Struggling with lower back pain! Too many bad beds: waterbeds, latex, memory foam & airbeds

[phoenix]

Hi needanewmattress,

Thank you very much for the informative reply. I understand your points, however the issue is most of these quality manufacturers would necessitate buying over the phone/internet with no way of testing first. Even with showroom testing I would not trust what I was feeling because they always feel great the first hour, but after 8 hours of sleep or a few weeks later, thats when the lower back pain begins to show.

There are many good quality/value mattresses that are available locally in most areas of the country that you could test in person before a purchase (if you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about the better options I’m aware of) but regardless of whether you purchase locally or online … if you aren’t confident that your purchase will be a good match for you in terms of PPP then the options you have after a purchase to further customize the mattress, exchange it for another one, or return it, would become a more important part of the “value” of your purchase and there are many local and online manufacturers and retailers that have a good exchange or return policy that would lower the risk of making an unsuitable choice.

Could it be that the pillow top hotel beds (or whatever topper they are using) gets compressed from much use, therefore you dont sink in as much because the comfort layer is already compressed? Its just odd that used hotel beds always seem to alleviate lower back pain for us… And these are not new mattresses at all, we dont stay in top end hotels, more mainstream best western caliber places.

Hotel mattresses are used less than consumer mattresses (they aren’t slept on every night) and are generally newer and in better condition than a mattress that needs replacing. Most comfort layers in hotel mattresses (which are usually made by major manufacturers) are made of foam which gets softer with use … not firmer. They are generally more costly and often lower quality versions of similar consumer mattresses that are available in mattress showrooms across the country made by the same major manufacturers.

I like the ability to reconfigure a bed as I did with the past latex bed however im very hesitant to try another full latex or foam bed. I think at this point there is something about coils not compressing as much in our pelvis area which prevents or reduces the back pain. Put it this way, sleeping on a carpet floor with 2 layers of comforters provides a better night sleep with little to no lower back pain.

Some coils will compress more than some latex support cores and some latex support cores will compress more than some innersprings … it just depends on the specifics of each and their relative firmness level because both come in a wide range of firmness levels.

With some people that have a more difficult time finding a suitable mattress then a zoning system that is suitable for their body type can be a good choice because it can provide firmer support under the heavier areas of the body and “allow” other parts of the body such as the shoulders to sink in more deeply. Once again though … a zoning system may be helpful for some people and may be detrimental to others depending on how well their body proportions and weight distribution “matches” the zoning in a mattress. There is more about zoning in this article and in post #11 here and post #2 here but once again only your own testing or sleeping experience will tell you whether any zoning pattern is a suitable “match” for you in terms of PPP.

Any particular types of beds and manufactures you can recommend?

Given my description could you recommend some particular mattress choices?

Again I can only repeat what I posted in my last reply in answer to this …

Nobody else can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved for anyone to be able to know which specific mattress is best for you in terms of PPP based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

So with this being said, the question is where to even start looking for a new mattress?

Again … if you let me know our city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about any of the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area. Other than local choices the only other option would be an online purchase.

Phoenix