Recommendations for back sleeper with pain

Beyond Mattresses
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Hello, I am looking for recommendations on mattresses for someone who’s around 40 years old, 135lbs, and primarily a back sleeper. There’s a local Sleepare store nearby which I’ll be visiting later this week. They carry all the popular online brands to try before you buy.

Background: I currently have a medium plush all memory foam mattress that I purchased 5 years ago from Urban Mattress and have been waking up in the middle of the night with upper back tightness and neck pain more and more with time. I’m having to readjust my pillow a lot too (have gone through so many!). I realize this could also be due to muscle imbalances in my back, so I am working with a PT on that. I also had a slight bulging disc in my lower back that happened around the time I bought this mattress but that doesn’t bother me too much now.

I’m thinking I need something firmer as my current mattress is soft and has a decent amount of sink to it which could be throwing my upper back out of alignment (shoulders not sinking as much as torso). My first thought was to look at hybrid mattresses (i.e. Helix). I remember trying latex mattress many years ago, but they didn’t feel all that great if I recall correctly.

Thanks for you input!

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Hi The Dakk,

Welcome back to the community.

It is clear you’re dealing with a mix of alignment issues and potentially some mattress wear contributing to your discomfort. Given your body type and back-sleeping preference, it sounds like a firmer, more supportive mattress would be beneficial to help with the alignment and ease some of that tension in your upper back and neck. Hybrid mattresses like Helix Midnight, Signature Hybrid firm can be a great choice for that, especially with their balanced support and comfort layers. Sleepare carries these, I believe.

Since you mentioned neck pain and frequently adjusting your pillow, make sure the pillow you’re using is the right height and firmness for a back sleeper. You might want to try a contour pillow or one specifically designed for back sleepers to better support your neck. There is one called the Majestic Pillow that a few acquaintances have used and have done quite well with it. It is unique for a contour pillow as it has adjustable layers.

A mattress in the medium-firm to firm range (typically around a 6-8/10 firmness level) may be a best choice. Since you’re a back sleeper, you don’t want too much sinkage, but also want to maintain some cushioning to avoid pressure buildup, particularly around your shoulders, helix dusk, is one that sleepare is likely to carry.

When testing mattresses, try to lie on it for at least 20 - 30 minutes, and if you go with someone, have them look at your posture and alignment on the mattress to see if there is any sinking and for you to try and determine if there is any unusual pressure that you feel. Remember, your pillow is crucial. If you look at what I have written about pillows, you will understand how important they are as part of a good sleep.

Clearly, there are a handful of mattresses that would fit the description of what you need. Many from Trusted Members here at TMU. Either way if you have any questions on any of the 3z brands (helix, BB, Nolah, Birch, Bear, and Leesa) I am fairly versed in all of them.

Good luck with your mattress search.

Maverick

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Maverick,

Many thanks for your input and guidance!

I plan on trying the Helix and Bear brands tomorrow. Any thoughts on WinkBed or Stearns and Foster Lux Estate? Those have come up in my search.

I understand the legacy brands have declined in quality over the last decade but figured I would least try S&F in store as much as I don’t like dealing with the local MW and MF chain stores.

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I would suggest skipping over the S&F. It was on my list a few years ago when starting my search for a new mattress back then, but S&F, while a legacy brand of a great reputation and quality. I am not so confident these days. Wink is not bad in their genre, but DLX and Engineered Sleep are better choices in that category and price range. Both are great quality manufacturers, and make simple quality and thoughtful designed mattresses. Helix, Nolah, BB have some very good options in their respective categories.

You should definitely give them a try, but don’t get too excited until you’ve narrowed down your choices. Once you’ve got your top two or three, go back and test them again. When you’re trying a bunch of mattresses in one day, it’s easy to think each one is better than the last—except for the ones that are clearly too soft. That’s what I ran into with the S&F Lux Estate Ultra Firm. I looked at some individual reviews from owners, and it seemed like it didn’t live up to expectations after about a year and a half. There was a clear pattern in the feedback, with many people saying it wasn’t as great as they hoped. I’m sure there are some who love it, but when you’re spending that much, there are definitely other local and regional brands that offer more value and even customization if you want it.

