Hello,
I am currently on a serta pillow top medium mattress on a adjustable base. I sleep extremely hot so i can not use foam. I am waking up with shoulder, arm, back and hip pain everyday. I am 5"4 102lbs. Please help me. Thank you.
Hi Trish655,
Happy ThanksGiving and welcome to the Mattress UnderGround.
Wow, seem like you are having a tough time of it. Everything hurts. Generally, if one specific area was bothersome, physical therapy, a unique injury, or some physical trauma might be worth investigating, but it seems like you are taking some pain hits from all sides.
Normally we would want to go through all the usual check list highlights. Does your adjustable base have a deck that is solid, or is it the less desirable metal grid type. A solid, usually wooden deck, is going to be more desirable. To begin, here are the advantages of a solid based deck:
- Even Support: A solid deck offers consistent, even support, which helps prevent foam mattresses from sagging or forming indentations, providing better overall body support.
- Durability: Solid bases are typically more durable, as they prevent the foam mattress from shifting, leading to longer mattress life.
- Quiet Operation: Solid bases are quieter and smoother when adjusted, making it more comfortable when you change positions.
- Reduced Pressure Points: The even surface helps distribute weight more evenly, potentially reducing pressure points, especially for those with joint pain.
Many of your symptoms, if not using a solid based deck on an adjustable base, can be improved with one that incorporates a solid deck.
Next, you said you have a medium serta pillowtop. Regardless of which one, medium mattress, with the additional softness of a pillowtop, which may not be made with higher density materials, are likely to be too soft. Whether on your back or side, either the hammocking on your back or possibly the misalignment of your back may be causing the back, shoulder and hip pain.
One way to evaluate your side sleeping posture and alignment is to use the @BackScience back checker app. This is a very cool, scientific, and fun way to check your alignment. Deviation above 10degrees warrants high consideration, where under 7 degrees will speak more positively about what is going on. While everyone is different and positive or favorable results are great, it does not always translate into perfect comfort as there are other factors that dictate comfort, but the app is a great beginning guide to determine what direction you need to go.
Pillowtops with lower quality foams tend to break down or fail in shorter order, so it would be worth inspecting that pillowtop to determine if it is compromised in any way, even if realtively new. I have related the story of my 86yo mother in law who has a priced S brand, BeautyRest mattress, which in less than a year and a few months developed a huge depression under her artificial hip, creating a painful situation. Long story, short, she is old and we discovered other issues, but the mattress failure was a large part of the problem. I bought her a new DLX premier hybrid, specially designed with a split queen comfort layer, and the firmer side hep resolve the pain due to the misalignment issues.
Believe it or not, I would suggest a firmer mattress. We want to keep the body from sinking too much, and it will be much better when sleeping on your back. Depending on the design of the mattress, a more firm and supportive spring layer may be necessary to maintain support, with a cotton or natural fiber comfort layer and tufted cover to add just enough cushion when for hip and should points when on your side, but enough stability when on your back.
While many may suggest memory foam as the ultimate pressure reliving material, it tends to sleep hot, and cause you to sink in the mattress, making the situation even hotter. Latex, can be a less hot alternative, but for some, even latex can retain too much heat.
Mattresses much like the Engineered Sleep Duo Lift uses no foam, and can be made to virtually any firmness level as they will work with you to find the right balance of firmness for your body profile and comfort needs. Another mattress that comes to mind, is the Shifman Juno from their Modern Shifman Vintage collection. Shifman is a better known name on the east coast as they are in NJ and have resellers in the NJ, NY eastern sea board area. The Millbrook Hampshire 3 is another all natural mattress, made in NJ with british components and styling, very supported hand nested honeycomb style springs for complete coverage support. @ShovlinMattress in NJ has their orgainic collection, with and without latex, but the horsehair layer will assure you any potential heat from the latex, if any, is easily wicked away through the best material for not retaining heat, horsehair.
While some of these options may be costly due to their use of natural fibers and high-quality materials, they are not the only potential solutions. As noted, latex—especially Talalay latex—is highly breathable and airy. When paired with a spring support layer that promotes good airflow, it can provide excellent comfort and temperature regulation, making it a great alternative.
