Side sleeper shoulder pain, help me find a new mattress

Hey all!

I got my current mattress just over 6 years ago, it’s been through 2 separate moves and has come along for the journey each time. When I first got it was basically my first big mattress purchase ever as before I had only really slept on an old water bed and then after that very basic Zinus mattresses.

My partner and myself are moving and so I’d like to take the opportunity to upgrade the mattress to something bigger and also address some of the issues I experience in my sleep.

Current bed
Queen size
Arizona Premium Mattress - Adjustable Medium Latex Sleep System (Blended) w/ #19 3" latex topper (Full Adjustable Ultra Plush Latex Sleep System (Blended), #1 Selling Latex Mattress- Adjustable Ultra Plush, Latex Mattresses-Talalay and Dunlop, All Products)

How I sleep and my body stats
175lbs, 5’9"
95% side sleeper, 5% stomach
I’m a hot sleeper so I definitely prefer to have something that’s relatively cooling

How my partner sleeps
140lbs, 5’4"
About the same (95% side, 5% stomach). They could sleep on a rock in 5 minutes and be totally happy so they truly do not care what kind of bed we get.

What I like about the mattress
The thing I enjoy the most is just how cool it sleeps. I’m a pretty hot sleeper personally so having that is pretty important to me.

Problem with current setup

  • Feels like I’m falling down the mattress at times
  • Pressure points on shoulders
  • Minor pressure point on hips

One of the biggest issues I deal with with the bed is that at times it almost feels like I’m falling down the bed as though it was sloped (I can confirm that the floors are level and my bed frame and mattress itself is also level). I suppose this is just lack of support being provided by the mattress as I sleep for my lower body thus giving me a sensation of not being horizontal. Additionally even though this mattress is arguably when I first get in, I still deal with pressure on my shoulders as I sleep on my side resulting in having to toss and turn from side to side until I inevitably fall asleep.

For some further context, I deal with mild chronic pain in my right shoulder from an injury many years ago and so the tossing and turning is somewhat do to the added sensitivity that I have. I usually start sleeping on my right shoulder, turn to my left after some time, and then finally back on my right where I finally do fall asleep. It all feels as routine as a free throw ritual. I would like to not have to do this.

Budget
I’d be willing to spend upwards of $10k on a good mattress if anyone was confident enough to recommend one at that price, but of course also willing to consider a mattress at any price under that. I have easy access to major mattress retailers all around me and I’m willing to go try out something if need be.

What I’ve tried
I’ve been able to visit a couple mattress stores and try the following:

  • Naturepedic EOS (with and w/o pillowtop): This seemed a bit expensive for the product, specifically noting that their selling point and target market are those who want organic which I don’t really care much about personally. I did like the mattress, but I also didn’t like it enough to buy it on the spot
  • Temperpedic (all of them): I also tried many of these out. I liked the Luxe breeze a lot. The problem I have with temperpedic is that it feels as though for every glowing review I see, there’s 2 bad reviews, specifically in regards to longevity.
  • Spink & Co: I tried two of their mattresses, unfortunately I can’t quite remember which one I looked at though I do believe I looked at the Hartwell. I did actually like it, but again did not purchase it on the spot…
  • Premier Mattress (Austin, TX brand): I tried the Buttercup Medium, which I did like, but something felt just a bit off? I slept on this for like 20 minutes and still felt some pressure in my shoulders.

There were others I tried, but they all have sort of blended together. Most of the mattresses I have tried are all basically medium firmness.

Other things
Like probably every other person that comes to this forum looking for recommendations, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. Most mattresses I come across it just feels like I’m being sold on a name/brand rather than the bonafides of the mattress itself (can a mattress even have bonafides? who knows). I feel no closer to finding a good mattress for me than I was a week ago before I even knew I was going to get a new mattress!

While I understand that it just comes down to materials and what I want, I guess my problem is that I truly don’t know what I want, or more specifically, what I need. Will microcoils be better than latex? What about both together in a hybrid? Is 800 coil count too much or too little for a King, should I be in a firmer bed or softer? All of these are questions that have crossed my mind as of late and it’s all getting a bit tiresome.

Anyways, I apologize for my rant above, but I would truly like some help. If anyone can take a guess as to what mattress might be right from me either from the list of ones I’ve tried and am familiar with or something totally different, I’m all ears. I will say I looked at Engineered Sleep options which look good price wise and just generally good overall, but still don’t know what I should get between the Duo Latex or Duo Lift.

