New Sealy mattress - return of back pain, advice needed

[phoenix]

Hi izzi81,

is there anything I could do to the current mattress to see whether a firmer one would be better? I was wondering about putting some kind of padding under my hips - even just a towel or something - to see if having them sit a little higher would make it better? (My back woke me up this morning which is a first on the new mattress and something I never like so I’m definitely looking for options…)

You are talking more about zoning rather than actual firmness (firmer under some parts of the body and softer under others) which can certainly have an affect on neutral spine alignment. All mattresses are a combination of firm (deeper layers) and soft (the thickness and softness of the upper layers). Outside of zoning, in some cases a firmer support core can help and in others thinner comfort layers can help. It all depends on how evenly you sink into a mattress. Post #4 here has some ideas along the lines you mentioned about adding a form of zoning in the context of helping a mattress that is sagging or too soft in one way or another (either support layers or comfort layers) that may be helpful.

Phoenix