I'm a senior, late 60's,  that has bursitis and arthritis in several places plus just this last October I had an accident and ended up with two ruptured disks in my lower back and nerve damage on my right side down my hip, leg and foot.  My wife also has arthritis.  When visiting friends recently, I slept on their air mattress which was on top of a standard box spring lower for 5 days.  It was an Aerobed mattress that was very thick.  To make a long story short, for the first time in months, I didn't have all the pains I normally have in the mornings I slept on this firm air mattress.  I'm considering buying one for a longer TRIAL  replacement for my old spring mattress but the problem is that I keep reading that these mattresses have regular leak problems and that after the 2 year warranty, you have to buy another one.  This wouldn't be a real bad deal if my leg, hip and back pains were greatly reduced but is there anyone out there that has had experience with air mattresses (the better $200 - $300 variety) that have lasted for them?  I wanted to try one for a period of months to see if the pain healing worked for a longer time before investing in a more expensive air mattress.  I've tried very firm standard mattresses but they were not much help for me or my wife.  Mac