higher ILD?
Feb 16, 2010 7:20 AM
Joined: Sep 8, 2009
Points: 18
I currently have a Flobeds posture deluxe composed of 3 layers of super firm blended talalay.  The ILD is supposed to be 42-46.  I am still waking up with low back pain and I am wondering if there a higher ILD out there so I can increase the firmness of the layers?  Or is there another route I can go with this? Dunlop? firmer topper instead of convoluted one?  Any suggestions would be appreciated. 
Re: higher ILD?
Reply #14 Feb 20, 2010 12:41 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
Linda said: "Eagle, we back pain people are so very individual I don't think you can generalize.  It's trial and error.  I had the same configuration as you but at only 130 lbs F/F/XF is too soft for me."

I agree that generalizations are always suspect when they are applied to human beings. We are just too variable within ourselves, and life has a way of presenting too many intervening variables.

That acknowledged, I think we look to our beds far too often as the source of our difficulty. Sometimes they are, sometimes they may contribute to the problem and exacerbate it, sometimes they are actually helping the problem from becoming worse, and yet we still blame the bed. For instance. I currently am suffering through some hip pain. But the hip pain has not been caused by my bed. It was caused by doing a job around the house where I had to do a lot of positioning myself very low and I stretched out some ligaments or something in the hip area. This is a case where only time and the proper stretching exercises are going to cure it. But my bed, depending on its firmness layers, can either hasten the healing process, if it is properly configured, or slow down the healing process if it's not properly configured. But we have to be able to tell the difference. I changed my mattress configuration yesterday to a firmer configuration. This has helped, it seems to me.

Another thing that needs to be seriously considered is the foundation on which the mattress sets. If the foundation is not solid enough it will flex giving you misreadings on your mattress configuration ( here we're talking about latex mattresses that are configurable).

One thing that could be done would be to put the mattress on the floor, if the floor is very solid. My home is built on a concrete slab so that would make the perfect foundation for a mattress if I'm trying to ascertain the proper firmness levels for the mattress.

But if I had the kind of an ongoing problem with my lower back that fubu04 has I would be talking to a good chiropractor or osteopathic doctor (A DO not an MD).
This message was modified Feb 20, 2010 by eagle2
Re: higher ILD?
Reply #15 Feb 20, 2010 2:43 PM
Joined: May 3, 2008
Points: 827
Eagle, you make so much sense it is scarey.  I think the reason for my pain is sitting in a contour (not flat)  shaped chair that hurts my hips all day, it pushes the hips up and hurts your bursa and nerves.  I found a website that explains sitting on a flat chair is better for your hips than a contoured shape chair.  These ergonomic chairs now days do more damage for the hips than help.  I also use my back to do things instead of squatting at the knees due to torn meniscus and hip problems, so that explains my back pain.

You are so wise.  I am not going to make anymore changes to my mattress until I get my day pain in check.
This message was modified Feb 20, 2010 by Leo3
Re: higher ILD?
Reply #16 Feb 20, 2010 4:22 PM
Joined: Aug 17, 2009
Points: 542
Leo: Thank you for your kind words. Everyone likes to hear praise, but for some reason, it gets sweeter as we get older.

I'm going to post a link to a post made by Kate, here, http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/forum/discouraged-does-latex-break-lot-after-week-two/9420-0-1.html.    It is post #14 placed today.

She gives a very important and detailed response to the very question of "What can be causing our back pain besides our beds?" Here is a woman who has spent a great deal of money, and put a great deal of thought, into correcting her back pain besides constantly changing the configuration of her mattress.

She realizes that there are many things we do besides spend eight hours a night on our mattress that can be causing, or at least contributing to, our back pain.

There are many, many, many reasons for back and neck pain. The ancient Greek physicians utilize something that doctors need to return to in our modern day and age of endless tests whether that be by blood, x-ray, or you name it. They ask their patients a series of important questions. The first one being "What you do to make a living?" In other words what kind of exposure does your body have to stress on a daily basis. They knew that most of our maladies came from our exposure to physical stresses.

We all know that you have to have the proper mattress, to not only get a good nights sleep, but to live a healthy lifestyle. But when we have examined the minutia of our current configuration and are still having problems, the common sense thing to do is, look elsewhere for what might be causing the difficulty. Many times commonsense thinking(combined with judicious investigation of the Internet) can possibly do more for us than all the doctors in the world.
This message was modified Feb 20, 2010 by eagle2

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