What Is The Best Type Of Mattress For Side
Most side-sleepers do well with a medium-soft to medium mattress, which should provide enough cushiness to relieve pressure on their hips and shoulders but enough support to keep their spinal alignment in check. People with back pain, however, ideally need a mattress that feels medium-firm, which is likelier to ease their aches and pains than a softer bed. We do suggest some slightly firmer mattresses for side-sleepers who require more support, and we think one of them will hit the sweet spot for back-pain sufferers who regularly sleep in that position.
If youre a side-sleeper with back pain, start by considering the Saatva Classic or Leesa Hybrid. These mattresses are still medium-firm, but weve found that theyre relatively plusher than the others, especially after a break-in period. If youre not sure about your firmness preferences, the two-piece Zenhaven gives you two options to choose from, with one side slightly more pliable than the other. Finally, although the Tempur-Adapt Medium Hybrid feels firm, it also has a uniquely contouring memory-foam sink, and it should adequately cushion shoulders and hips for side-sleepers, too. Keep in mind that firmness level is subjective, so we strongly suggest trying the mattress before you buy, if you can, or paying close attention to the trial window so you can return the mattress if it doesnt feel right.
How To Choose The Best Mattress For Back Pain
Points to note when choosing the best Indian mattress for back pain: A mattress that ticks the following points is the very best mattress for back pain:
- Maximum support for the spinal cord: People with low back pain are the most common. Lower back pain can radiate from the neck down, till the spinal cord ends. Which mattress for back pain is best? When you lie down on your bed, your body gets continuous support and full contact with the mattress, that ensures that the bodys weight is evenly distributed is the best mattress. This helps keep your spine straight, as it should be. Look for support when choosing the best Indian mattress for back pain.
- Firm and/or soft mattress: A firm mattress can also be soft and vice versa. However, if your current soft mattress is giving you back pain, then its time you looked at the best Indian mattress for back pain that is firmer, which would support your body more appropriately than a soft one. On the other hand to answer which mattress for back pain based on firmness, be sure to select a mattress that is not too firm, which would only be counterproductive to buy a mattress for back pain problems.
So Which Mattresses Are Better For Back Pain
To get relief from the pain, and to help the back heal and become healthy again, it is important to choose one of the following types of mattresses
- Medium-firm mattress there is still firmness to the mattress, but the density does not interfere with the spine, lower back, and other pressure points.Moreover, the mattress provides support where its needed, and comfort for other body parts. A medium-firm mattress is not too soft and not too firm, so when buying a mattress make sure to point out that you want a medium-firm density mattress.
- Latex mattress high-quality latex mattresses are known to be excellent for alleviating back pain. These mattresses also help with chronic back pain by conforming to the bodys natural curves.Latex mattresses are firm enough to provide the necessary support dor bodys pressure points while being soft enough to conform to the curves and contour of the body.
- Gel memory foam mattress this is relatively new material on the market, but it has been praised for its ability to create a great mattress.Gel memory foam mattresses are known to conform to the body perfectly and help reduce pressure from the bodys pressure points, especially the lower back and hips.Such mattresses also ensure proper spinal alignment and even though they show indentation, they still support the body and follow its natural curves and weight.
Recommendation: Need a mattress that can adjust firmness scale based on your needs? check Best Adjustable Air Mattress in 2021
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Types Of Foam Mattress
Memory foam mattresses come in various types. The most common ones are listed below.
1. Traditional foam Mattress
Traditional memory foam mattresses come with polyurethane. It adheres to the body during sleep and traps heat.
2. Open-cell Foam Mattress
Open-cell memory foam has the same elements as traditional memory foam but with a different internal structure. As the name suggests, an open-cell foam mattress consists of an open-cell that improves air movement throughout the bed and allows heat to escape. It is much fluffier compared to traditional foam mattresses.
3. Gel Memory Foam Mattress
Gel memory foam mattresses are made by adding gel pods- small tubes filled with gel to memory foam, waving liquid gel into memory foam, or adding gel on top of the comfort layer. Gel pods provide the natural bounce that contours that mattress back to its original shape. Gel memory foam mattresses come up with more features than traditional and open-cell foam mattresses.
Check out our detailed blog on Memory Foam Mattress to understand if Memory Foam mattresses are good enough for you or not
Are Hybrid Beds Suitable For All Body Types And All Kinds Of Sleepers
Hybrid mattresses have the advantage of providing both improved airflow and enhanced bounce through the coil layer. The layer of coils is present in the support layer, while the comfort layer may have either memory foam or latex. If you want enhanced breathability and bounce you may choose a hybrid bed irrespective of your body type or sleeping position. You have to decide on the firmness level of the top comfort layer depending on your body type and sleeping position.
