Memory Foam Pain

Hi there,

So I recently bought the Cool Supreme mattress from Brooklyn Bedding. I’ve been sleeping on it for 3 weeks and every morning I wake up with shoulder pain, and often pain in other areas as well (hip, back, etc.) I know it’s supposed to take some time to break in, but it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Is it normal for it to take this long to break in? I’ve tried walking on the mattress to loosen it up, but it didn’t really change anything. Thanks!

Hi mattressnovice,

The breakin period is normally in the range of about 30 days or so but it can take longer on occasion for some people.

There are some suggestions in post #2 here that may also be helpful (in case you haven’t read it) but I would certainly talk with them because it’s also possible that the mattress isn’t the best match for you and they may be able to make some suggestions that may be helpful as well.

Phoenix

Hi mattressnovice,

As you know, the cool supreme is 4.5 inches of memory foam on top of a HD foam core. Memory foam tends to remain firm (hard) once you have compressed it with your body weight. The pain in your shoulder may be caused by this foam compression, give it a chance to see if your body gets use to it, if not you may want to exchange it for something that has a bit more resilience to it, such as latex, or an HR foam such as Energia…
Memory foam placed on top of a resilient foam tends to be more comfortable, as you will not be resting your hips and shoulders on the firm HR core, but you will be on top of a soft bouncy surface that will reduce pressure points even more than memory foam alone.

Hope this helps

cheers

Hi MFC Memory Foam Comfort,

I’m not sure I understand the reasoning behind your assessment about resilience affecting pressure relief which is more about softness, the point elasticity of the foam, the compression modulus of the foam, and the depth of the pressure relieving cradle and in the case of memory foam the temperature response of the foam as well (see post #4 here).

If I look at either your Skygel mattress or your Cumulus mattress … both of which have 4" of memory foam (1/2" less than the Cool Supreme) … they are both rated as soft which means that both of them would likely have thick enough comfort layers to isolate someone from the firmness of the support layer underneath them for most people (or they would feel firmer than “soft”).

If I look at the Stratus mattress on your site which has the type of layering you are suggesting (memory foam over a more resilient material) with the same 4" comfort layer thickness … it is rated as “medium soft” which is firmer than both of your memory foam mattresses with 4" of memory foam.

While I can certainly understand the appeal of using a thinner memory foam layer over or under a layer of more resilient foam for those who prefer this type of more resilient and responsive “feel” compared to just a thicker layer of memory foam which has no resilience at all (and I personally like this type of more resilient hybrid foam combination) … I don’t see how resilience (how “bouncy” a foam is) would affect the softness of the comfort layers or the effectiveness of the pressure relieving cradle since resilience and softness aren’t related.

All types of foam including higher resilience foams (like latex and energia) and low resilience foams (like memory foam or gel memory foam) become firmer and more resistive to further compression as they are compressed more deeply (which is their compression modulus) and regardless of the type of material used in the comfort layers, the pressure relief will be affected by these 4 specs (softness, compression modulus, point elasticity, and thickness) along with temperature response in the case of memory foam more than by the resilience of the foam.

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix,

I rate my mattress softness, by how much you sink into to them. Based on this, the Cumulus and Skygel with 4 inches of 5lbs memory foam is the mattress that you sink into the most, therefor the softest.

The Stratus with its layer of Energia and Aerus 5 lbs memory foam allows the person to get the benefits of the contouring of the memory foam, without sinking as much into the mattress as the Cumulus. This combination is then considered medium soft, because you do not sink into this mattress as much as the Cumulus or the Skygel.

In my experience a low ILD HR foam is great for pressure relief! I prefer this to memory foam, as I never seam to be able to compress HR foam, therefor reducing the pressure points on my shoulders and hips more than strait memory foam. I use to suffer from sore shoulder as well when I slept only on memory foam over an HD core. But by adding HR foam (or latex) under the memory foam, it gives my shoulder relief from the compressed memory foam, and gives my shoulders space because of the resilience, or bouncy effect of the HR foam. The memory foam then contours the shoulders, and the HR foam being resilient prevents my shoulders from resting on a firm compressed memory foam and HD foam core.

I think we are using different words to explain the same thing…

Cheers