Which Type Of Mattress Is Most Suitable For Back Pain
There are many types of mattresses available like memory Foam, Latex, Spring, And Coir mattresses, etc. Also, you have to check the mattress materials and construction. Ideally, choose a mattress with a free trial period.
And monitor the changes you are experiencing and whether they improve your nights sleep. you need to know a number of criteria for choosing the best mattress for back pain:
Memory foam mattresses
Memory foam has the unique property of adapting to the body, which puts pressure on it, which reduces pressure. Generally, memory foam is one of the best materials for people with back problems.
This works at the expense of body temperature, which some perceive as an inconvenience at low temperatures or with frequent changes in sleeping position.
The memory foam mattress fits completely to the body and provides excellent pressure distribution. Ideal for people with chronic back pain because the entire back is well supported.
Memory foam is commonly used as a top sheet in combination with a cold foam base or pocket springs. The disadvantage is that the memory foam is poorly ventilated and heats up relatively quickly.
Latex Mattress
Latex is undoubtedly the most comfortable material due to its high elasticity. Not all latex breathes well. But the Talalay variant breathes very well.
Pocket spring mattresses
This provides the same support for the whole body, which is not beneficial for people with back problems as it does not relieve pressure.
If Youre A Combination Sleeper With Back Pain
Combination sleepers with back pain can minimize their symptoms by following certain routines with each position. When side sleeping, they should ensure the their shoulders and hips are properly supported. Back sleeping may require a pillow under the knees to reduce pressure in the back and hips, and a pillow under the lower abdomen can stomach sleeping can alleviate aches and pains in the same areas.
What Else Can I Do For Back Pain
Changing your mattress will most likely do wonders for your back pain, if that was the cause. You can also implement a short stretching routine into your day. Aim to do a few stretches before you go to bed and after you wake up to help with spine flexibility. Also, it is important to learn how to sleep in the best position possible. Many experts recommend sleeping on your side with a pillow between your legs to support the hips and lower back. Certain pillows can also help promote less neck and back pain while you sleep.
For sweeter dreams and less back pain in the morning, consider getting a new mattress. Your sleep is essential, so make sure you are getting a mattress that will improve your sleep, not make it worse. When mattress shopping, bring your own pillow and spend a good ten to fifteen minutes on each mattress. It may seem silly, but it is the best way to ensure you get the right mattress for you.
Recommended Reading: How To Relieve Lower Back Pain From Pulled Muscle
Best Mattress For Side Sleepers With Lower Back Pain
Helix Midnight Luxe
- Type: hybrid
- Height: 14 inches
Helix made our list again with its Midnight Luxe mattress, which offers relief to side sleepers experiencing low back pain. Layers of CertiPUR-US certified memory foam are designed to provide pressure relief in the hips and shoulders and proper spinal alignment. Zoned lumbar support coils offer additional cradling and comfort right where you need it.
With an added pillow top, this mattress offers plush comfort and overall medium firmness.
You can try the mattress at home for 100 nights. It ships free in the United States and has a 15-year warranty.
Why Is Sciatica Pain Worse At Night
Sciatica pain can worsen during the night if an individual is prone to sleeping in the fetal position, or a misaligned side position. Using body pillows to prevent shifting into this position while asleep may be a good idea for some.
When an individual shifts into the fetal position, additional pressure is placed on the nerve endings in the lower spinal region, which could worsen the symptoms and pain associated with sciatica.
Read Also: Can A Chiropractor Help With Upper Back Pain
How Do I Know If My Mattress Is Causing Back Pain
Because back pain can be caused by many things, its often difficult to pinpoint whether or not your mattress is the culprit. If your back pain is worse in the morning, thats a good sign that your mattress isnt providing proper support. You may also find yourself tossing and turning throughout the night. Additionally, if your mattress is more than seven years old, thats another clue it might be time to invest in a new one.
Puffy Lux Hybrid Mattress
The Puffy Lux Hybrid mattress is a soft model combining foam layers and individually pocketed coils for a cushioned feel with some bounce. It provides great pressure relief, making it a nice fit for side, back, or side-back combo sleepers.
Learn more at my full Cocoon Chill Hybrid mattress review.
Company Info: All Cocoon by Sealy mattresses are designed and built in the USA. The brand also offers free shipping, a 10-year limited warranty, and a 100-night trial. Cocoon has a great sale going on right now be sure to check it out!
Perfect For: Hot sleepers looking to relieve back pain with memory foam, but not deal with the overheating tendencies commonly associated with it.
Read Also: What Doctor Do I See For Lower Back Pain
Which Brand Mattress Is Best In India
All the mattress brands provide different qualities and features in mattresses So you need to select which mattress is perfect according to your requirement. Like looking good sleep, for back pain, and more. All mattresses are brand good. There are some popular brands in India like Wakefit, Sleepycat, Sleepwell, and more.