In the end, I ended up with the BB Plank Luxe, kind of unexpectedly. As I narrowed down my options, I was happy with what I had, but my curiosity got the best of me. The Plank Luxe was being hyped as the firmest mattress, so I decided to take the plunge and see if it actually lived up to the specs.

Two years later, it is still working out great. It doesnt mean that one of the others would not have been just a satisfying and comfortable, but it has met all of our expectations thus far.

Of course, just yesterday, while in NYC, we stopped into the Hastens showroom. Usually, they only see folks by appointment, but we got to talking and the sales manager showed us a very nice mattress. It was very comfortable, a different type of feel altogether. Comfortable and I am quite sure it would have been just fine. But we passed on it since we had to get to our exhibit we were attending, and the mattress was a mere $650,000 dollars. Perhaps, next time, LOL.

In any case good luck again.

Maverick

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Maverick,

Can you elaborate more on the Hastens? About how it felt?

John

1 Like
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So, it is a bit hard to make a comparison. They dont actually believe in super firm. The entire construction is based on a completely balanced system. When I use my horsehair pillow, It is firm, but not hard, springy but not squishy. Not bouncy like latex and not dead like memory foam. You feel like is absorbs you a bit and your are resting on a firmish, but slightly cushy at the same time, but with excellent support, like it is holding you in some like suspended animation, like a weightless feeling.

You know you are lying on something different than what you are used to, as it really is different than any other mattress.
I have tried the Visprings, Shifmans and Millbrooks at the Vegas Trade show, and while they are comfortable mattresses, you know you can feel the firmness of the supportive mattress.

Hastens doesnt feel firm or soft. The combination of natural materials make you feel like you are floating on a very supportive and secure surface, but at the same time, you are not saying to yourself, oh yeah, firm, or ahhh soft and cushy. The unique sensation is immediate though. Not like other mattresses where you lie on it and you sink into the mattress and become enveloped, or you rest on top of the mattress and dont sink at all (as I experienced with the ViSpring, Shifman and Millbrook). We are sort of trained to look for specific things, posture and alignment, pressure relief, etc. You are immediately not thinking in those terms. Since I am used to horsehair, there was some familiar to me about the mattress, but it is definitely different than any other you would ever try. You body wants to go into immediate contouring so you are in great alignment, as if the horsehair was somehow self adjusting itself to your entire body, like it was adjusting to each curve and weight of your body.

Their whole philosophy is the entire bedding approach: Topper; Mattress; and Boxspring. They have sleep doctors that will visit your home and do maintenance on the mattress, flipping, rotating and massaging the mattress for decades of service.

You feel like you are resting on the best mattress topper you have ever really felt. It seemed that all of the models had their matching topper coordinated with the mattress. You are not talking an inch of horsehair, it was like 4 inches then cotton, then another layer of horsehair, the horsehair is like thousands of microsprings, the way they curl it and lay it out throughout the mattress.
I wish I had time to try the 25k version, but I will try it the next time I go into the city. Although the Shifman and Vispring utilizes horsehair, this betting system, has so much of it, that you are just feel like you are suspended on the mattress.

I barely took notice of the sheets, but my wife, mentioned as we left, the sheets felt amazing.

Although we in the showroom for only about 20 minutes before we had to get to our exhibition, it was truly a unique experience.

What is weird, I really want to go back and try it again, so I can pay more attention to the experience. It is an odd thing to say, but I wonder if it will have that same affect the second time around.

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Thanks Norm!

Now you have me really intrigued!

I guess I should check it out!

The feel seems other worldly!

I became really intrigued when I read this article “I Have A Hastens Bed: Why Its Worth The.Cost” by Dr. Michael Breus. Dr Breus is known as “The Sleep Doctor”. Dr Breus is now promoting Hastens and training Hastens employees.

I guess I should go to a Hastens store and see what all the hype is about!

John

1 Like
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Yes, I read his article also, it just happened to have come after my trip into new york. It is interesting, in that it is just a bed. But the fact they get 659k for it makes it somewhat of an event when you see it. The odd thing is, the showroom on 18th street in NYC, the one that I visited, was not like some opulent over the top showroom, nothing like the showrooms at the Vegas Market. It was your typical (hustle and bustle) New York store front.