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Buying Guide For Best Mattresses For Back Pain
Would you be surprised to learn that nearly 80 percent of Americans have reported experiencing an episode of low back pain at least once in their lives? Probably not, because with a statistic that overwhelming you likely fall in the bunch.
Whether its a brief stint or a long-term affliction, back pain can be a major source of frustration . Part of healing your pain has to do with taking advantage of those precious hours of restorative sleep each night, but its nearly impossible to comfortably rest when youre suffering from muscle soreness.
Its time for this vicious cycle to end. Your sleep is a serious matter, and so is ending your pain. Thats why we reviewed more than 100 different mattresses and compared each on qualities that are favorable for sleepers with back pain. This guide will make it easy for you to find the best mattress to alleviate your pain and help you get the quality sleep you deserve.
What Women With Back Pain Should Consider When Looking For A Mattress:
Firmness. Though you’ll definitely want something that’s more firm than soft, exactly how firm should be determined by your body weight, says Carleara Weiss, PhD, and a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “For example, medium firmness seems ideal for people weighing approximately 130 pounds and satisfactory for back and side sleepers under 230 pounds.” The higher your body weight, the more firm you may need your mattress to be, thought it really depends on the individual, as sleep preferences differ from person to person .
Where you experience back pain also impacts what kinds of firmness you should look for. “The general concept when thinking about buying a mattress is that low back pain can be alleviated with a mattress that is on the firmer end of the spectrum rather than softer or squishier,” Dr. Hanke explains. If you don’t wake up with low back pain and you like a softer experience, you can prob get away with a less-firm mattress.
Stomach sleepers put pressure on their neck, in addition to the lumbar area, so they may prefer a firm mattress since it’s ideal for spine support and helps alleviate neck tension .
For side sleepers, Weiss also recommends a medium-firm mattress. “Shoulders and hips are pressure points for side sleepers. A medium-firm mattress would be ideal for this sleep position while still flexible to the body curvature.”
Warranty: Forever
Price: $1,199 for a queen
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Can A Mattress Cause Back Pain
A mattress can definitely be a cause of back pain because it plays such an important role in how the body is positioned through the night. Most people know that posture is important but only think about their posture in the context of standing and sitting. This can cause them to overlook the importance of having a mattress that is the proper fit for them based on their body shape, weight, and sleeping position.
If the spine and joints arent aligned and well-cushioned during sleep, they wont be able to relax. Instead of recovering, the body will be strained, exacerbating pre-existing back issues and sowing the seeds for new ones. The easiest way to know whether a mattress is a contributing factor to back pain is if the pain tends to be the most pronounced in the morning when you wake up. If the pain is the worst when you get out of bed and subsides during the day, theres a good chance that your mattress is playing a part in your aches and pains.
What Else We Tested
I test a new mattress every two weeks. While I’ve tested dozens of models, I only considered 12 candidates for potential inclusion in this guide. Here are the beds we still recommend but that didn’t make the cut.
What else we recommend and why:
Under $1,100
Casper Original Mattress: The medium-firm feel of the Casper Original will appeal to a broad range of back-pain sufferers, especially hot sleepers since it has impressive heat dissipation. It was easy to set up and move around in our tests and features impressive motion isolation. However, the edge support was poor. Read our full review.
Bear Mattress: If you’re interested in checking out the cooling properties of Celliant fibers and want a firmer mattress, you might consider the medium-firm Bear Original. It’s made of CertiPUR-US and Greenguard Gold certified foams, including a graphite gel memory foam that I found did a great job of cooling. However, it failed my motion isolation tests, and it wasn’t comfortable for side sleeping.
Under $2,000:
Puffy Lux Hybrid Mattress: I slept on the Puffy Lux while recovering from a back-pain spell, and I think it did a great job of facilitating my recovery. I also like that this mattress comes with a lifetime warranty, is easy to move around, and has great motion isolation. On the downside, it had a strong initial odor that took days to dissipate, the edge support is poor, and it will be too soft for many back pain sufferers.
Over $2,000
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Types Of Spring Mattress
Depending on the type of coil used, mattresses with spring come in four different types: pocketed, offset coil, Bonnell coil, and continuous coil.
1. Offset coils
Offset coils come in an hourglass shape with flat tops and bottoms combined with helical wires. These are stiff, durable, and conform to your body. They come in a higher-end spring mattress.
2. Bonnell coils
Bonnell coils are hourglass-shaped and have a vast portion that flexes so the body can settle when weight is applied. It is one of the cheapest options in spring mattresses.
3. Continuous coils
Continuous coils come with a long wire that twists into thousands of S-shaped coils. They are attached to helical lacing and offer fantastic support, and create a motion-isolating feature. They provide more support compared to Bonnell cells.
4. Pocket coils
Pocket coils come as individual springs covered in a fabric cover. The typical arrangement allows each coil to function independently, conform to pressure alone, and separate the motion. They are much more expensive as compared to other spring mattresses.