Sleep Position And Body Weight
Before choosing a new mattress to help alleviate your back and neck pain, it is essential to consider your sleeping position. The best mattress for a side sleeper may feel quite different from the best mattress for a back sleeper. This disparity is because each sleep position creates different pressure points. The location of the pressure points can help determine how supportive or cushioning a mattress should be.
-
Side sleepers: Generally speaking, side sleepers prefer a softer mattress than those who sleep in other positions. This is because the mattress needs to contour to their shoulders and hips and let them sink in a bit to keep the spin aligned. However, if the mattress is too soft, the hips and shoulders will sink in beneath the spine, which can result in misalignment and more pain. Many side sleepers tend to prefer a medium or medium-firm mattress.
-
Back Sleepers: The pressure points for a back sleeper are found in the lumbar areas along the lower back. Mattresses that are too soft will cause a back sleepers lower back and hips to sink into the mattress, resulting in a misaligned spine and increased pain. Because of this fact, most back sleepers are most comfortable on a medium-firm to firm mattress that will give their hips the support they need to keep the spine aligned.
You May Like: How To Cope With Chronic Back Pain
What About Sleeping Position
For sleep positions, side sleepers often benefit from softer mattresses. This sleeping position can cause poor spinal alignment, and a bed that conforms closely will cushion the shoulders and hips in order to align the back more evenly. Back and stomach sleepers may need more support to prevent their bodies from sinking too deeply. As a result, many people who use these positions prefer mid-level to firm feels.
What Causes Back Pain
The main cause of back pain in bed is poor posture, either from how a person sits at work or how they sleep at night.
Between the vertebrae in the spine are intervertebral discs, which rehydrate at night . Poor posture can prevent the discs from rehydrating.
Read more: The NHS Guide To Back Pain
Attached to the vertebra are smaller muscle groups such as the erector spinae, and large muscles such as the trapezius. Poor posture can put the muscles into awkward positions that can cause irritation over a prolonged period of time, resulting in aches or pains. Lower and middle back pain tend to be the common culprits when sleeping. While there are several causes of back pain, a small number of which can be more serious underlying health issues. NHS Live Well gives us a list of common indicators of poor posture:
- Slouching in a chair
- Sticking your bottom out when standing
- Standing with a flat back
- Leaning on one leg
- Hunched back and text neck when focusing too much on your phone
- Poking your chin out when at a computer
- Rounded shoulders
- Cradling your phone in between your head and shoulder
These points are developed with images and solutions on this helpful NHS web page.
Recommended Reading: What Can I Do To Relieve Upper Back Pain
What To Look For In A Mattress If You Have Back Pain
With so many different types of mattresses on the market, it can be difficult to figure out which one is actually going to be the best for preventing chronic back pain. It seems like every brand claims to be the most supportive and most innovative, so the best way to whittle down your options is by comparing the actual features the mattresses offer.
Heres what to look for when doing your shopping.
Additional Sleeping Accessories For Sleepers With Hip Pain
Along with your mattress, a number of accessories, such as pillows and a bed frame, help shape your sleeping experience. If you dont have the budget for a new mattress, you can invest in these lower-cost accessories to try to reduce hip pain. Or if you want to fully step up your bedroom, you can get a new bed frame and pillows along with a brand new mattress.
Pillows
The ideal type and size of pillow depends in part on the feel of your mattress. For example, on a plush mattress, your body is likely to sink in more than your head, which means that your neck could hyperextend if the pillow is tall . General recommendations for the combination of firmness and pillow loft are listed in the table below
| Mattress Firmness |
|---|
Don’t Miss: What Are Some Good Stretches For Lower Back Pain
Should You Get An Adjustment
It is a very wise idea to get a wellness adjustment from your chiropractor before you go mattress shopping. This can help relieve pain and help you have better posture and body support while you sleep. Ask your chiropractor for advice on sleeping positions, as well as recommendations for mattresses. Not only is your chiropractor a back expert, but he has probably heard a lot of recommendations from his patients who suffered from mattress-induced back pain.
What Is Back Pain: A Note From Dr Poorbaugh
Before we wrap up, I wanted to include some basic information on back pain that I learned from Dr. Poorbaugh.
According to Dr. Poorbaugh, most medical research is focused on Chronic Low Back Pain. Traditionally, to be defined as chronic someones lower back pain needed to continue for more than three months. But recently, doctors have started using functional brain imaging to illustrate that chronic is not necessarily a time dependent label.
Dr Poorbaugh says that the main determinant of chronic back pain today is central sensitization. According to Dr. Poorbaugh, central sensitization occurs when the central nervous system has lost its ability to dampen or control peripheral stimuli i.e. information from muscles, joints, and nerves.
