Hi wacomme,
Iām looking forward to finding out what the two of you end up deciding 
Phoenix
Oh my. The ordeal has been interesting - to say the least.
We ordered a 10" queen mattress from SleepEZā¦ The layers were 3" firm (bottom), 3" medium (middle), and 3" soft (top) split down the middle. After my wife got past the smell factor - basically none, unlike the intense latex smell in a showroom - we slept on the mattress for two months. During this time, my lower back pain improved (Iām 6" and 155 #). My wife kept her mouth shut, saying she liked our 16 year-old Tempurpedic mattress better, but not complaining. Then, after two months, she complained that she now has lower back pain upon awakening, something she never experienced before. Since she is 5ā8" and over 200#, I suggested I removed the soft layer from her side of the bed and add a medium - firm, medium, medium. Two weeks later and she says her back is a little better, but still hurts. So, last night I changed her side to firm, firm, medium. And in the process Iām on something super soft and my lower back pain is returning; I now have soft, soft, medium (top).
With less than two weeks to either exchange layers or return the mattress (90 day return/exchange) Iām not sure what to do. And neither does my wife. My wife wants a Tempurpedic. Iām scared it wonāt offer the lower back support I need. My wife has never been enamored with latex - toleration at best But since she now has back pain (I can only deduce this is from the mattress), I canāt warrant keeping the mattress. And with time running out and back pain not resolved, I donāt know if a different firmness arrangement would resolve her lower back pain or not. And with problems already, Iām not willing to take the chance.
Other observations:
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The mattress split has been nice to change layers around. However, the split is noticeable. Thereās a slight ridge in the middle of the bed. And when my wife comes to my side to cuddle, the layer difference is very noticeable. If we end up keeping the mattress, and she can ātolerateā a firm, medium medium, I may settle for a firm, medium medium too in order to keep our sides the same. Iāve napped on her side of the bed with the firm, medium medium, and while OK, I seem to prefer the firm, medium, soft. I donāt how how Iād fair on the firm, medium, medium long-term.
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The sides of the bed, especially with a soft layer underneath, seem to fall away. This is real obvious when sitting on the edge of the bed, but also noticeable when lying on the bed and rolling to the edge of the mattress - it drops away.
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Movement on the mattress is much more noticeable than with Tempurpedic.
So, while neither one of us has a love affair with the mattress, when properly adjusted (for me firm, medium, soft) my lower back pain went away within a month of sleeping on the bed. Unfortunately, my wife has the opposite story. So, where do we go from here? With 1.5 weeks before I need to make an exchange/return decision, I donāt rightfully know. If we return the bed, where do we go next? If we exchange layers, to what?
I wish I could be more positive. Sorry.
Michael
Hi Michael,
As you know you certainly made a great quality value choice but that of course doesnāt mean that you will sleep well on a mattress and Iām sorry to hear that you (or your wife) are having issues with your mattress.
Itās unfortunate that she didnāt mention the issues she was having earlier but you still have many options available to you although it sounds like she may not like the āfeelā of latex and may prefer memory foam anyway in which case there may not be many options available that will satisfy her because latex certainly doesnāt āfeel likeā memory foam and if she has a strong preference for memory foam then she may be predisposed to return the mattress anyway no matter what happens.
There is some information in post #2 here about the most common symptoms that people may experience on a mattress and some of the most common causes for them that may help you identify the reasons for her experiences and "symptoms.
There is also more about primary or ādeepā support and secondary or āsurfaceā support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the ārolesā 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 āsupportā and āpressure reliefā and āfeelā.
The first thing I would suggest though is a phone call to SleepEZ so you can take advantage of their knowledge and experience with other customers that are similar to you that have had similar issues since you may not be making the type of changes that would be the most likely to help with her āsymptomsā. They will be the most reliable source of suggestions that can help although if your wife is predisposed to memory foam then even if the suggestions are successful she still may not want to keep the mattress.
The most common cause of lower back pain is an alignment issue that comes from either support layers that are too soft or comfort layers that are too thick or soft.
The incremental change that I would normally start with in her situation would be to exchange the medium and firm layer in her side to āfirm upā the support but allow her to keep the softer sleeping surface (from top to bottom this would be S/F/M)
After this if it was necessary I would also try exchanging the top two layers which would give her a slightly firmer sleeping surface (from top to bottom this would be M/S/F).
There are many other combinations that would also be worth considering that could firm up the support even more (including from top to bottom M/F/M or S/F/F) but I would base any further changes on the results of these first two based on what you ālearnedā from any changes in her āsymptomsā between different configurations.
Again though ā¦ the first step when you need to make any changes is to have a more detailed telephone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced manufacturer such as SleepEZ so you can take advantage of their knowledge and experience to make the kind of changes that have the best chance of success because most consumers donāt really have the knowledge or experience on different layering combination to really know the type of changes would be most likely to work on their own.
They may also be willing to extend the trial period to give you a little more time but I think this would only be worthwhile considering if your wife would keep the mattress if her āsymptomsā were resolved since it may not be worthwhile taking the time to find the best combination if she really doesnāt want to sleep on latex anyway.
If there is a ridge in the middle it may be because the layers arenāt laying flat (latex is very stretchy and floppy and you need to āwaveā and āflickā the layers into position so they are laying evenly and flat) or it could be from the foundation underneath your mattress if you have a twin foundation where the sides of each foundation where they come together in the middle are firmer and the middle of the foundations have some flex. Other than this the bigger the difference between the sides the more you may feel the transition between them although most couples would say that the tradeoff is well worthwhile (see post #2 here).
Most latex mattresses donāt have (or really need) edge support (see post #3 here) and for most people itās not an issue but for a few it is and this is also related to the softness/firmness of the support layers and the softness of the comfort layers as well and of course whether someone tends to sleep with more of their weight concentrated on the edges of the mattress. For sitting itās usually just a matter of sitting a little more towards the middle of the mattress than on the very edge. These are usually issues that are part of testing for PPP when you are trying latex mattresses.
While latex is generally āgoodā at motion isolation ā¦ it certainly isnāt as good as memory foam which is the most motion isolating of all the foam materials.
Hopefully a more detailed conversation with SleepEZ will be your next step along with some of the suggestions in this reply
Phoenix