New latex mattress, keep or exchange. Help please.

[phoenix]

Hi Tanzanite,

I’ll start my reply with some reference information that may be helpful …

While it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because 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 aren’t connected to a mattress).

When you have complex medical issues and you have purchased 5 mattresses over the last 5 years that haven’t worked well for you I would keep your expectations of success reasonable because there may be no “perfect” mattress and “best possible” may be your best outcome (see post #1 here).

A forum search on hypermobil (you can just click the link) may also bring up more information and suggestions that may be useful as well.

I have been through 5 different matttress in 5yrs, cannot afford to keep doing this. The one I just got rid of is an Octaspring 8500 which initally felt great, after 3mths it started going downhill and quickly became terrible, I was restless and waking every 30 mins due to it’s poorly designed zoning which meant my head ended up on an upward slope while all my weight sunk down onto my shoulder and my hips higher. It’s put me off zoned mattresses!

I don’t think the issue is that the zoning in your Octaspring is “poorly designed” but it does seem that once the mattress was broken in that it just wasn’t a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own personal preferences).

Zoning systems can certainly be useful and well worth considering for people that have more difficulty finding a mattress with the right “balance” between comfort/pressure relief (under the shoulders especially) and support/alignment (under the hips/pelvis especially) or who have more challenging circumstances or sensitivities, body types that are more difficult to “match” to a mattress, more complex medical issues, or who have a history of having more difficulty in finding a mattress that works well for them. There is more about zoning in this article and in post #11 here and the additional posts it links to but the only way to know whether any specific mattress (zoned or otherwise) will be a good match for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP will be based on careful testing or your own personal experience.

The first couple of nights I put my 3" gel memory topper on it, while the mattress by itself felt initially soft and very jiggly the pushback was a little too much and once laying still on it for a while it felt quite firm or firm enough at least, strangely it felt even firmer laying on my back. I needed some extra cushioning and I do love the feel of the extra squish from the gel memory. The jiggle and pushback was far better with that on. Although I do think 3" was too much as I felt engulfed in it but it was very comfy.
Two more nights on and the wool in the mattres cover had already compressed but only in the hip area and you can visibly see (and feel) an upward slope to the head end ad foot end of the mattress made worse by the thckness of the topper and I felt like it was too soft and my hips sagged down, I was in a lot of pain in my hips and lower back all that day.

Wool will compress by about 30% of its thickness as you sleep on it over time and this will happen faster in the areas you sleep more often or under the heavier parts of the body than it will in the areas that you sleep on less or under areas of your body that are lighter. It will tend to even out over time as you spend more time on the areas that you sleep on less often and they “catch” up to the areas that you sleep on more often over the course of the first few months (up to about 6 months or so) but it shouldn’t have an effect on the comfort or support of the mattress. I would make a point of sleeping in different areas of the mattress initially and also rotating the mattress from time to time to help with the process … see post #2 here).

It’s much more likely that your “symptoms” were from sleeping on a mattress/topper combination that had comfort layers (the topper in combination with the softer latex comfort layers in your mattress) that are too thick/soft for your specific needs and preferences.

So, I took the topper off and slept on it without which was ok which is a first for me as I have never been able to sleep on any mattress without adding extra cushioning but I really missed that added squishy comfort.

This sounds hopeful and if you were experiencing fewer symptoms than you normally do then I wouldn’t “argue with success” and I would tend to sleep on just the mattress for a few weeks.

I had some slight muscle tightnesss around mid spine and behind shoulder blades when I woke up. I’m having trouble finding a pillow that works with it as well , I feel like I need something a bit lower and softer on this mattress which is perhaps contributing to the mid back, shoulder stiffness and pain.

I’m not sure how long you’ve slept on your mattress but I would keep in mind that here will 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. I would generally suggest sleeping on any new mattress for a few weeks at a minimum (preferably a month or so) whenever possible before deciding on whether it’s a good “match” in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP and/or deciding to make any changes or additions to your mattress.

A suitable pillow is an essential part of good alignment for the head and neck and upper body 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. It’s not uncommon at all to need a new pillow with a different profile when you buy a new mattress.

The next night I tightened the lumber pods in the frame to the firmest to counteract the wool thats packed down there in the cover and put the 3" topper back on, that was much better, my hips no longer sagged down and I felt more level apart from the upward slope at the head end like the wool had not compressed there at all. but I woke again with tight muscles again in shoulder blades and mid back and also felt it a little while after I had got into bed that night. but no pain in hips/lower back.

Based on your feedback … I personally would have remained with just the mattress and your original pod settings for a little longer to give your body time to adjust before deciding on whether you need to make any changes and the type of changes that have the best chance of success based on your actual “symptoms”.

When the time comes I would also make very small and more incremental single changes so you can better assess the effect of the changes you make.

If you make too many changes at once (such as adding a topper and changing the pod settings at the same time) it will be much more difficult to assess which change is having which effect.

If you make changes that are too large (such as adding a topper that is thicker than you need) then you could go from one extreme to another (from too firm to too soft for example) and “jump over” the ideal combination.

If you make changes too quickly before any symptoms you are experiencing have had the chance to stabilize and form a consistent “pattern” (rather than just being an anomaly over the course of a few nights) then again it would be very difficult to assess the longer term effects of the change you made. It’s also more difficult for your body to adjust to making too many changes too quickly.

With your more complex medical issues 14 days may not be long enough to try the different options that you have available and be able to reliably assess whether they are working “well enough” for you or not.

Here’s my dilemma, due to the wool not packing down evenly in the cover perhaps causing some of the problem with sinkage in the hip area and foot and head end looking higher up, do I either take the cover off and buy one with no padding in to replace it because the wool seems to be sewn into this cover with a bit of mesh over it to keep it there then add 1.5" gel topper or do I actually need to exchange the mattress for a medium but I think it may be too firm. I feel like I’m on the cusp of it being too soft but when I slept directly on the mattress I had a bit of stiffness and pain around the shoulder and arm I lay on.

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 mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

I or some of the more knowledgeable members of the site can help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress, act as a fact check, answer many of the specific questions you may have along the way that don’t involve what you will “feel” on a mattress, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress, manufacturer, or combination of materials is “best for you” regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label or whether anyone else (including me) would have the same criteria or circumstances or would make the same choice.

I’m not so sure that the wool packing down is the reason for your symptoms but here is also more information about the pros and cons of a wool quilted cover vs a more stretchy knit cover in post #6 here.

Or do I exchange for a completely different latex configuration altogether. They dont do choose your own layers, they have various types already set up as a mattress, some with just dunlop, some with dunlop on the bottom and talalay on top etc

This is something that only you can decide based on your actual sleeping experience, on the actual “symptoms” you are experiencing, and on “best judgement” but I would certainly give any configuration you are sleeping on as long as possible so you can more reliably assess whether it’s a reasonable “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP.

Phoenix