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People With Bad Backs, What Mattress?

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olds

olds

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I have arthritis and 3 partially collapsed disks in my lower back.
What type of bed do you find comfortable?
 
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I have a pocket spring matress and i cannot imagine how i ever managed without one. One with strong springs, strong enough to support the weight of the person resting on it without deforming.
Like a soft solid wooden plank.

314798126_701.jpg
 
There are so many mattress choices out there. It's just damned confusing. The last one we bought the store gushed endlessly about their return policy within 60 days if we didn't like it. Ooh boy, were they upset when we actually took advantage of the policy.

How are you supposed to know what's going to be comfortable until you've used it?
 
I don't have a bad back but I bought a memory foam topper at costco - Big difference.

I heard the full memory foam mattresses are even much better. But some of my coworkers say they get too warm
 
We have a Sleep Number P6.

Just had surgery for a herniated disc on the L5-S1. And honestly I don't know how I could have slept AT ALL without the ability to adjust the bed while I was waiting on the surgery.

We have a king and it's really 2 twin air bladders. They say this type of mattress lasts longer without starting to sag because... well it's air.
 
I'm indifferent regarding beds. I can sleep on anything. My movement throughout the day affects my back more.
 
JoeKing said:
We have a Sleep Number P6.

Just had surgery for a herniated disc on the L5-S1. And honestly I don't know how I could have slept AT ALL without the ability to adjust the bed while I was waiting on the surgery.

We have a king and it's really 2 twin air bladders. They say this type of mattress lasts longer without starting to sag because... well it's air.
Click to expand...
How long have you had it?
Everyone I've had in Hotels was broken.
 
oldsmoboat said:
How long have you had it?
Everyone I've had in Hotels was broken.
Click to expand...

Going on year 3 now. I bet they were broken in the hotels because people couldn't stop playing with them 😀

It's a fairly small and quiet pump that regulates the pressure, I could see it giving out in a business environment. But really once you find your "number" you shouldn't have to do massive pressure changes. All I find I have to do is that every few months I "recalibrate" the pressure sensor. Which entails laying on the bed at normal number, inflate to 100, deflate to 50, set back to your regular number. It takes 2 mins.
 
There has been very little research done on what's the best mattress for someone with a bad back. There was a study done in 2003 and published in The Lancet, "Effect of firmness of mattress on chronic non-specific low-back pain". The researchers found that a medium firm mattress was best.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(03)14792-7/abstract

I also have arthritis, 2 bad disks, and spinal stenosis. I have tried all the types of mattresses and have found that a medium firm all latex mattress is the best for me.

By far the best website for mattress info is the Mattress Underground. I suggest that anyone looking for a new mattress should first read their basic and detailed articles which can be accessed from their home page. http://www.themattressunderground.com/mattresses.html

Another good informative website, especially for mattress reviews, is Sleep like the Dead. http://www.sleeplikethedead.com/mattress-bad-back.html
 
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I say mix both air and foam, going with an "off" brand can literally save you thousands and provide an overall better experience. You can get a pretty good fully adjustable air mattress with remote for under $200 and a nice memory foam topper for the same. Get a nice flat sheet of plywood to lay it on, it will work way better than those expensive garbage box spring bottom things. If you need the height it's really easy to build your own solid box, or you could go fancy and get a storage frame.

Under $700 for a complete adjustable comfy bed that could look like this:
rb-storage-bed-1.jpg
 
I find a plush top extra firm feels best on my back. If a 5 was the firmest mattress I would say look for something like a 4.
No bad disc or anything but years of working on cars has done its damage.
 
Depends on how fat you are. 😉

To be honest I find that when it flares up nothing is going to be comfortable at night. A mattress with a bit of give in it is probably best but no matter what you get its not going to make it better than a few whiskeys before bed.
 
We ended up with a Sealy PosturePedic "Bellezza" mattress when we moved last year. California King isn't a popular size up here, so our choices were limited, and this one was the best in the price range we had to spend. Paid about $1200 IIRC. It's definitely not the BEST mattress on the market...but it's damned good for the price. With my FUBAR'D back, I need a very firm mattress...but prefer one with a bit of padding as well. This one fits the need for me.
 
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