Hi Veritas,
While I’m not a medical professional and I wouldn’t want to speculate as to the causes of your back issues … I can say for certain that a mattress can certainly have an effect on the symptoms you may have. I also know there is a lot of misinformation about mattresses and their relationship to back pain that is all over the internet.
One of the more helpful sites about back pain and it’s relationship to mattresses that I came across a little while ago is here. There is a great deal of good information there.
I’ve included a link to the local manufacturers and better outlets that I’m aware of in my reply to your other post. Perhaps we can continue in either this one or the other one just to keep any posts and replies continuous and more “organized” for the benefit of others in the same area or with similar circumstances.
In essence though … the best approach with back pain is to make sure that you have a mattress core that provides the best possible alignment and then add comfort layers on top of this that are the minimum required to relieve any pressure issues. The best choices for this kind of support would be latex or a high quality innerspring … possibly with zoning in the middle depending on your overall weight, body shape, and sleeping positions.
Memory foam can be very tricky with back issues and while it can be effective for some … it’s especially important when using a material which encourages “sinking in” that you use the minimum amount possible to keep you as close to the support layers as possible but not so thin that you lose the pressure relief you need. The firmness of the layer under the memory foam can also play a big role in this.
Memory foam can be quite variable in its response depending on many factors including the room temperature and humidity, the other layers over and under it, and the person sleeping on it. Like all viscoelastic materials … it also has a tendency to “creep” which is actually a technical term which means that it can “relax” over the course of the night and gradually allow you to sink in deeper which means that you could start off the night in good alignment but over the course of the night as it relaxes internally it can put you over your threshold for best alignment by the time you wake up in the morning.
I hope this helps and if you have questions along the way don’t hesitate to post them here.
Phoenix