Hi Substance-p,
While it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because they can be very complex and there are too many unique unknowns, variables, and complexities involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or any “symptoms” they experience … there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.
There is also 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”.
These posts are the “tools” that can help with the analysis, detective work, or trial and error that may be necessary to help you learn your body’s language and “translate” what your body is trying to tell you so you can identify the types of changes that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing … at least to the degree that any symptoms are from your mattress rather than the result of any other circumstances or pre-existing issues you may have that may not be connected to a mattress.
While it’s only possible to guess and any suggestions would need to be confirmed with your own personal experience … based on your comments it sounds like you may need some additional softness in the comfort layers to “allow” your shoulders to sink in a little bit more.
It’s also possible that your shoulder numbness and discomfort could also be a pillow issue because one of the most common causes for neck and shoulder issues is the pillow you are using. A suitable pillow is an essential part of good alignment for the head and neck and upper body and can reduce some of the pressure on your shoulders because the gap between the head and the mattress and the curve of the cervical spine needs to be supported just like all other parts of the spine. Like mattresses … there are certain “needs” that depend on body type and sleeping positions but with pillows, personal preferences play a more important role because the face is much more sensitive to textures, temperature, smells, and other more subjective “feel” based properties of a pillow. There is more about choosing pillows in the pillow thread here.
There will also be a break in and adjustment period for any new mattress or sleeping system as the mattress loses any of it’s “false firmness” and the cover stretches and loosens a little and the materials settle and your body gets used to a sleeping surface that is different from what it is used to (see post #3 here). This would typically be a few weeks but it can be shorter or longer depending on the specifics of the person and the mattress (higher density materials can take longer) and it can be surprising to many people how much their sleeping experience can change over the course of the first month or so. Some of the suggestions in post #2 here may be helpful as well.
If you have been sleeping on your mattress for only two weeks and you have already tried several different configurations then you may not have slept for long enough on either the initial configuration or some of the subsequent configurations to give the mattress a chance to break in or for you to get used to and adjust to any one of them. It’s generally a good idea to sleep on the initial configuration for at least a couple of weeks (and preferably longer) before you begin to make any changes.
It would also be helpful if you could list the different combinations you have tried (in the order that you tried them) and how long you tried each of them and describe how your experience and “symptoms” changed with each of them relative to the others.
I’m not sure if they have any softer mattresses in their lineup that would be softer than the softest configuration of the Palais Grand Royale but they would be more familiar with all the options they have available than I am and if none of the Palais Royale configurations works well for you then they would be the best source of guidance about which of their other mattresses would have a better chance of success.
Phoenix