Nightly hip pain and after sleeping on a Leesa mattress: what next?

[phoenix]

Hi COJ,

Many thanks Phoenix, excellent attention as usual, really appreciated.

You’re welcome. I wish I had better answers for you what I’m able to provide.

I truly feel that my L4-5 bulge is not the sole true culprit as it gives me almost zero trouble otherwise. It keeps me persevering in at least trying to find a good mattress match. I go through periods where I put it aside and endure but then I get so exhausted and realize I can;t pop pills every night so I soldier on.

The forces placed upon your spine while upright are of course in a different direction than when supine or prone. While you do have the pre-existing specific condition of a bulging disc, I would agree it’s not the whole source of your issue, but rather a combination of the bulging of your discs, the different pull of gravity when sleeping, and the difficulty of finding a product that can best help to minimize/combat these issues during the night.

One thing I’ve noticed is that I seemed to move a lot less in my sleep on the Leesa and while I woke up several times a night I would be on whichever side I was previously on. On our coil mattress I kung fu fight all night and often find myself waking up on my stomach which is not my usual sleep position. ?

Kung fu fight? That’s funny. :lol: The lower amount of repositioning can be due to your greater comfort (lowering of pressure points), which seems to be indicated with you when you use the lower resilience foams on the surface. It could also be from being “cradled” a bit more, so you are able to relax a bit better and maintain fewer “micro-contractions” to stabilize yourself while sleeping.

Am I correct in assuming that the Leesa or similar foam mattresses will be softer overall than a coil mattress by its nature (though I understand that a firm foam can be very firm)?

Not necessarily. The surface comfort can be plush with either a spring or foam mattress. The most common definition of softness has to do with the pressure relieving qualities of a mattress. This comes from the upper layers of the mattress and how well they re-distribute weight away from any pressure points. If you read post #6 here it describes someone floating in the air in good alignment and gradually being lowered onto a mattress. At first only the more “pointy parts” of the body will contact the mattress and all the weight is concentrated there. As you gradually sink in deeper more of the body surface begins to take up weight and relieve pressure on the parts that were initially in contact with the mattress. Eventually enough of the body surface is bearing weight that there are no perceptible pressure points. This is why the depth of the pressure relieving cradle and the materials that are used in the top layers are so important.

Some people need more pressure relief than others because they are either more sensitive, have less muscle tone, sleep in more pressure prone positions, or because their capillaries “collapse” more easily for various reasons. These people will generally do best with the maximum possible depth of cradle that is beneficial but more than this introduces new risks for alignment that have no pressure relieving benefit.

I would guess that a foam mattress in a “soft” version would be a better match? Do you think the thickness of the middle/transition layer matter in my case?

A “foam” mattress is of course a very broad term, but usually this is described as something using a polyfoam core and then multiple layers of polyfoam, memory foam or latex placed on top of that for the comfort layers. In your case, I was suggesting, based upon your feedback, that you may wish to investigate something using 1-2 memory foam layers on top (maximum I normally would suggest considering is 4" total), with memory foam being the uppermost layer. But that’s just a suggestion from a distance.

The terms (soft, plush, medium, etc.) are not standardized in the industry (nor could they be) because of every individual’s perception of the definition of those terms. All memory foam used in mattresses would generally be considered to be in the “plush” range, but there are of course different comforts based upon density, resilience, plasticizers, rate of recovery and response to temperature, just to name a few. The key is finding the right amount of plushness for you that assists in allowing you to sink in enough, but isn’t too resilient (as you’ve commented you don’t like that feel), but while at the same time allowing for enough deep support that your alignment isn’t compromised.

My husband is interested in trying the Luxi because of its customization claims but I’ve read reviews that stated that none of the combinations really amounted to a great fit.

The Luxi (you can do a forum search on Luxi and read my comments about them by clicking here) offers a unique concept with three different comforts in one mattress by the rearranging of their inner layers. The Support Balancing Technology is a unique engineered piece of foam, and it is possible that something like this might be comfortable for you. They do offer a 100 night sleep trial if you order one, should things not turn out as well as you had hoped.

Regarding reviews, while they can be useful to gauge the reputation of a business, they are not a reliable indicator of the quality or appropriateness of an item for any particular person.

Phoenix