Topper Help

[Sensei]

Hey Eric,

Welcome back to The TMU forum ! Nice to see you and thanks for your question.

My wife and I have been on the bed replacement journey. We are on the lighter side and average heights. We tried to buy a Luma Sleep first at the start of the pandemic but kept running into shipping delays so we had to go another direction. We were replacing a 12 year old mattress and started with a PlushBeds Latex Hybrid. We found it to be somewhat uncomfortable and exchanged the topper for a softer one. That didn’t help. We ended up donating the bed and their customer service was helpful. However, they deleted my review from their website.

Indeed; you have been on your bed replacement journey for nearly a year now! That’s quite a long time to be searching still, but as you mentioned with the pandemic, life has been more than topsy-turvy for all these past many months. I am sorry to hear of your PlushBeds mixed satisfaction experience, Eric. On the good side, it’s nice that their customer service was helpful and did the right thing by helping with your comfort exchange and by honoring your return. On the down side, it’s a shame that your review was removed and that your voice wasn’t heard, one of the many pitfalls of review sites in general. While consumers cannot base their choices on what another may “feel” on a particular mattress, they can gain valuable insight learning of other’s experiences with a brand in terms of the quality and durability of a mattress, as well as the customer service experience provided. Let’s hope that none of these will be a concern during your next experience.

We did more research and purchased a Brentwood Home Oceano Hybrid, due to my wife liking our guest room Stearns and Foster hybrid with memory foam a lot. It’s a luxury firm. And, we didn’t like the bouncy latex we experienced on PlushBed. The specs are below on our King mattress (resting on a solid platform).

Congrats on your new Oceano Luxury Hybrid mattress! Thanks for including the detailed product specs, as that saved a click or two for researching your question. I did take a look at the product page to check out the model’s cutaway images, there are many helpful pics and descriptions of their products for review. To keep the thread tidy, I chose not to re-copy/ paste all of the spec details but will select highlights for reference as needed.

We found the bed to be firmer than was expected. We’ve seen some sites rate it a 7 out of 10 on the firmness scale. When we slept on our sides, we both experience shoulder pain. Lower back pain was much better.

I’m sorry to learn of you both experiencing shoulder pain but happy to know that your lower back pain is improving. Here are several questions to help zero in on your particular comfort issues, Eric. What brand and type was your previous 12 year old mattress? What were some of the qualities that you liked about it? Are you looking for something with a similar feel and response? How long have you been sleeping on your new Oceano Luxury Hybrid? Your bodies may be in the process of adjusting to the different feel of a dunlop latex comfort layer in your former PlushBeds hybrid to the memory foam/micro coil comfort layer of the Oceano. While you describe you both as “We are on the lighter side and average heights”, it would be helpful if you could elaborate more on your personal stats, including height, weight, body profile/ weight distribution and preferred sleep position(s). The Oceano Hybrid support core has seven zones and it would be interesting to know how your bodies are aligning within those areas and how that may contribute to the pressure point pain you are experiencing.

To solve for the shoulder pain, we purchased a topper from them that contained a wool layer and 2" of 4lb 14 ILD memory foam encased in thick organic cotton. While our shoulders are mostly fine now, back pain has returned.

That depends to a degree on your responses to the personal stats question above, Eric. The topper that you’re currently using is a 2" gel memory foam topper. If your shoulder pain is minimized but your back pain has returned, you are having a spinal alignment issue. You may consider having your wife photograph you while lying in your side sleeping position on the mattress. If your alignment is correct, you should be able to see a clear horizontal positioning of your spine from your neck and shoulders to your lower back area. You can do the same experiment for her as well. The degree of “sinking into” the topper will give more clues on how to best remedy both your pressure point pain areas.

They are offering to send us a different topper that is more firm and made of polyfoam rated at 1.8lb 30 ILD. Will this work to help relieve the pressure points? This topper is simply covered by a thin material, not the thicker cotton and wool layers.

A polyfoam of a 30 ILD would provide a medium firmness in feel. For more information regarding pressure relief in the comfort layers and proper spinal alignment in the support layers, please review “The Basic Functions of a Mattress”. Unfortunately, there is no way with any certainty to predict whether this topper will provide the comfort feel that you seek, as only you can “feel” what you feel in a mattress’s materials, comfort layers and support layers. You may find Phoenix’s advice in post#2 insightful as it relates to what you’re going through. Have you been able to talk with someone directly at Brentwood Home regarding your concerns regarding pressure point relief differences in the two toppers?

We just want to find the right mattress, preferably with more natural materials, that has good pressure point relief. Thank you for any input and insights!

We want to help guide you along the path if we can, Eric. Feel free to check out TMU’s Trusted Member Directory, you may find your “right mattress” among one of these fine manufacturers/ retailers who have all earned the “Recommended by The Mattress Underground” credential by providing expertise, quality and transparency in the mattress industry to consumers. Looking forward to your response when you have time… .

Thanks,
Sensei