Hi HoosierLife,
[quote]So plan B was to move the soft topper down one level, so my wifes configuration would be the same and mine would be med, soft, firm, firm. That’s how I slept on it last night and I loved it. I will obviously still have to give it a few days, but my lower back wasnt hurting at all and I woke up refreshed and relatively pain free.
Well, I slept with 3" soft topper as my second layer for a couple of days. I was still noticing my hips were sinking down into the mattress and I have had a new sharp pain in my lumbar since I got this bed and dull aches in my lower back when I wake up.[/quote]
How long did this combination work for you before you started noticing “symptoms”.
This may be too big of a change to make in a single step. I would make sure that you go very slowly and incrementally when you are making changes and give each combination at least a few days so that you give your body time to “catch up” to the changes you are making. Sometimes if you make changes that are too big or too frequently your body can react to the size of the change or the frequency of the changes you are making rather than to the specific change itself.
The most important step though when you are experiencing pain or discomfort on a component mattress is a more detailed conversation with the manufacturer. Have you talked with SleepEZ and have they made any suggestions?
Your hips are heavier than your shoulders so they will tend to sink down more than your shoulders but I would avoid trying to “figure out” how much any part of your body may be sinking down and just focus on how you feel on the mattress and on any actual discomfort or pain you are experiencing. How far it “feels like” different parts of your body may be sinking down can often just be part of the process of adjusting to a different type of material that you aren’t used to.
There are also some suggestions in post #2 here that may be helpful but shoulder issues are usually either from a top layer that is too firm or they can often be a pillow issue as well.
I would avoid speculating about toppers or other larger types of changes until your situation has “stabilized” a little bit but if the time comes that you want to add a topper then the type of topper would be a personal preference based on the type of material you tend to prefer (memory foam, polyfoam, latex, natural fibers, synthetic fibers etc).
If the time comes that you do decide to go in this direction then post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to can help you use your more “stable” sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline for choosing the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that has the least possible risk and the best chance for success.
[quote]I drive by Longs Furniture World in Franklin for work. I wanted to try those out, but got hooked on the latex idea and wouldn’t let go. I wonder if their HD series might be a better fit considering my PPP?
What do you think Phoenix? Also, do you know what the cost is for their HD King set? [/quote]
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 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 would be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing or personal experience … hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
They don’t list prices on their website so you would need to talk with Longs about their prices.
Again the only way to know whether any mattress/topper combination will be a good “match” for you will be based on your own personal testing or sleeping experience.
I would avoid coil counting as a way to determine the quality, durability, or value of a mattress because an innerspring isn’t normally the weak link in a mattress and the number of coils is only one of many factors that determines how a particular innerspring will feel and perform inside a specific mattress design and can be more misleading than helpful. There is more about the different types of innersprings in this article and in post #10 here but I would pay much more attention to your own careful and objective testing which will tell you how the innerspring performs in combination with the other layers and materials in a mattress and to the quality of the materials above the innerspring which is normally the weakest link in a mattress than I would to the number of coils in a mattress which by itself isn’t particularly meaningful.
If I was in your shoes though I would focus on small incremental steps and give yourself more time and most important of all I would make sure to have a more detailed conversation with SleepEZ.
Phoenix