Sleep number mattress failed. Need advice.‏

Jennifer writes:

I'm writing in hopes you can help me and my husband find a mattress. He has upper back pain that is aggregated by sleeping in a regular mattress (relatively firm) and on a sleep number bed. However, if he sleep on a regular air mattress on the floor he wakes up feeling great! I would prefer him not have to sleep on the floor every night! I'm not that picky as far as mattresses so out goal is to find one that will work for him. We are wondering if we need to try a memory foam mattress but after chalking up $400 in shipping for the failed sleep number I'm hesitant to buy another ridiculously expensive designer/gimmick bed. What are your thoughts?! Thank you for entertaining my question!
Sincerely, Jennifer (and Pete)

Hi Jennifer,
The problem Pete is having could be caused by the layer of memory foam in the mattress.
Before spending anymore money, unzip the cover and take out the memory, which it right on top.
Let me know how he feels tomorrow.

Thank you for the advice! We tried it out for a few nights without the layer or padding and it's no better for Pete :( do you have any other recommendations?
Jennifer

Hi Jennifer,

I'm sorry that didn't work for him. It's always a good thing when you can take advantage of a no or low cost solution.

Send me Pete's information for a specific recommendation. I will need: height & weight, age, preferred sleeping position(s), and any physical ailments that need to be addressed.

Pete is 6'2.5" and 198lbs. He is 40 years old and prefers to sleep on his side though he often wakes up on his back. He did a back flip off a trampoline as a kid and thinks that may be part of his upper back pain. However, he is a surgeon and I tend to think it is aggravated by him operating and having to look down over the patient. He doesn't really have pain at the end of they day, it's worse when he first wakes up then it decreases with activity. He feels it improves when he consistently works out but it seems like the bed make the biggest difference. Thank you for your help! Jennifer 

Hi Jennifer,

My experience tells me that your mattress is too soft...the leading cause for upper back pain.

Pete's experience with a camping air mattress bears that out, as it will be much more minimal and have none of padding that your sleep number has.

What you'll need is that happy medium between a firm innerspring and what you have.

There are two ways to approach this.

One, is with a new mattress. A Simmons World Class Annapolis Place luxury firm Beautyrest makes the most sense. The Beautyrest has individually pocketed coils that move independently...providing similar support to that of the air mattress, but providing upward support that the air mattress does not provide.

The other solution is more of an experiment...an educated guess, really. It's the padding on top of the air chamber that is causing the problem. Theoretically, that can be replaced with a layer of firm latex foam rubber, which should solve the problem...and, at a much lower cost.

You can replace just the padding on his side, if you have no problems with the way it is.

Here are links to both...mattress & Latex Foam Topper.

http://themattressexpert.com/mattress-brands/simmons/beautyrest-recharge-world-class/

http://themattressexpert.com/talalay-dunlop-latextoppers/

Let me know which way you would like to go.

Thanks, Pete

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