Hi prerssurepts,
It’s difficult to generalize about any component or mattress design because there are so many design variations that each one may feel and perform very differently for you even if it uses the same general type of components and materials. There are dozens if not hundreds of different types of pocket coils for example and each of them can use a different combination of foam and other materials on top of them. Some may work well and some may not work at all for any particular person.
You can read a little more about innersprings in general in this article and in post #10 here.
[quote]I purchased another mattress, but I thought the pocket coils were softer this time. it also has 3 in of latex and a soft knit cover over it.
But same thing. my side feels instantly painful and i can’t stand to sleep on it. And now that I’m sore, everything feels terrible. It felt fine in the store. But after lying down for a few hours, its really painful on my side. On my back, i can feel the coils pushing into me as well.[/quote]
This could be connected to the firmness or softness of the latex, the thickness of the latex, or the overall design of the mattress and how well the combination of materials relieves pressure and keeps you in good alignment.
Have you talked with the retailer or manufacturer of the mattress about making any adjustments or any options you have available ?
[quote]any addtional advice?
I’ve tried 5 differnt beds in the last year and none have worked and i’ starting to lose hope.[/quote]
The best advice I can offer is to focus on accurate and objective testing for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) which is the “bottom line” about what makes one mattress more suitable than the next. It also bypasses all the technical analysis about “better or worse” materials or designs and puts the focus on letting your body decide what works best for you. I would also try and determine the root cause behind why you are having so much difficulty on so many mattresses. Can you identify any patterns? Are they generally pressure issues, alignment issues, or “other” issues?
It may also be a good idea to choose a mattress where you have good options available to work with a retailer or manufacturer tthat offers good options after a purchase for fine tuning your comfort or support layers or that has a good return policy so your choices are less risky. If 5 mattresses have not been suitable for you over the last year then I would think that there may be a common factor which may be connected either to how you are making your choices or may have nothing at all to do with the mattresses themselves and more connected to other issues that may need the attention of a health professional and which may only be showing up after you have slept on them for a while (most likely connected with your sleeping posture and alignment).
I just don’t have enough information to even guess why so many mattresses over the last year may have all been unsuitable for you but I would try to identify a common pattern of why the mattresses you tried didn’t work (and correct it to the best of your ability) and also to try and identify a pattern of what the mattresses that do work for you have in common in terms of how they feel and perform and use them as a guideline. I would focus more on PPP than on “theory” and trying to determine which materials are “best” when the materials and components may be less important than how they interact together and the overall performance of the mattress.
Phoenix