Hi floatingkeyboards,
[quote]When side sleeping on mattresses, the main issue is that my shoulder isn’t properly accommodated for by the mattress. When I lay on my side, I feel like my body is close enough to being a straight line with just my shoulder creating a “bump” on the straight line.
Mattresses, on the other hand, seem to be evenly distributed surfaces (appropriate mainly for just back sleepers).
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The majority of people sleep mostly on their sides in various postures … if what you say would be correct then about the 70% of the world’s population would have real trouble finding a suitable mattress. There are more than plenty of mattress choices for side sleepers your task is of finding one that it is right for you. The appropriateness of a mattress as it relates to the sleeper’s sleeping positions is more connected with the combination of materials used within a mattress and the combination of primary and secondary support of the comfort/support layers within the mattress. Also for sleepers with out of the norm needs, some zoning can be used to provide better support and alignment. There is more about zoning in post #11 here and the posts it links to.
While the 4" “hanging” polyester fiber filled pad you are using along the pillows may seem to “work” better for you, I am not so sure that this is long-term and even short-term solution for several reasons. You mentioned that you are looking into a temporary fix as you were “thinking about moving” so I am not sure if the “setup” you detailed is a permanent or temporary solution but either way I see some red flags with it:
• As you’ve already experienced, the 1/3[sup]rd[/sup] “hanging” pad with the pillows arrangement used to create a cradle/“reservoir” for your shoulder and arm resting at “90 degrees relative to your body” … can easily flatten overnight and shift out of place while you reposition yourself during sleep, (we reposition ourselves many times during the night)
• Polyester fiber fills have much air, are less dense, and are generally not used as load-bearing materials in a mattress. Keep in mind that comfort layers of a mattress also have the function of secondary support for the recessed areas of your body (see this article here) in this case a pad like this would be designed for a flat solid surface and not for the top of a mattress.
• You seem to be in in the process of training yourself for side sleeping and while the added fiber filled pad allows for more sinking in and helping with the shoulder pain and even prevent to a certain extent your body collapsing and reverting to a prone sleeping posture this “setup” will be inconsistent and gradually flatten, giving your body more “problems” to solve in trying to compensate for the multiple changes.
• Both the fiber mattress pad and a memory foam layer you are contemplating will contribute to difficulty in repositioning, which may be an issue especially during the" training" to side sleeping and they will also both contribute to a feeling of warmth (and the sinking you described). If you’re wanting to use fiber or memory foam, your best bet would be to use a smaller amount, so that it has the least effect on your alignment as it sinks during the night.
• Using some sort of latex for the upper layers might be beneficial to you and could address some of your concerns. Latex, specifically Talalay latex, will be breathable, resilient, and supportive while offering the comfort you’d need for your shoulders. and It will be easier to reposition with latex in the uppers layers than with memory foam, but this would not solve any sag or support issues within your current mattress which could be part of the pains and issues you’ve mentioned.
If you are looking at getting a new mattress I’d do a hard reset and start with reading the tutorial post here along with assessing the condition of your current mattress to determine the cause of your discomfort so that you can avoid having the same issue in your new mattress.
If your current mattress is in good condition and all it needs is a comfort layer to accommodate for your side sleeping, I’d be making any changes one at a time and keeping good track of them. I wouldn’t change too many things at the same time, you can get some good hints from your body as to what it needs but would also make 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 the pad, adding the pillows and changing the primary sleeping position 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.
If you are contemplating purchasing a new mattress and not only to find a fix for the current mattress, then depending on your body type and the width of the shoulders you may need to consider a mattress that provides some zoning. 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.
You mentioned in an earlier post here that
While it is not possible on an online forum it is not possible to “diagnose” any symptoms because there are too many unknowns, variables, and different possibilities involved to be able to make any specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” based on the limited information that you offered I can certainly make a few general suggestions that may help in tracking down some of the possible reasons for your pains.
Generally, the most important goal of a suitable mattress is to support the spine and joints in neutral alignment in all your sleeping positions so that the muscles and other tissues can fully relax and not work during the night to maintain good alignment. It also needs enough softness on the surface to allow your pressure points to sink in enough so that direct pressure on various parts of the body don’t cause soreness. Too much firmness or too much softness in either the comfort or support layers can both lead to alignment and pressure issues, discomfort, or pain in various areas of the body.
In my previous response, I suggested that you also look onto the pillow issue as Head and neck issues can also be the result of a pillow that doesn’t keep your head and neck in good alignment over the course of the night.
Shoulder and arm issues can come from a mattress that is too firm and puts direct pressure on the shoulders, the shoulder blades, or on the back muscles and can also cause soreness or numbness and tingling in the arms or can often come from postural issues as well. There is some much more detailed information on the shoulder and arm issues in posts #2 and #3 here
I suggest that you first try to understand a bit better your sleeping landscape and where your symptoms originate and perhaps do a bit of local testing. You might wish to approach FloBeds on our Expert’s panel regarding any zoning that you may consider.
Phoenix