Everybody I know who has back problems swears up and down that sleeping on a really firm mattress is key. My father used to have a big plywood board under his side of the mattress, so that his side of the bed would be less soft (I think they have since bought a new mattress that is uniformly hard).
So, why is it that every time I sleep on a mattress that's firmer than the one we have here, my lower back locks up so badly that it's an hour before I can walk comfortably? And when I get back to our relatively soft bed, my back feels fine in the morning?
I suppose this could be some sort of grand conspiracy to mess with my head, but some of the people involved don't know each other, and it's hard to see how anybody could be benefitting from this. Is it a scam on the part of the medical community? Are doctors systematically deceiving people with lower back problems into sleeping on mattresses that will ensure they continue shoveling money toward ineffective but expensive medical procedures?
- Log in to post comments
I'm with you -- the hard bed hurts me and our bed at home is softer and good.
They probably had worn out mattresses that didn't give proper support, so the board or new (hard) bed feels better.
We decided we needed a new bed when we went camping and my back got better on the trip - but, we ended up with a moderate/soft bed, which is still working for us :).
I'm wondering if the difference could be between people who tend to sleep mostly on their backs and those who sleep mostly on their sides. I'm a side sleeper, and it was a conforming waterbed that cured my back problems.
You might not have "back problem" back problems?
There's the spinal-column back problems and muscular strain bask problems and doubtless inflamed kidney back problems and who-knows-what; if the advice is for spinal back problems and you haven't got any -- lumbar discs all fine, etc. -- then the advice wouldn't apply.
It can also have something to do with the amount of lumbar lordosis (the amount of curve between the dorsal vertebrae with ribs and the sacral vertebrae that are part of the pelvis); the amount in people varies a lot and if you have more than usual you're not going to like a really flat surface because there will be an unsupported gap if you sleep on your back. People with less lumbar lordosis like a really flat surface because a soft mattress otherwise allows an uncomfortable degree of curvature.
Do you know your Sleep Number(TM)? I was a little skeptical, but after a couple of years I really like our Sleep Number(TM) bed . . . .
I know, how do you feel, because I also have back problems. I started with the same problems as you have. Later, my doctor told my that I had a malformation in the first vertebra. I hope you haven't got the same as I do. Good luck.
http://esns.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/ESS_BILBAO
fortunately, there's actual evidence, from a randomized trial of mattresses of various degrees of firmness in people with low back pain:
Kovacs et al, 2003 Lancet. v362(9396):1599-604
a mattress of medium firmness is associated with the least back pain.
It's really a question of whether or not the mattress lets your spine lie in a neutral alignment in your normal sleep position, so you've got to match yourself to the mattress.
I agree also, having traveled in Greece, where the beds are hard as rock and Laos where the pillows are as tick as a mattress, the soft comfort of my bed is god sent.
It seems as it is a matter of habit.
I also prefer soft beds, but in Greece or Japan it's something unnatural (sleeping on hard mattress or on the floorvdirectly), so I guess sleeping on other kind of bed could result in back pain for them.
I have pretty bad back problems caused by degenerative disk disorder. I have three collapsed intervertebral disks. When I tweak something, I'm out for days. Our mattress isn't terribly hard, but it has a spongy upper layer that's very comfortable. I really don't like firm mattresses (like the ones you find in hotel rooms). I'm a belly-sleeper, although my wife tells me I squirm and change positions a lot during the night.
I know of back pain sufferers swearing on the "Sleep number" air bed. Its expensive but you can adjust the firmness to whats most comfortable to you on your bed half, and it does not sag - the main back-pain causing problem with too soft spring beds.
I am not expert but I hear that lower back pain has a number of possible origins. In your case the uneven pressure on hard surface probably triggers a painful muscle spasm along your spinal column.
After a 47 yr marriage, during which my dear husband insisted on a very firm mattress, I spent $1,600.00 on the softest, most luxurious, mattress for myself in my new life as a Widow. For the 1st time, since I was 20 yrs old, I awaken comfortable & rested!