Also, an area I can never stress enough, the pillow. Since you’re experiencing shoulder and neck pain, make sure your pillow supports your neck properly. If you’re a side sleeper, a thicker, firmer pillow may be needed to keep your neck aligned with your spine. Many people fail to consider their pillow as the root of a painful sleep environment, but I can attest that if your pillow does not have adequate support, and the loft is off by just 1.5 inches, it can be a painful experience.
A couple of other things. Do not consider the claims of artificial, new technology “cooling” materials or fabrics a means to keep your body cooler. Technology to allow warm retained air to escape, such as pincore holes, air channels, coils and microcoils, are acceptable. The claims of a gel, grid, special cooling materials, are often if not all the time overstated, over exaggerated and although the science and technology may exist in other areas when applied, in the mattress industry, the claims are very much overstated.
You may need to look at some mattress’s with zones designed to give extra support to areas like the shoulders and hips, where you feel the most pressure. Some mattresses are designed specifically with zoned support, which can help relieve pressure in areas prone to pain. I would be cautious with zoning too. If the zones do not align with your body specifically, you can exacerbate the issue rather that resolve it. In your situation, unless someone is designing a mattress dedicated to your exact body profile, stick with zoning added to a topper to see if you get relief in the problem areas.
Clearly, there is something not right with your current mattress system. It would be to your distinct advantage with speak with folks like shovlin, ES and other seasoned mattress professionals, who see your problems in clients every day and have created mattresses to resolve the issues. There certainly may be an off the shelf mattress, BiB that will be perfect for you and mitigate all your issues. There are thousands of mattresses out there, this may not be the time to guess at which one will work. This is a perfect example of a BiB that has a lot of the features to keep you cool comfortable and aligned.
By logically analyzing the issues you’re facing, you can address them layer by layer in mattress construction. Using cotton and wool in the comfort layer helps keep you cooler, while hybrid or spring mattresses enhance airflow, another effective way to combat heat. Incorporating materials like cotton, wool, Talalay latex, and micro coils in the comfort layers not only helps reduce pressure points and improve spinal alignment but also contributes to a cooler sleep experience.
Hopefully, this places you on the right track on how to approach your next mattress.
All the best,
Maverick
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I would like to offer a perspective to add to Maverick’s very thorough walk-through and say that it is important to provide pressure relief, without losing the support needed to keep the spine in proper alignment.
As a doctor of Chiropractic and mattress designer, I have had the unique position of working directly with both customers and patients to find solutions over the 20+ years I have been developing mattresses and I would highly recommend you take a look at the Back Science mattress (www.BackScience.com ). Back Science, will offer both of you a very pressure relieving Hypergel pressure reducing comfort layer system that also retains your spinal alignment through use of a patent pending Lumbar-Flex zoned lumbar support for your low back and over 1000 count individually wrapped steel coils underneath.
The Hypergel surface is not the same type of foam that increases heat, but rather the opposite, as it disburses heat. Additionally, Back Science has a patented Airflow Transfer System that uses thousands of small surface ventilated small surface holes that combine with open air channels to allow for air flow circulation that makes the mattress up to 100Xs more breathable and therefore give you a more regulated body temperature throughout the night. In a customer recent survey by TrustPilot, 96% of our customers reported sleeping cooler on Back Science than their last mattress.
Purchasing Back Science is a totally risk free experience, since it uses our GripLock modular cover system that allow for us to adjust the firmness of the mattress, as well as overall comfort and support and there is no cost to so over the 365-night trial. We even offer free exchanges to a different model or different brand all together, since we want you to feel comfortable that you will get the right mattress to suit your needs.
There are three Back Science models and you can take the quiz on the site find out which Back Science mattress may be right for you both, but you can also feel free to contact one of our sleep experts by emailing or calling us at 800 667-1969. I am also available to answer more questions from this forum. If you do purchase a Back Science mattress, be sure to use this extra 10% code we give Mattress Underground members: TMU10.
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