I wish I had found this site before purchasing a very expensive mattress. 
I recently purchased a ViSpring Regal Superb (mattress only), in “firm.” The firm was recommended by the store owner based on my BMI, and did seem, in the store, to be more flexible (and comfortable) than what I would expect a firm mattress to be (my preference is for a softer mattress). What I have found at home though is that the mattress is really firm. ( I don’t’ know if it’s significant, but I have a firm box-spring.)
The thing is I think the firm might be best for my alignment, but it’s not the comfort that I was hoping for. In the morning, I wake to a sore hip (side sleeper), despite having purchased a wool topper to provide a layer of softness.
I’ve had the mattress close to 90 days, and am down to the wire on whether or not I’ll be able to exchange it for a medium firmness. In the store, the medium seemed like it might be too soft. Although my preference goes more to the softer side, I can’t quite reconcile that there is such a significant difference between the firm and the medium.
Because there’s a fee to replace the mattress, I’m wondering if I’m continuing to throw good money after bad by taking my chances with getting the medium; or if it makes more sense to go for broke, keep the firm mattress and purchase the ViSpring foundation (if that would help).
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!
Hi biddyk,
[quote]Because there’s a fee to replace the mattress, I’m wondering if I’m continuing to throw good money after bad by taking my chances with getting the medium; or if it makes more sense to go for broke, keep the firm mattress and purchase the ViSpring foundation (if that would help).
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks! [/quote]
Unfortunately it’s not possible to make any 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” or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your 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 accurate than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
Of course the ideal would be to have both suitable support/alignment and comfort/pressure relief in a mattress (especially in this kind of much higher budget range) … but if you have to choose one over the other then I would choose support/alignment. There is some great information in this PHD thesis by Vincent+Verhaer (who is one of a group of researchers that I greatly respect) about the importance of good spinal alignment that clearly indicates that for healthy individuals it has the single biggest effect on the depth and quality of sleep and recovery for healthy individuals.
A mattress that is slightly too firm is also less risky than a mattress that is too soft because you can always add add additional “comfort” and pressure point relief to a mattress by adding a topper but it’s much more difficult to “firm up” a mattress that is already too soft without removing and replacing a support core that is too soft or comfort layers that are too thick/soft.
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/alignment” and “comfort/pressure relief” and “feel” and how they interact together.
Vi Spring has several toppers that may provide the additional comfort and pressure relief that you need but the only reliable way to predict whether any of them would give you the additional pressure relief you are looking for will be based on your own careful testing in the store on the specific mattress/topper combination you are considering.
I’m not sure you are clear between the difference between a “box spring” and a “foundation”. A box spring has springs inside it that flex under the mattress and foundation has a slatted or wire grid surface that provides little to no flex under the mattress.
The Vi Spring mattresses are designed to be paired with a matching box spring which can certainly make a noticeable difference in the ability of a mattress to contour to your body shape and provides additional “depth” of support to the sleeping system. It will generally feel softer than a rigid foundation that doesn’t have any flex.
In general it’s best to purchase the same mattress/support system combination that you test and decide on in the store but once again the only reliable way to know whether a box spring or a foundation would be a better “match” for you would be based on your own careful testing or your personal experience.
Most of the Vi Spring retailers are well trained in helping their customers to decide on which combination of mattress, topper, and support system will work best for you and these are the types of decisions that I would make based on the type of “in person” guidance they can provide in a store where they can observe you on their mattresses and where you can provide “real time” feedback about how you feel on each mattress, topper, and support system combination rather than the much more limited type of guidance or “theory at a distance” that is all that is possible on a forum.
Phoenix
biddyk wrote:
I thought I’d add a comment here for those who might peruse this forum in the future and have someone recommend a mattress based upon BMI. Plugging your weight and height into a BMI calculation isn’t a way to pick a mattress. There is some advanced research out there by very smart people attempting to come up with some sort of a way to quantify zone stiffness within mattresses for proper alignment, and while BMI is one of the measurements taken, the more important measurements deal with actual measurements of the shoulders, waist, hip and height, and the ratios between these, and then performing surface scans of the actual spinal alignment, BMI numbers tend to over-exaggerate %body fat in muscular individuals and underestimate it in older adults and less muscular people.
Regarding your situation, while I can’t feel what you feel, if you thought the next Vi Spring product was too soft, perhaps you might consider using a latex topper to achieve a bit of extra surface plushness? Your current mattress will soften a bit over time, and in the interim it’s possible that a 2" or 3" latex topper could provide some of the relief you desire. And if the exchange fee is substantial, and you’d be getting a mattress that you initially didn’t prefer, the cost of the exchange fee might pay for a topper. Overall you’re better off having a product that is slightly firm and will soften gradually over time, as opposed to one that is too soft and will only get become more plush. At least you can “plushen” a firm product.
Good luck!
It appears Phoenix and I were answering your post at the same time, but the PhD thesis he mentioned and the importance of support was the same thing to which I was referring.
Thank you so much for your response. You’ve actually validated what I suspected - that is to go firmer for the alignment, and soften up by other means. I will probably also go ahead and purchase the ViSpring foundation - in keeping with the way the bed was set up in the store. I imagine I’ll get a bit more “give” than with what I have the mattress on now. 
Thank you too!!
The true box spring will provide a bit more plushness to your mattress as opposed to placing your mattress on a semi-flex foundation or platform bed.