New Sealy mattress, back pain, help!

hey folks,

i recently moved to a new state, and didn’t take my old mattress with me. So, after some deliberation, I bought a Sealy Kirby Hill Firm Posturepedic mattress. It got delivered at the end of September, and I slept on it for a few nights in a sleeping bag, without pillows or bedding, before I left for a month long tour.

So now, I’ve gotten back, got bedding, spent a couple nights on it, and I’m waking up with a really sore back. Like, I need to crack it when I wake up, and it’s sore throughout the day. I’m a traveling musician, so I sleep on many different beds, and I usually don’t have a problem with any hotel bed.

So, here’s my question. Is this mattress just too firm for me? Is there a significant break-in time that affects the feel? It seemed comfy in the store…

Also, is it worth trying to go buy a mattress topper or some kind, and how much could that help?

I have about two weeks until the return period is over, and since I was gone for a month, that won’t be many nights sleeping on it. It’ll be a big hassle and financial loss to get a different mattress, but I guess I’d rather do that than be uncomfortable for years…

Anyways, thanks all,
Jamie

Hi j_themitch,

While it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because there are too many unique unknowns and variables involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of 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 pre-existing issues you may have that aren’t connected to a mattress).

While the most common reason for lower back pain (assuming your pain is in your lower back) is a mattress that is too soft … it can also be the result of a mattress that is too firm as well. While there are a wide range of hotel mattresses that are all different from each other … they tend to be in a medium to medium firm range (there is more about hotel mattresses in post #3 here). If your mattress is firmer than the hotel mattresses that you have successfully slept on then it would “point to” your mattress being too firm for you.

Yes … there 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 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.

A mattress that feels “comfy” in a store may not be a good indication of how well you will sleep on the same mattress which is why careful and objective testing can be very important.

People from the “old school” often think “firmer is better” and generally tend to choose mattresses that are too firm and they don’t sink in enough to provide good support under the recessed curves of the body or don’t provide good pressure relief (especially for side sleepers). In some cases firmer mattresses can also be less costly because they use less material in the comfort layers so some people can choose a mattress that is too firm to be “comfortable” because they are paying more attention to the price of a mattress than whether a mattress is a suitable choice.

People that treat mattresses as a “luxury item” rather than a utilitarian purchase that has very specific functions tend to go by “showroom feel” or “subjective comfort” based on the initial “feel” of the mattress and often tend to choose mattresses that feel great in a showroom but don’t work nearly as well when they sleep on it because they have comfort layers that are too thick and soft or support layers that are too soft to “stop” the heavier parts of the body quickly enough to maintain good alignment over the course of the night…

Careful and objective testing is very different from the more limited or more “subjective” testing that most people do when they choose a mattress based on “showroom feel” or “gut feel” which in many cases can have a lower chance of success than random chance alone (see this study).

If your mattress is too firm then a topper can certainly be an effective way to improve support and alignment or to add some additional softness and pressure relief although there is always some risk and uncertainty involved in adding a topper if you haven’t tested the combination in person because the specifics of the mattress itself along with your own body type, sleeping position, and preferences can affect which specific topper would be a suitable choice on any specific mattress.

One of the benefits of adding a topper is that it is much less costly than a new mattress and if a mattress/topper combination turns out to be a good “match” for you in terms of PPP then it also has the advantage of being able to replace just the topper without replacing the entire mattress if it softens or breaks down before the upper foam layers in the mattress (the upper layers or a sleeping system tend to soften or break down before the deeper layers) or if your needs or preferences change over time and a topper can also help extend the useful life of the mattress underneath it as well.

If you do decide to try a topper then there is more information about choosing a topper in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to which along with a conversation with a reliable supplier that can provide you with good information about how their toppers compare to each other or to other toppers they are familiar with that are available on the market can help you use your sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline to help you choose the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that has the least possible risk and the best chance for success. It also includes a link to a list of some of the better online sources for toppers I’m aware of and a link to the online suppliers that have good exchange/return policies as well.

On the other hand … a topper is not a particularly effective way to “fix” a mattress that is already too soft or that has developed soft spots or sagging and at best it may provide a temporary or partial solution and at worst it can make some of the issues you are experiencing worse. If you add a firmer topper to a mattress that is too soft then the new comfort layer (the firmer topper) may end up being too firm to be comfortable for you to sleep on AND the topper will usually still “bend” or compress into the layers underneath it that are softer or have developed soft spots or are sagging so you can end up with BOTH comfort layers that are too firm and uncomfortable and support or transition layers underneath it (that were meant to be softer comfort layers) that are too soft to provide suitable support underneath the topper.

The most effective solution for a mattress that is too soft (either comfort layers that are too thick/soft or support layers that are too soft) or has developed soft spots or is sagging is to first identify the layers that are the cause of the issue and then removing and replacing layers that are too thick/soft or that are sagging (outside of replacing the mattress or course). There are also some suggestions in post #4 here for a mattress that is too soft that can sometimes be helpful.

I’m not sure what options you have to exchange your mattress for another one or to return the mattress for a refund (or any costs involved in either) so It’s not really possible to make any specific suggestions but the mattress you sleep on is one of the most important purchases you will make over the next 10 years or so and can have a bigger effect on your overall well being both waking and sleeping than almost any other purchase you make and it’s well worth the time and effort to make the best possible choice or to take advantage of any options you have to find a mattress or sleeping system that you sleep well on.

If you do decide to exchange your mattress or return your mattress for a refund and purchase a new mattress then the first place I would start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps most importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort” and PPP that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists (based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you).

While I can’t speak to how a mattress will feel or how different mattresses will compare in terms of comfort and PPP for someone else … outside of “comfort” and PPP the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the type and quality of the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label (or how a mattress feels in a showroom or when it is relatively new) so I would always make sure that you find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components to the quality/durability guidelines here to confirm that there are no lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress that would be a cause for concern relative to the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.

It may also be worth keeping in mind that all the major brands (such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta) tend to use lower quality materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay and I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).

If after another week and a half or so you still aren’t sleeping well on your mattress then I would certainly use whatever options you have available to you to find a mattress that is a better “match” for you and if you have the option to return your mattress for a refund then it would be well worth considering starting all over again so you can make a better quality/value choice that would be a more suitable “match” for you in terms of PPP and that also used higher quality and more durable materials so you would have a reasonable expectation that you would also continue to sleep well over the longer term as well.

Phoenix