly can use their experience to recommend products that tend to work well for people with your condition.

Again, this would be part of your PPP and what you are comfortable paying for a product. A good mattress is the most used piece of furniture in your home and has a direct impact upon your restoration. Everyone has their own budget range and ideas as to the value they place upon certain products, so that is certainly something you’ll need to take into consideration as you go out and shop for your new mattress. There is no one standardized scale of what you should “get” for a certain dollar amount. In the end you need to be “comfortable” with the product and the price you’re paying. I really don’t think you’re “missing anything.” It really comes down to you going through your own personal value equation.

Phoenix

5

Hey Phoenix, ok I’ve been shopping around and doing more research and here is what I’ve found. I went to The Sleep Store (In Bellevue) and they quoted me a Cavallo (made by Ergovea) Extra Firm 8" 100% natural latex organic cotton for $3300. A plush topper is another $680.

I went online and I found some other things…

https://www.plushbeds.com/Botanical-Bliss-Organic-Latex-Mattress.html = $1,924
https://www.plushbeds.com/Natural-Latex-Mattresses.html

For this one, I was thinking about getting the botanical bliss organic one or possibly the natural bliss one which is about $300 more than the bliss one.

http://www.ergovea.com/ergovea-collection/#/sona-paz/ = $3,300 (Cavallo or Medera)

This is what I was quoted at the Sleep Store

Latex Mattress - Zenhaven Natural Latex Mattress | Saatva = $1,900
This is Talalay but it is a lot cheaper…seems ok?

Serenity | Savvy Rest = $3,100
I like the fact that I can customize each level, so I wanted Firm Solid, Firm Solid, then medium solid for layer 3 (all Dunlop). Again, expensive as hell.

I also went to the friendly foam that was recommended by you, they had a Queen firm, 6" dunlop for $1400. Then the frame, topper, covers tax, out the door was $3200. They have no return policy though…which I don’t like.

So what are your thoughts? I’m wondering why some mattresses are $1000 but seem the same. I’m also not sure whether I should get a Topper, seems to defeat the purpose of it being firm but I’m not sure. Is 8" inches better than 6"? Seems like more is better but I dunno.

The people at “The Sleep Store” also recommended I get an adjustable frame so I can make it zero gravity. Considering my back problems I didn’t think this was a bad idea. I know chiropractors have recommended sleeping with a pillow under you knees but that is impossible since I move around a lot. What are your thoughts on an adjustable bed (head and feet are adjustable).

For the above, I CAN afford all these things, but that doesn’t mean I’m in the business of spending thousands of dollars when I don’t have to and it would still hurt my bank account somewhat.

6

Hi grandnexus,

[quote]I went online and I found some other things…

https://www.plushbeds.com/Botanical-Bliss-Organic-Latex-Mattress.html = $1,924
https://www.plushbeds.com/Natural-Latex-Mattresses.html[/quote]

You can see some comments about Plushbeds in post #2 here and a forum search on Plushbeds (you can just click the link) will bring up much more information and comments/feedback about them as well. They also use good quality and durable materials in their mattresses (natural or organic Dunlop and Talalay latex) and there are no lower quality materials or weak links in their latex mattresses that would be a cause for concern either and they would certainly be a much “better than average” choice compared to most of the mainstream mattresses that most people end up buying. They do a lot of internet advertising so they do attract a lot of online attention for those that are looking for a latex mattress but I would make some careful “value comparisons” with some of the other component latex options that are available to you because they may not be in the “best value” range for many of the members here that are aware of the many other similar options that are available to them.

A forum search on Ergovea (you can just click the link) will bring up the forum posts that mention their mattresses … but they don’t mention Eco Bedroom Solutions which is the company that makes them. They are a fairly new startup that started business in the first half of 2013 and specialize in GOLS certified organic 100% natural Dunlop latex mattresses with stretch knit organic cotton covers and a rayon/silica fire barrier and are sold through relatively small group of stores that carry them (including www.ergosleepsystems.com/ in Berkeley which was the first store to carry them). They also sell latex toppers. The Ergovea is all latex then it would be a high quality and durable choice although you would want to know the type and blend of the latex and I would make some meaningful comparisons to other similar mattresses.

[quote]Latex Mattress - Zenhaven Natural Latex Mattress | Saatva = $1,900
This is Talalay but it is a lot cheaper…seems ok?[/quote]

There are also some comments about the Zenhaven mattress in post #2 here. This is an all latex mattress that also uses high quality and durable materials but it’s also a “finished” mattress that only allows you to choose between different firmness levels on each side of the mattress and doesn’t have options to customize the support or pressure relief of the mattress either before or after a purchase by rearranging layers or exchanging a layer that are available with component latex mattresses that use the same materials and are in a similar or even lower budget range.

There is more about the pros and cons of a component latex mattress with a zip cover and loose layers vs a finished mattress with glued layers in post #15 here and post #2 here.

[quote]Serenity | Savvy Rest = $3,100
I like the fact that I can customize each level, so I wanted Firm Solid, Firm Solid, then medium solid for layer 3 (all Dunlop). Again, expensive as hell.[/quote]

Savvy Rest also uses very high quality and “safe” materials in their mattresses and because they use loose layers inside a zip cover they don’t contain any glue but they are also in a higher budget range than many other similar component latex mattresses that use the same type of materials and components so I would make sure you make some good “value” comparisons with other similar mattresses.

There are no lower quality materials or weak links in any of these three mattresses that would compromise their durability or useful life or be a reason for concern relative to any BMI range. If you have talked with each of them on the phone and are confident that one or more of them would be a good match in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (and/or you are comfortable with the options you have available to return, exchange, or “fine tune” the mattress and any costs involved if you aren’t) and they compare well to your other finalists based on all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course) then they would certainly be well worth considering.

So what are your thoughts?

I would again refer you back to my original reply to you in this thread in post #2.

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always 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”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable 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).

Latex certainly works well with an adjustable bed foundation, but the choice of whether or not to combine your mattress with a power foundation would be a personal preference. It sounds to me that if you can’t sleep with a pillow under your knee, then it would disqualify the use of a power foundation, because if you had the head and foot elevated and were on your back and then moved to your side or stomach, you’d have you adjust the position. It would come down to how much you really move around, and how much of that is related to your physical issues.

Phoenix