I have low back pain due to herniated disc.

question 1: I want to know if latex mattress is good for people with low back pain?

question 2: and how?

question 3: how does it feel to sleep on it?

question 4: will I have the aches like I do when I sleep on sealy posterpedic mattress?

question 5: Or will latex support my body and provide pressure point relief? (don't know what pressure point relief is actually)

question 6: Now what do you think about latex mattress versus memory foam mattress suitability for people with low back pain.

Thanks so much. God bless.

You probably already know my opinion, but for others that may land here in the future:

I think memory foam is the worst thing for people with low back pain! Even if it works at first, it's just a relatively short time until it stops working. My view is that memory foam isn't really good for anyone; but people with no sleep "issues" can usually sleep okay on it. I will say that Tempurpedic is better than most other memory foam but still it only contributed to my back pain.

Latex on top of springs is what I think works best. Pure latex, no PU foam at all! (I do have 1/4" of very firm HR foam on the bottom but the rest is 1 and /34" of latex.) Some people may want 3-4" on top of the springs but for me just 2" works great.

Latex is very bouncy. But a soft latex on top with wool on top of that feels very good to me.

jimsocal wrote:
Jim what do you think about the Natural Latex Mattress that Costco had on sale?
do you recommend it for people with low back pain?

How does natural latex feel? Is it a firm or soft or medium surface to sleep on?
I need one that is soft on top but gives support and has no pressure points, and I weigh 200 lbs and I am a side sleeper.

How much does the mattress go down when you sleep on the natural latex?

Do you put a mattress topper on the natural latex mattress? or just sheets?
 

thanks jim.

jim is right, foam for low back pain is an issue

get the latex bed from sleep science at costco when they get them back in stock, use it for a while, if you dont like it send it back no problem

you could go flobeds, cost more....they have return deal also, i recommend latex for low back issues

jimsocal wrote:

Wow, it goes to show how 2 people with the same problem (I have L5-S1 disk herniation) can have such diametrically opposed opinions about memory foam! The key (personally) is to have a super firm underlayer topped off with just a bit of Sensus. 1 or 2 inches. I do agree that too deep of a memory foam layer is awful for people with herniations. It's the under structure that is most important, IMO. Something with a compression of 35-50lb.

well I have herniated discs as well and sleep awful on my old sealy posturpedic.  I was ready to try a TP mattress but after reading this I'm seriously second guessing that.  Unfortunately there are no stores nearby to be that have full latex mattresses to try out.  I tried the S brand ones and while they felt nice at first they seemed pretty soft

The key is to buy the raw materials and make yourself a custom-made mattress. pm me if you want to know how.

I posted on the other threat, but to answer your questions,

1 & 2:  I had severe low back and hip pain for at least a year before I bought my latex mattress.  For latex to work on people with back issues, the key is to get the firmness right.  People with back issues tend to report that they need a very firm, supportive surface.  I *thought* I wanted a nice cushy mattress, but I ended up with an extra firm all latex mattress.  Since getting this mattress, my back and hip pain has almost completely disappeared, and when I do have it, it's more on the order of a twinge rather than the previous agonizing experience.

I believe it works just because the surface is very firm, yet resiliant.  The analogy some people use is that it's like sleeping on jello.  If you press your finger onto the top of jello, the jello is firm, yet it gives to pressure.  If you take your finger off the jello, it will spring back into shape.

3:  Different types of latex can feel different.  Like I said, my latex feels quite firm, but not like sleeping on a board.  There is just enough give in the foam to allow my body to align and be comfortable, and because it does give, there isn't any pressure on my hips or shoulders.

4: No one can discover that for you except yourself.  Not everyone loves latex mattresses.  I have been very happy with mine.  Jimsocal discoverded that creating his own mattress on top of springs was the answer.

5: I get tremendous body support and pressure relief.  Pressure relief is this:  when you sleep on a hard floor, or a very hard mattress, you feel a lot of pressure on your hips and your shoulders.  This cuts off your blood circulation and numbness (or at least it did this to me).  A latex bed (a latex bed of the proper firmness) supports your body and yet has some give to it, so that your hips and shoulders will compress the latex some, but it won't cause pressure against your hips or shoulders.

6.  I've never had a memory foam mattress, although I tried out the Tempurpedics quite a bit.  To my mind, the latex is better, for this reason.  With the memory foam, you sink into the mattress and it molds around your body.  If you need to move around at night, you have to overcome that crater that has been created by your body on the memory foam.

With latex, you don't sink into the latex, and it doesn't retain your body impression.  If you have to move, the latex you were lying on springs right back.  It's more responsive to your body moving around at night.

KimberlyH wrote:
Thanks so much kimberly. What latex mattress did you buy? From where? You can pm me with the information. Thanks again.

I believe she has a Flobed.  At least that she has said that in previous posts.

All of us with back pain are different; you cannot simply choose a bed because it worked for someone else.  You can read and study the quality and composition of mattresses but at the end of the day all that matters is whether it works for you, and you can't figure that out from reading.  Unfortunately you'll have to work through this yourself. 

For lower back pain, yes, firm is usually recommended.  But not everyone has the best result with a firm mattress.  I don't myself care for tempurpedic but some people with back pain love them. 

I recently bought a flobeds.  We're still evaluating it.  With the current configuration my back pain seems a little better and my husband's is a little worse.  But the whole reason for choosing flobed is so we can fine tune it, and I imagine well be trading in layers soon.

Linda