After 15 years on the most comfortable innerspring mattress I have ever slept on, my husband started getting back pain as the mattress started breaking down and getting serious impressions. I have never had any issues with any mattresses that I have slept on and have always liked firm especially. For our replacement we wanted something that would be good for his back and was really interested in the non-toxic, no flame retardants, no VOCs etc… So we ended up getting the sleep EZ 10,000 natural dunlop. His side (he is 180 lbs, 5’10", side sleeper) is F/M/M. My side (130 lbs, 5’7", stomach sleeper) is F/M/S. We tried the Savvy rest at a local store and this was the combo we both fell in love with. We tried Talalay and didn’t really like the feel. With the price factor and the help of this website, we opted for the sleep EZ.
We set the mattress up on Saturday. We didn’t have the platform yet, so we set it up on the floor. After the first night, my husband was in love and I have never been more sore waking up. My upper back was killing me. Over the next few nights, the back pain got worse and is now about 5 nights later even worse and now my neck hips and knees are hurting as well and I am getting numb limbs (mostly my hands) quite often. I do have a somewhat rounded posture which my trainer has been trying to fix for a while, and I know that stomach sleeping is not the best, but I have tried to change that and I just don’t think that is going to happen any time soon.
A couple of people and forum posts on this wonderful website have me believing that I need to keep at it and work through the pain and eventually my body will adjust and ultimately be better aligned overall from this mattress. I called Sleep EZ and they confirmed this. My question is at what point do I start trying to make adjustments? Also, will the platform make it better? I am so surprised because I was absolutely in love with the Savvy Rest mattress at the store. I did not expect this, but I am ready to absolutely give up already and am feeling at a loss. I don’t know of any other truly natural non-toxic options. I know I could do a wool topper, but am not sure if that will really help. This is way too expensive of an endeavor to end up with something I want to shred!
Any advise you could provide would be greatly appreciated!
I have experienced similar with my son’s new “all Dunlop Latex” mattress from ikea.
I didn’t sleep on it a whole night but when I tried to stay longer, it felt both too hard and too hot.
If it’s the firmness that bothers you, not the lack of breathability / sleeping hot, then yon can try adding some soft layers - the fluffiest cotton pad you find, maybe feather beds, or a very soft wool topper? Either way, you will want to stick with natural fibers.
I suppose some would also consider adding a soft talalay latex topper for that pressure relief you seem to need, buy you said you already tried talalay and didn’t like the feel.
To me, adding more latex foam on top of a big slab of another kind of latex foam, would pose breathability problems.
But based on my research so far, it looks like many can’t get away without some kind of topper when it comes to a Dunlop latex mattress.
Some of the issues you are having may be connected to some of your posture issues and for some people it can be an uncomfortable adjustment to sleep in “neutral alignment” when your body has a muscle memory from your previous mattress that may be used to a “learned alignment” (see post #7 here).The best approach for the first month or so (or at least for the first couple of weeks if at all possible) is to do nothing with the layers so that your body has a chance to adjust unless there is an obvious change that would help.
There are also some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful because some of the issues that people have may have with a new mattress may not be because of the mattress itself and could be more connected to a pillow or mattress protector for example.
If it turns out that you do need to make some changes then post #2 here and the posts it links to have much more information that can help you with some of the detective work that may be necessary to decide on the changes that may be necessary but in most cases the most effective approach is a more detailed conversation with an experienced manufacturer so you can “talk through” your experiences and the specific symptoms you are experiencing and provide them with much more specific details that can help them to help you with some layering changes and suggestions that have the best chance of success.
If you spend a great deal of time on your stomach then it may also be worth considering using a medium layer on top with the soft underneath it to create a firmer sleeping surface because stomach sleeping is the riskiest sleeping position and stomach sleepers have a much higher risk of their hips/pelvis sinking down too far and sleeping in a swayback position which can hyperextend the spine and is a common source of lower back pain. It may also help to put a thin pillow under your hips and lower abdomen to help keep you in alignment when you sleep on your stomach.