Check out our detailed blog on Innerspring Mattress to get detailed insight about Innerspring Mattresses.
Amerisleep As2 Hybrid Mattress
- Type: hybrid
- Height: 12 inches
Amerisleeps AS2 Hybrid mattress combines the pressure-relieving benefits of memory foam with the support of pocketed coils. The result is a medium-firm mattress that contours to your body and relieves pain-causing pressure points.
The company says its proprietary memory foam is more responsive than traditional foam, so you dont get that stuck sensation if you tend to roll around while you sleep.
The mattress comes with a 100-night trial period and free shipping and returns. It also has a 20-year warranty.
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A Zoned Model Thats Firm In The Middle And Softer Around The Edges
Parachute
- Materials: Pocketed coils, wool comfort layers
- Sizes: Twin, Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, California King
- Trial period: 100 nights
Made with layers of pure New Zealand wool and 100% organic cotton, the Parachute Eco Comfort Mattress is another eco-friendly mattress that can help alleviate back pain. It has two layers of pocketed steel coils, and its designed to be firm in the middle for back support and softer at the head and feet for pressure point relief and spinal alignmentgreat for combination sleepers. In between the coils is a comfort layer made from real wool, and the whole thing is wrapped in an organic cotton cover.
Is A Firm Mattress Better For Back Pain
Many people will tell you that you need a firm mattress to stop back pain, but thats not necessarily true. A mattress thats too firm can also cause spine misalignment by pushing up the shoulders and hips. Instead, look for a medium-firm mattress that offers some cushioning for these key pressure points.
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If You Cant Shop In Person
Its really hard to tell whether a specific mattress is right for you without lying on it first. Firmness, pressure relief, and support are all highly subjective factors, which is why weve always advised trying out a mattress in person prior to purchasing. But we also know that can be easier said than done. So in lieu of our usual try-before-you-buy advice, we recommend that you look for a generous return policy on any mattress youre thinking of buying sight unseen.
With respect to trial periods and return policies, here are your best options of all the mattresses in this guide:
More mattress coverage
$200 off
*At the time of publishing, the price was $1,200.
Who its for: The Saatva Classic in Luxury Firm caters to back-pain sufferers who prefer a traditional innerspring mattress with a just-cushy-enough top. Its likely to feel comfortable regardless of your preferred sleep position.
How it feels: Weve been long-term testing our Saatva Classic for more than a year, and it has softened slightly from a stiff medium-firm to a plusher medium-firm.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The 416 support coils in the bottom half of the Saatva Classic are sturdy, but they number only about half those in the pricier WinkBed , another innerspring weve liked in the past. Theyre not individually wrapped, either, which can lead to motion transfer. For that reason, we think the Saatva works best if you sleep alone or dont wake easily when your partner rolls over.
Surely Firm Is Better Than A Waterbed Or Foam Mattress
The answer is no.
You would really think that a foam mattress or especially a waterbed would be worse for back pain than a firm mattress, but it seems they are better!
A study was done on patients with chronic Low Back Pain , testing a waterbed, a foam mattress and a firm mattress.
They found no significant difference between the waterbed and the foam mattress.
But the Firm mattress made low back pain significantly worse!
In fact, many of the participants of the study assigned to a hard mattress dropped out due to increased pain!
This means that it is a difficult balance to try and negotiate when finding a mattress.
Too soft and you may not get the support, too firm and you risk flaring up low back pain.
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Trial Period And Return Policy For Mattresses
Purchasing a mattress online may seem too risky since you never get to lie down on it before buying. Fortunately, most online mattress retailers offer a generous risk-free trial period of around 100 days. This gives you plenty of time to test out how well you can sleep on the bed and return it for a refund if it doesnt work out.
Each of the mattresses included in this guide offer a full refund if you opt to return your mattress. If your mattress is delivered rolled up and shipped in a box, dont worry. You wont have to try to shove it back in. A representative will work with you to schedule a pick-up of your mattress in its fully opened size.
Although there is a generous trial and return policy, most companies ask that you try your mattress for at least 30 nights before deciding to return. It can take a few weeks to fully break in your mattress and get used to the new feeling of your bed, so you shouldnt rush to return it after only the first few nights.
You Deserve A Better Hotel Mattress
We all do.
Which is why Ratehotelbeds.com exists.
To allow us all to share our experiences of hotel beds around the world.
So that we can find the really great sleeping opportunities in the exciting places we choose to visit, and to avoid the ones that are, lets say, not so great.
Join us today, and become a part of something big!
As the fastest growing community of hotel bed reviewers in the world we are making a stand and improving the travel of everyone who comes along for this ride.
Id love to hear from you on your opinions on this project and also about your latest adventures.
Peace and Love and Travel!
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