I am hoping you can help me determine what to do…I had (an expensive) latex topped bed that gave my husband and I shoulder pains, so I had been buying 2" foam toppers biannually for years to relieve the problem of the pins and needles from the latex returning as the foam would break down. I finally convinced him we needed to get a new, non-Latex bed, and I began researching consumer reports, etc., sadly only finding your site after thinking I found an impressive solution. I ordered a $1500 innerspring with organic cotton top, made in North America, and only available online with what was claimed to be the best reviews of all. I was so excited to receive it: and then proceeded to have the worst night sleep ever. It was truly agonizing, and so contacted Customer support and they said 2-4 week break in period and sent a 3" topper to get me thru. It has been six weeks, and it is only nominally better, but a deep pain in my hip has arisen which I am certain is caused by this mattress. My husband sleeps better on it, saying it is not the best night sleep ever, but is better than Latex. He is a fit 175#, and I am similarily 120#. We are both back and side sleepers, and while back is preferable to me, for whatever reason, I end up on my side being more comfortable than back on this one~ but now the hip probs. For the price I thought I could get a good night sleep. I am terrified it is never going to break in, and I have already gotten sick from not getting the rest I need. I really didn’t want to go the topper route, as foam eventually fails, and I may as well have kept the crappy bed and continued the foam topper fix…any leads or ideas?
Thanks!
Hi wantosleepwell.
Welcome to our Mattress Forum! 
I am sorry that you are experiencing shoulder pains and that your old mattress and topper combination is causing you restless nights and I agree that constantly having to buy toppers to fix a mattress construction that is not suitable may not be a waste of resources.
The shoulder “pins and needles” pains that you are experiencing could be an indication of comfort layers being too firm because when dealing with pressure relief issues (typically numbness, tingling, limbs falling asleep etc) then it’s usually about the thickness and softness of the upper layers of your mattress and the “cradle” that is formed when you sink IN to the top layers. If the more “pointy” parts of your body are bearing too much weight (what are called “bony prominences”) then you would have pressure issues because the parts of your body with more surface area would not be in firm enough contact with the mattress and would be bearing too little weight to relieve the pressure on your bony prominences, such as the shoulder area.
In other words … the upper layers are about “allowing” enough sinking in to create the mattress cradle which is a larger area of surface contact with the mattress to relieve pressure and support the recessed areas of the spine. The deeper layers are about controlling any further compression than necessary for pressure relief to “hold up” the heavier parts of the body and keep the spine in its range of natural alignment. The amount of sinking allowed by lower layers has less effect on pressure relief in other words (in most types of mattress construction) but controls alignment. This is why when people change the firmness of upper layers to solve support issues or the lower layers to solve pressure relief issues they will often create new issues and may not solve the issue they are trying to “fix”.
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” that may be useful as well as you go through this process.
I am not sure what you read since you found our site but if you’ll spend a little time here you will clearly see that the focus here is “how” to choose a suitable sleeping system and that it’s not possible or advisable to look for specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see post #2 here ).
The first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here (there is a condensed version of it at the end of that post) which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more 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”, firmness, 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 he will sleep), durability (how long he 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 (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
When assessing any product, also be sure that you find out information listed here so you can compare the quality of the materials and components to the durability guidelines here to make sure 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.
As you already discovered from your personal experience and …while most reviewers are certainly well meaning … most reviews aren’t relevant to anyone but the reviewer and can be “influenced” so easily and in so many ways … it is good to keep in mind that for the most part (with only few exceptions) mattress reviews will have absolutely no indication of the potential appropriateness or applicability of any product for your own personal needs.
This is one of the biggest mistakes that consumers make – relying on the experiences of others and assuming that these would somehow be an accurate indicator of the applicability for a mattress to themselves. There are simply too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved in choosing a mattress for someone else to make specific suggestions based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or theory at a distance that can possible be more accurate than your own careful and objective testing (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) which is always the most reliable way to predict which mattress will be the best match for you in terms of PPP (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here ).
As I do not know the specs of your new mattress I cannot comment on it, but the six weeks that you already spent on it are well past the “break in” period of adjustment and seem to suggest that this is not a good match for your particular needs and the new pains in your hip area when you sleep on your side indicates that the pressure relief is still an issue. In this case you may wish to consider a return of this product (I hope that you had the foresight to choose something with a good return policy.)
You are correct that the attempt to “fix” your new mattress with yet another topper solution would be more or less the same as trying to adjust the comfort for your old mattress. Most people attempt to find a comfort of a mattress without having to add a topper initially from another manufacturer, which can further complicate finding your comfort preference. It could be that you don’t have an affinity for the feel of latex, of that the older latex mattress was too firm for your needs, and/or an indication that or that you need more comfort layers to increase your comfort cradle, or that you desire a softer surface comfort, or a combination of all of these things.
I recognize that because of your restless nights it might be tempting to try to find a quick “fix” but I strongly recommend that you go through the readings I suggested above to arm yourself with the knowledge you need to have in order to better understand your needs and then do your own careful and objective testing on local mattresses (using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post) that you can use to decide on a mattress that is “best” for you in terms of PPP (whether it is for a local purchase or as a guideline for an online purchase)
If personal testing locally isn’t possible (either because there are no reasonably similar mattresses that you can find locally or because you have difficulty finding out more detailed specs of mattresses you are testing) … then the next best way is a more detailed discussions with a knowledgeable and experienced online manufacturer or retailer. They are much more familiar with their own mattress designs and materials than anyone else (including me) and they can use the information you provide them about your body type and sleeping positions, your preferences, your history on different mattresses, and the results of your local testing to make suggestions based on the “averages” of other customers that may be similar to you. The more accurate and detailed the information you provide them the better you will help them to help you make the best possible choices out of the options they have available. Of course the options you have available with each retailer or manufacturer (or with a particular mattress) and your ability to exchange layers or the mattress itself or use other forms of fine tuning after your purchase or the return policy may also be an important part of your personal value equation or to offset the risk that can go with any online purchase.
Please take some time to read through the material I’ve presented here, and let me know if you have any questions resulting from that.
Phoenix