When your nervous system cant control those stimuli, your peripheral nerves get irritated. This eventually affects your entire nervous system and makes normal activity feel painful .
Also Check: Is Walking Good For Lower Back Pain
The Benefits Of Waterbeds For Back Pain
As we noted above, waterbeds truly contour to the users body, meaning pressure is evenly displaced on the mattress. This means there is less pressure on one area of your back or in your joints, which is beneficial for spine health. Also, since waterbeds can be heated, a slightly heated bed can help facilitate healthy blood flow in spine, which can help oxygenated blood reach certain areas in the spine, keeping them healthy.
Another unique feature of a waterbed is a wave option. Some water beds can create a small wave effect that can provide spinal benefits similar to a massage. However, if you have a spinal condition, it is not recommended that you sleep with the pulse or wave function on because although it can provide some temporary relief, hours of stimulation can actually stress and strain certain areas of your back, leaving them worse for the wear.
If you are considering a water bed, talk to your spine specialist before making a change, try out different beds , and look into the extra features like heating and wave control.
Is A Firm Mattress Better For Your Back
Firm mattresses prevent sagging and misalignment in the spinal column. For this reason, they have long been the doctor-recommended way to eliminate back pain and help to keep backs strong and healthy, so discomfort doesnt occur.
However, its important to recognize that firm is a relative term. Not everyone will feel the same level of support from the same mattress. So, although firm is still likely the best way to go to keep back pain at bay, not all firm mattresses are created equal. Still, its good to try a few out first to see whats right for you.
Some doctors recommend using a medium or medium-firm mattress because they allow your body to sink in enough to eliminate pressure points. That is without letting it sink too much that your spine twists or bends, causing you more discomfort.
You May Like: What Can Cause Lower Back And Hip Pain
Best Mattresses Recommended By Chiropractors
I am frequently asked by patients what mattresses I recommend for their pain or particular condition. Patients want to know where to find the best mattresses for chronic pain, sciatica, back pain, neck pain, hip pain, shoulder pain, disc issues, muscle spasms, and after spinal surgery.
Nowadays most mattresses are sold online, which makes picking a bed a difficult task. It is a costly purchase that you will spend a lot of time using, so it is important to make an educated decision.
Choosing the wrong mattress could cost you thousands of dollars and many nights of pain and restless sleep. I have some knowledge to share with you to make sure this doesnt happen.
Drawbacks Of Waterbeds For Spine Pain
Just because we started with the benefits of waterbeds does not mean youll find us recommending that everyone trade in their traditional mattress for a water option. There are plenty of drawbacks with the beds as well. For starters, research shows that they dont do a lot to control back pain. One study found that while 15 percent of spine pain sufferers found pain relief by switching to a waterbed, 9 percent experienced an increase in pain. While a water bed can help displace pressure throughout the bed, waterbeds offer very little in terms of support. Since the beds dont offer any active resistance, if a person sleeps in a position where a lot of pressure is placed on their lumbar spine, they can sink too low in the bed and the spine can get out of alignment. Many spine pain patients find relief in a firmer option compared to a soft, sinking option, and a waterbed is about the least firm option on the market.
Aside from lack of support and the potential for alignment problems, there are a number of other potential problems with waterbeds for spine pain sufferers. They can be extremely heavy, so good luck moving them on your own especially if you have back pain, and they have been rated as some of the worst sleeping options for motion control. This means you are more likely to wake up if your partner moves in the night, and anyone with back pain will tell you how difficult it can be to fall back asleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.
You May Like: Who Do You See For Back Pain
Back Conditions That May Benefit From An Adjustable Bed
For some people, sleeping in an inclined or semi-upright position may be more comfortable than lying on a flat position. Certain lower back and neck positions, in particular, may be less aggravated with an adjustable bed. For example:
- Degenerative spondylolisthesis. For some people with degenerative spondylolisthesis, sleeping in a reclining position with support under the knees can reduce some of the pain or discomfort in the lower back, making it easier to sleep through the night.
Pulled Back Muscle And Lower Back Strain
Lower back or lumbar pain could result from a range of different causes. However, these are causes that are associated with the lumbar disc directly or with muscle strains. This could actually result from sudden movements, lifting heavy objects, or any other twists.
In any case, the thing that you need to do here is to get a proper and professional consultation with your doctor.
This is based on the prediction that you might have fallen into a specific situation with particular medical requirements. These might determine the firmness as well as the material type of your bed. The only person who could provide you with thorough and actionable advice on the mattress that you should get is your doctor.
And, keep in mind that this should happen only after careful and thorough examination. The source of the pain needs to be isolated and targeted properly.
Recommended Reading: Do Chiropractors Help With Lower Back Pain
