Curvy or Flat? How to Pick the Perfect Mattress for Your Spine
Tailoring you mattress choice to suit your bodies unique shape and some tips when making a new mattress purchase.
The most common advice I have noticed online is for those with back pain to try a firmer a mattress. This isn't the right advice for everyone. Let me explain why and give some tips on what to think about when buying a new mattress.
Do I need a New Mattress?
A new mattress isn't necessary or likely to be of benefit to everyone experiencing back pain. Perhaps the best indication that it may be worth getting a new mattress is if your pain is worse first thing in the morning.
If you tend to wake up feeling ok and your pain progressively increases throughout the day, it's unlikely your mattress is playing a significant role in your pain.
However, if the morning is a bad time and you tend to wake up feeling worse than when you first laid down at night, your bed may very well be playing a substantial role in your pain.
Firm Vs. Soft
I'm not sure where the firm mattress for back pain advice comes from. Let me know if you have received this advice and if there was any particular reason for it that was given to you.
Like all things back pain, there is no one size fits all solution. Variations in things like injuries, pain mechanisms, genetics, body size mean that no one mattress (or style of mattress) is suited for everyone.
However, there is one general trend we can look to help identify whether a firm or soft mattress is likely to be better for you:
Do you have a curvier or a flatter profile?
Those who are more curvy, and have a larger lordosis curve in their lower back, tend to do better with a softer mattress. This allows their hips and shoulder to "sink" into the mattress which then better supports the curvature of their spine.
When a curvier person lies on a firm mattress, there lower back is often less supported leading to increased strain with may provoke various pain mechanisms and lead to not feeling so great first thing in the morning.
In contrast to this, those with smaller curves and flatter spines which have less of a lordosis curve tend to be well-supported by a firm mattress.
Choosing A Mattress
Unfortunately I don't have any magic brand to recommend that is an ideal choice for those with back pain. I do have a few tips however to help you avoid wasting money and increasing your chance of making a successful purchase when researching what's available to you wherever you happen to live.
No Questions Asked Return Period
Consumer regulation laws vary wildly depending on where you live. Doing your due diligence in whatever capacity you can is worthwhile so that if you do happen to make a mattress purchase that isn't right for you, it can be returned without incurring a significant financial loss. A lot of brands these days in many parts of the world do offer no questions asked return period, which is ideal if it's available to you.
Adjustable Mattresses
If you don't have the luxury of returning whatever mattress you purchase or trying multiple out, buying a mattress the is made up of multiple layers that can be rearranged is another great option. Then you have the ability to rearrange the layers yourself and find the combination that suits you best. If that soft memory foam layer on top that sounded so appealing ends up being a nightmare, no problem, just rearrange the layers and place a firmer layer on top instead.
If you made a successful mattress change or had a positive experience with a particular brand, share your story in the comments to let other back pained individuals know about it.