We recently purchased a TempurPedic Adapt, medium, that replaced a DIY mattress I built years ago that was a 6-inch Talalay core with a 3-inch memory foam top layer. I loved that mattress but it finally reached its end of life after 15 years. My wife loves our current mattress as-is but I want to tinker with it a little bit. It’s firm and generally we both need solid support. I’m 5-10", 175, athletic and my wife is 5’3" 130, also athletic. Both of us are side sleepers. My biggest problem is nerve compression in my lower back and neck. I generally wake up with some numbness in my right hand or right foot that usually fades once I get up and start moving around. My DIY mattress was giving me some morning back pain but I think that had more to do with the bed support system on our new bed versus the mattress. We got a new adjustable base with our new mattress and the back pain has mostly faded but I still have the numbness. My goal is to minimize it, not necessarily eliminate it, since I have real issues from years of athletics that are not just mattress-related. No doubt a poor night of sleep exacerbates it. I don’t want to lose the support of my current mattress, I like it, but I would like to soften it just a bit w/o losing support. I was thinking a 2-inch Talalay topper but interested in opinions before I pull the trigger since I only get one return if my choice does not work out or my wife hates it. The mattress is 11-inch and don’t think I want to go beyond a 13-inch stack height. Thanks!
The soft 2" talalay layer will definitely help soften up the mattress feel but if your nerve/numbness issues come from an alignment problem it will not likely fix that at all. So as long as your goal is to just alleviate a bit of pressure then it should work very well for you.
Hello ukchucktown and thank you so much for the inquiry! Please keep the following in mind when choosing a thickness for your topper: A 2" topper will make a noticeable difference but, depending on how much you want to change the feel of your mattress, may still leave something to be desired. The 3" topper will change the feel of your mattress the most, and if that’s the change that you’re looking for then this would be the best bet. The best way to summarize it would be to say that a 2" topper will make the mattress feel moderately softer and the 3" topper will make the mattress feel much softer.
Both the thickness and the density makes a difference when choosing a topper. Ultimately, how you make your decision will depend on the following: how firm your mattress is now; how much softer you want your mattress to be; your height, body weight, and sleeping preference (For example, for someone over 200 lbs I would recommend a medium topper; if you weighed more than 200 lbs and bought a soft topper, you would likely bottom out and sink right through the topper to the firm mattress that you’re trying to move away from).
Aside from that, Talalay is bouncier and springier and is generally better at contour and pressure relief on your hips and shoulders. Dunlop is denser and firmer and is generally better at support and maintaining proper spinal alignment so Talalay is much more common for toppers.
Based on the information you’ve provided, I think a 2" soft Talalay topper would be ideal!
So, I thought I’d share my results in case anyone else is wondering how it worked out. i will say the TempurPedic was starting to soften just a bit after a couple of weeks and I was actually starting to feel pretty good in the morning so I was second guessing my decision to add a latex topper. I ordered a 20 ILD Dunlop 2-inch topper and decided to try it anyway. First impressions, it was plush with the topper and I actually loved how it felt but ultimately it didn’t give me the support I needed. I sunk through most of the topper into the memory foam and even though it was a plush feel I lost needed support and woke in the morning with a nagging back pain. In the end I just needed to allow for the break-in period on my new mattress. It’s turning out to be a good fit w/o any modification. The one thing I learned, I need a firm mattress.
OK great! Well thanks for the update and thanks for the feedback! I just got off the phone with a customer who said her Roma mattress was just a bit too firm for her preferences and she’s only had it for a few nights and wanted to purchase a topper. I recommended she sleep on it for at least a month before spending any more money, and she was happy with the recommendation. There really is a break in period for mattresses, and there normally is an adjustment period for most people’s body to adjust to a new mattress. Nonetheless, I’m glad everything worked out, and if there’s anything else we can help with, please just let us know!