Hi KentuckyLori,
Nice to have you here!
I’m sorry to hear about your pain in the hip region. As you’re probably well aware, sciatica is very different from arthritis, and the conditions within a mattress that may help alleviate (or exacerbate) these conditions differ. With sciatica, the nerve root tends to become irritated in the lower back (lumbar region) around L3, and quite often a mattress offering poor levels of support can make this worse throughout the night, as excessive “sagging” in the mattress can “impinge” and irritate this nerve root. This would explain you would feel better once you’re up and about and in better alignment. Sciatica often radiates into the buttocks and down the leg, and in the most severe conditions can result in "drop foot’ where your foot tends to hang down on one side of your body. Arthritis tends to be more localized as inflammation within a joint, and is unfortunately common in the hips. This makes it especially difficult if you are a side sleeper. Pressure point relief, as you described, is key to help assist in this type of situation.
In both cases, you’ll want to make sure that whatever you choose has both good support and upper comfort materials that assist in providing good pressure point relief. The bad news is that with a pre-existing condition like you have, there is unfortunately no product that will eliminate the root cause of your symptoms. But you can certainly choose products that have the best properties at relieving pressure points and offer good support, giving you the best chance at success.
By the way, it’s good that you are remaining active with your walking, as that is one of the things recommended by physicians and rheumatologists for keeping arthritis at bay.
Latex and memory foam in the upper layers of the mattress tend to be two very good products at pressure point relief. Of course, they are part of a complete mattress system so they work in conjunction with the rest of the mattress componentry.
Latex and memory foam are very different materials with very different properties and both of them come in a wide range of different versions that each have differences in their properties and a different “feel” or firmness level but the choice between them is more of a preference and budget choice than a “better/worse” choice. There is more about some of the general differences between memory foam and latex in post #2 here. Some people tend to prefer the faster response and more resilient and “on the mattress” feel of latex and some prefer the slower response and more “in the mattress” feel of memory foam and some people may prefer some combination of both of them but the only way to know which one you tend to prefer in general terms will be based on your own careful testing in a store or your own personal experience when you sleep on them.
To learn about pressure relief and support, there is 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”.
There is more about some of the differences between a latex support core and an innerspring support core in post #28 here and the posts it links to but the choice between them would really be a preference and/or a budget choice rather than a “better/worse” choice because innerspring and latex support cores are both very durable components.
Of course the ideal would be to have both suitable support/alignment and comfort/pressure relief in a mattress (especially in this kind of much higher budget range) … but if you have to choose one over the other then I would choose support/alignment. There is some great information in this PHD thesis by Vincent+Verhaer (who is one of a group of researchers that I greatly respect) about the importance of good spinal alignment that clearly indicates that for healthy individuals it has the single biggest effect on the depth and quality of sleep and recovery for healthy individuals. Having proper alignment doesn’t necessarily mean that a mattress needs to feel hard like a board, and in your situation you certainly would want some surface comfort along with this deep support.
[quote]2. Cool surface (currently have worn-out memory foam topper without any kind of gel and it’s way too hot)
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It’s not really possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on sleeping temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials … there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep you in a comfortable temperature range.
In very general terms … the materials, layers, and components of a sleeping system that are closer to your skin will have a bigger effect on airflow, moisture transport, and temperature regulation than materials, layers, and components that are further away from your skin and softer mattresses or foam toppers will tend to be more “insulating” and for some people can sleep warmer than firmer versions of the same material.
You are correct that memory foam will tend to sleep “warmer” than many other products, as it is poor at conducting and convecting heat away from your body, even with the recent additions of different gels, phase-change gels, and minerals. These tend to produce a bit more of an initial cooler surface sensation, but this tends to dissipate quite quickly. While recent versions of memory foam are more breathable and “cooler” than previous versions, it is generally not the first choice of people who are temperature sensitive. Additionally, very plush beds (which you’d want to be avoiding anyway) tend to sleep warmer than their firmer feeling counterparts, as less of your surface area is exposed for heat exchange. Also, make sure you’re not using a mattress pad with a PVC, plastic or vinyl layer. Talalay latex is one of the most breathable foam materials available.
The only reliable way to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on lab tests and the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOCs so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification (see post #2 here for more information about some of the more reliable “safety” certifications). If the materials in a mattress or the mattress itself has a reliable “safety” certification then for most people they would certainly be “safe enough” … regardless of the type of material or the name of the manufacturer on the label.
If you choose latex, all of the latex you are likely to encounter (either Dunlop or Talalay that is made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will have a reliable certification such as Oeko-Tex, Eco-Institut, Greenguard Gold or C2C and based on actual testing I would consider any type or blend of latex to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s (offgassing) … it’s certainly not the only “safe” material.
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 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 post #2 here).
Take some time and read the mattress shopping tutorial here. Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
While again 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. 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 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.
In its simplest form … choosing the “best possible” mattress for any particular person really comes down to FIRST finding a few knowledgeable and transparent retailers and/or manufacturers (either locally or online) that sell the types of mattresses that you are most interested in that are in a budget range you are comfortable with and that you have confirmed will provide you with the all the information you need about the materials and components inside the mattresses they sell so you will be able to make informed choices and meaningful comparisons between mattresses and then …
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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.
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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).
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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.
While your symptoms don’t show up until you’ve slept for a few hours, using the information I’ve presented above will help you make a quality choice of the best materials that will give you the highest probability of success at achieving good alignment combined with pressure point relief.
I look forward to learning about your progress.
Phoenix