Hello Everyone!
I am experiencing my hands falling asleep during the night. Sometimes it is my bottom arm (side sleeper) and sometimes the top arm. I realize that you cannot give me medical advice :).
So I have been thinking about getting a zoned mattress. What have others experienced when switching from regular Talalay to a zoned Talalay mattress? Wondering if it is as much of a game changer as some manufacturers proclaim. Thanks in advance.
Hi buttercupbetty,
[quote] I am experiencing my hands falling asleep during the night. Sometimes it is my bottom arm (side sleeper) and sometimes the top arm. I realize that you cannot give me medical advice.
So I have been thinking about getting a zoned mattress. What have others experienced when switching from regular Talalay to a zoned Talalay mattress? Wondering if it is as much of a game changer as some manufacturers proclaim. Thanks in advance.[/quote]
Sorry to hear you are experiencing numbness in your hands while sleeping. There are a few factors to consider that will determine whether a particular zoning scheme would be suitable for you or not – in some cases, it can do more harm than good. There are 3 “critical” areas or zones of a mattress that contribute the most to alignment. These are under the shoulders (mostly for side sleepers), under the recessed part of the lumbar spine (small of your back when you are on your back or waist if you are on your side), and under the hips/pelvis.
I would suggest you should evaluate:
• Check the pillow as numb arms are often an indication that the pillow is too high or too low.
• Number of zones you are considering…2, 3,5,7 different areas (Zoning schemes) – a 2 zone layer could work well if you have a large differential between shoulder and hips, While a 3 zone layer is usually softer on ends (shoulders and legs) and firmer in middle (under hips) and could be a good solution for someone with wider shoulders as this would allow the shoulders to sink in past the support that is needed for the lumbar curvature of the spine. Five zones tend to give more allowance for shoulder and hip sinkage, but keep in mind that this varies by manufacturer.
• Relative position of the zones in relation to the body areas where zoning is needed for zoning to be effective
• If you move too much during the night - results in mattress zoning not matching your body configuration
• If you carry more than normal weight in the hips or shoulder area.
• A high BMI person may sometimes in certain cases benefit from a zoned construction
Zoning systems can certainly be useful and well worth considering for people that have more difficulty finding a mattress with the right “balance” between comfort/pressure relief (under the shoulders especially) and support/alignment (under the hips/pelvis especially) or who have more challenging circumstances or sensitivities, body types that are more difficult to “match” to a mattress, more complex medical issues, or who have a history of having more difficulty in finding a mattress that works well for them. There is more about zoning in this article and inpost #11 here and the additional posts it links to but the only way to know whether any specific mattress (zoned or otherwise) will be a good match for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP will be based on careful testing or your own personal experience.
Hopefully, other consumers who have experience with zoned versus not zoned Talalay mattresses can weigh in to share.
Phoenix
For me adding zoning to my mattress was an absolute game changer due to all of the benefits Phoenix outlined above. I had a particularly challenging situation being on the heavy side with large legs/rear, wide shoulders and a small waist. I always advocate for the simplest design that achieves your goal but sometimes simply using standard layers doesn’t give you what you want and zoning can help you solve this issue. If you just need more travel in the shoulder area simple zoning in that region can work very well to relieve your issue.
Thank you, Phoenix! There is a lot to unpack there. I will read through it again.
My pillow is about 2 years old. It is shredded latex from Cozy Pure.
https://www.cozypure.com/organic-pillows/pure-performance-lanoodle-latex-contour-pillow
Maybe it is getting compressed and too low…I will investigate. My body type is fairly height-weight proportionate and my BMI is about 20-21.
It is fun to research and learn more 
To Mattrebuild:
Maybe I read it before and forgot…where did you buy your zoned mattress, or did you DIY it?
I looked at the vZone Mattress from Flobeds (which I just noticed is $800 off). Sounds like you don’t think that I would “need” five zones…but could it detract?
[quote=“buttercupbetty post=91650”]To Mattrebuild:
Maybe I read it before and forgot…where did you buy your zoned mattress, or did you DIY it?
I looked at the vZone Mattress from Flobeds (which I just noticed is $800 off). Sounds like you don’t think that I would “need” five zones…but could it detract?[/quote]
My setup is a custom DIY but the zoning layer I use is from Flobed (you can either buy the V-zone mattress complete or if you want just the layer Flobeds does sell it separately too, the latter is what I used). If you do need zoning on your mattress, there is no scenario I can think of where having too many zones would not be beneficial. Worst case you could just use the same ILD in every section except the one you want zoned but I’d bet once you see what full zoning feels like you will end up making use of more zones than you originally intended. Buying the V-zone mattress complete from Flobeds will be the easiest for most people (assuming it’s in the budget) but DIY can also be equally satisfying as long as you’re up for the challenge.
Sounds like you’re saying that rarely does a person NOT like zoning…it just might not be “needed” for average sleepers?
I don’t see the vZone listed separately on their website…so I sent an email inquiring on price.
Can you share how you built your mattress and where you sourced your layers? Also, about what was your total cost?
Thanks for all the info!!!
[quote=“buttercupbetty post=91662”]Sounds like you’re saying that rarely does a person NOT like zoning…it just might not be “needed” for average sleepers?
I don’t see the vZone listed separately on their website…so I sent an email inquiring on price.
Can you share how you built your mattress and where you sourced your layers? Also, about what was your total cost?
Thanks for all the info!!![/quote]
That’s exactly right. Most people can get away without zoning and of course adding zoning increases both the cost and complexity of the mattress. I put a premium on getting a good night’s sleep so to me the ability to solve certain issues that give me a truly restful sleep are more than worth it.
Scroll down to v-zone to buy the layer only.
My mattress design is pretty extreme in terms of a DIY but it works great for us (wife’s side is perfect and mine’s very close). It also shows you what is possible doing something completely custom, you can read all about what I did here.
https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/simmons-beautyrest-mattress-rebuild