Greeings all-
I’ve been following these forums for a year with avid interest and appreciate everyone’e expertise.
Here’s my issue. Last year, I bought an iComfort Genius Queen Mattress. It was my first “grown up adult professional” bed purchase. It ended up being way too firm so I downgraded three months later (via my Sleep Comfort Guarantee) to an iComfort Insight mattress, which I’ve had for the past 11 months. I’ve still had tons of pain subsequently – stiff upper back between the shoulder blades, stiff shoulders, head/neck/migraine pain, and even lower back/pelvis pain. I’m a 30 year old male, 5’10, 185 lbs side and back sleeper (alternating). I’ve spent tons of money on self care/chiropractic/acupuncture/physical therapy, you name it, the past year. I can’t take it anymore and need to make a change!
A bit more background: I read all of the forums on mattress toppers and decided to try this Extra Plush double-thick Fitted Topper as a first stop-gap measure: Amazon.com. It seemed to cool the mattress down a bit and offer nominal support, but my joints still really hurt, and I’m starting to realize that a total memory foam mattress just might not be for me. I think because most of my weight is in my mid-section, I sink down in ways that screw up my alignment and my shoulders are perpetually sore from the firmness of the memory foam mattress that I currently have (iComfort Insight). Toppers are difficult to return (even with generous return policies) and so I don’t want to do any more experimentation with toppers…although I’m curious if a 2-3" memory foam topper on my memory foam mattress might work…?
I know that going with a big box mattress store was a huge mistake, but now that I’m stuck with this mattress, the only option American Mattress (in Chicago, IL) is offering me is an exchange for $970 (the price of my original mattress alone) after I pay a $300 fine (basically some sort of new “sleep guarantee” charge). American Mattress stores only sell Serta and Tempur pedic. Within the Serta models, there are plain coil mattress, hybrid foam/coil mattresses, and fancier versions of iComfort.
The ones that are relatively in my price range are the iSeries Initiative Plush or Firm Queen Mattresses. Here’s a link: http://www.americanmattress.com/serta-isr-initiative-plush.html Here are the components/measurements…
Initiative Firm
1" PillowSoft Foam = 1.2 pcf; 17.5 lbs iLD
1" Support Foam = 1.3 pcf; 50 lbs iLD
1" Cool Action Dual Effects Gel Memory
Foam = 3.6 pcf; 6-10 lb iLD
Initiative Plush
2 ½" PillowSoft Foam = 1.2 pcf; 17.5 lb iLD
1" Cool Action Dual Effects Gel Memory
Foam = 3.6 pcf; 6-10 lb iLD
Most of their foams are High Density (1.8 pcf or higher) and High Resiliency (2.5 pcf or higher)
Phoenix and others, please advise me on what to do given the various limitations I’ve mentioned here (needing to stick with American Mattress, concerned about memory foam, realizing that firmer mattresses breakdown less quickly but might be harder on a side sleeper’s shoulder, etc).
Thank you very much for your time!