I know that it can be frustrating but my first suggestion is time (and in the meantime you can go through some of the information I linked) and then if it becomes clear that you need to make some changes then I would have a more detailed conversation with SleepEZ and provide them with as much specific detail as you can about your sleeping experience and symptoms and try some of the different layering options they suggest.
Thank you Syracusa. I keep thinking about a topper, but worry about it then being too soft… sigh.
Phoenix - thank you so much for your advise and your amazing site! That is kind of what I was thinking, but it is so hard to not think about what to change and how especially because I have never had problems sleeping before and have never had back pain. I will attempt to exercise a bit more patience.
When you tested the mattress in the store, was it on slats? I’m guessing it was. Slats let the latex give a little but more than the floor or a flat platform would. Perhaps the mattress actually is feeling more firm than you tested out. One of the arguments for a firm mattress is that your body needs that nightly realignment to contradict the day’s variety of positions you have put your spine into. Time will tell whether you can get used to it.
So after about 2 weeks on the original configuration and placing the mattress on a slat bed, I could not sleep or be comfortable on the mattress. My limbs kept going numb and I was waking up in severe pain every morning which was getting worse each night. That was on the S/M/F dunlop setup. I called Shawn and he recommended going softer and went with a talalay soft layer for both our sides. When I received it, I was in heaven. It felt much better and my pain diminished significantly. I have been on that setup for about 3-4 weeks now. I am sleeping much better, but I am still having upper/middle back pain. I have never had back pain in the past, so I am convinced still that this is from the bed. I am also having some issues with my right arm going numb if I am on that side. I will call and talk to Sleep EZ again and see what they recommend, but I am wondering what thoughts you all might have for me.
There are a couple of suggestions I could make so you can use a bit of trial and error to help identify which direction things may need to change.
If you still have the original soft Dunlop layer and haven’t sent it back yet then it may be worth trying Firm Dunlop under Soft Dunlop under Soft Talalay to see if going softer makes a difference. Since your back symptoms seem to be similar to your original symptoms but reduced when you went softer I’m thinking that a little softer yet is a logical step but of course that needs to be confirmed by your actual experience.
In the other direction it may be worth trying Medium Dunlop under Firm Dunlop (in the middle) under the soft Talalay to see if going firmer in the support layers makes a difference.
I would try each one for at least a few days (unless the first change seems to solve the issue) so that you can make sure you are experiencing a pattern instead of just an anomaly for a day or two.
Other than layer changes it may also be worth checking the height of your pillow. When you change your mattress it can also change the type of pillow you need and this can be the cause of upper body symptoms as well. If a pillow is too thick it can push your head forward when you are on your back and cause upper body symptoms. If a pillow is too thin it can cause shoulder pressure or discomfort either because the pillow isn’t supporting enough of the weight of your head and neck or because your head and neck aren’t in good alignment which can cause some symptoms “downstream”.
If you sleep on your side with your arms in front of you it may also be worth trying a pillow under your lower arm (from the elbow to the hand) when you are on your side with your elbow bent and your hand in about the 1:00 or 2:00 position (with your head being the 12:00 position) because this can rotate your shoulder slightly and in some cases can solve pressure issues as well.
Once you tried each of these (and I would make only one “incremental” change at a time so you can identify the results of each change you make and how your “symptoms” change) then based on what you “learn” from each change you can use your experience to decide on any further changes.
It’s not unusual at all that when you are sleeping on a material that is different from what you have slept on before that it can take some time for your body to get used to it. I would think of it like working out where you will be sore for some time even though you know that you are making “good” changes. Another example is when you change your diet to healthier foods it’s not uncommon at all for people to experience “symptoms” for a few weeks on the way to feeling better. The same thing can be true if your “learned alignment” isn’t the best and it can take some time for your body and muscles, ligaments, and tendons to adjust to something better.
Of course I would also talk with Shawn so he can provide any suggestions that he may have as well based on his experience and your conversations with him.