Thanks!

Is your APM mattress Dunlop or Latex?

If it is Dunlop….definitely try Talalay.

Looks like you are looking for a mattress in the Latex and Tempurpedic range. With Tempurpedic…check out Luxe Adapt Soft. The Breeze line emphasizes cooling over pressure relief. Luxe line is more conforming than Breeze line.

Or check out this mattress made for side sleeping: BackScience3. I tried it when I was at the showroom……this mattresses is so plush and supportive!!! I did get a BackScience2 because I am a back sleeper.

John

Hey Kbman.

Did you reach out to Az Premium to troubleshoot the sloping? If so, what was the outcome?

A good alternative here may be an option from @WinndomMattress - you may want to take a particular look at the Dogwood.

What do you LIKE? I think that’s an important data point.

For side sleepers…comfort layers generally need to be a little softer and/or thicker than the other 2 positions. In general a good starting point for a good comfort layer for a side sleeper is 3" and then depending on weight, body shape, preferences, and the firmness of the support layers, to go up or down from there. Most side sleepers will fall in the range of from 2" -4". Without an appropriate comfort layer, a side sleeper will end up with pressure points during the course of the night and could have symptoms of numbness, soreness, localized redness, or end up tossing and turning all night as your body tries to relieve the pressure.

I’ve tagged @EngineeredSleep here to help you troubleshoot. :slight_smile:

NikkiTMU

1 Like

@Kbman thank you for all the info and for considering us. We would obviously love to help solve your sleep dilemma!

The first thing I want to address is going from an all latex mattress to a hybrid is a slight change in overall feel - but just wanted to throw that out there. It seems you have tested plenty of hybrids in showrooms - so you are aware of this!

Duo Latex: The pocketed coil we use is pretty firm (my guess is it will be firmer support than your current mattress). The latex feel above the coil will be similar to what you are using now. Our latex is around that 19ILD range.

Duo Lift: Same firm pocketed coil support. The 3.5" MiniCoil + Wool and Cotton mimicks latex - but slightly firmer. This mattress is softer than our Duo Latex, but not softer than the Duo Latex Plus.

I am having a hard time being able to give you an absolute recommendation between those 3. My gut tells me the Duo Latex Plus or the Duo Lift. The good news is that if you choose one option and it is not working out we offer a Comfort Exchange and you can switch to one of the other options.

As you know, mattress shopping is tough! If we can be any help at all just let us know and good luck!

Thanks all for the responses, let me see if I can get some responses to questions in here

The mattress I have now is all Talalay with a 6" medium core and 3" #19 ILD (soft) topper

I never actually did as it’s only something I’ve noticed recently. I’ve actually gone ahead and rotated the two core halves around to see if that addresses the issue for now.

I still feel like I don’t quite know the answer here. I don’t hate the latex, but it almost feels like the 6"s of latex in the medium that I have, especially with the #19 ILD 3" topper is potentially a little too soft. Like maybe something just a bit firmer might make the difference here on my hips and as I’m a bit bottom heavy that may have to do with the sloping feeling I get due to sinking at my hips.

@EngineeredSleep I appreciate the recommendations here and yeah it’s all a bit tough for sure. I have a hard time making big purchases without trying to be at least somewhat informed and I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed spending my weekend days at a mattress store.

I ended up going to a couple stores this weekend and tried out some beds. Slept again on a few tempur-pedics and after a bit of time I think I’ve ruled any of those out of contention as I think I much prefer a more pillow-top feel.

I went back and tried out the Spink & Co. Hartwell and that was actually great and is probably current top of my list of mattresses in contention. Next up I went and tried the Beautyrest Black Series Three Medium Pillow Top and that was also really nice. It felt very similar to the Spink & Co, but doesn’t quite beat it out.

So where I’m at now it seems like a hybrid zoned mattress with a pillow-top around medium firmness is what I’m looking for.

Also apologies for the late reply on this, it’s been quite the busy week/weekend.

Kb,

Which city are you in? Where did you get to try out Spink and Co mattress?

John

I’m in Austin, TX and went to Premier Mattress. They have some inhouse brands as well as Spink & Co., Tempur-pedic and Vispring