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Will A Soft Mattress Hurt Your Back

Back Pain No Firm Mattresses

Firm vs Soft Mattress for Back Pain – BEST Choice Revealed

If you get eight hours of sleep a night as most doctors recommend, you will spend a third of your life sleeping. So its worth taking some time to think about what youre sleeping on.

New research indicates that the popular thinking sleeping on a firm mattress is better for people with chronic lower back pain is incorrect. The report appears in the current issue of the Lancet, the British medical journal.

The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay explains what the researchers found and gives some general health tips about mattresses.

Up until now, the common belief has been that a firm mattress is the best thing for people with lower-back pain. Why? Because of all the anecdotal stories from people with back trouble who have put a board under their mattresses or decided to sleep on the floor when their backs hurt and discovered they had less pain.

Most orthopedic specialists, with the exception of most chiropractors, have felt comfortable recommending that their patients with low-back pain sleep on firm bedding, although there hasnt been any solid evidence to prove that it was effective.

The results are attributed to various reasons, including that people participating in the study needed new mattresses. But the study says the key reason is that a medium-firm mattress better distributes pressure from the body, which causes less pain when lying down or after getting up.

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The Best Position To Sleep In For Your Back

Can A Mattress Cause Back Pain

A mattress can definitely be a cause of back pain because it plays such an important role in how the body is positioned through the night. Most people know that posture is important but only think about their posture in the context of standing and sitting. This can cause them to overlook the importance of having a mattress that is the proper fit for them based on their body shape, weight, and sleeping position.

If the spine and joints arent aligned and well-cushioned during sleep, they wont be able to relax. Instead of recovering, the body will be strained, exacerbating pre-existing back issues and sowing the seeds for new ones. The easiest way to know whether a mattress is a contributing factor to back pain is if the pain tends to be the most pronounced in the morning when you wake up. If the pain is the worst when you get out of bed and subsides during the day, theres a good chance that your mattress is playing a part in your aches and pains.

Is Your Mattress Causing You Back Pain

Sleep Advisor Disclaimer – Nothing on this website is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment… Read more here

There are a lot of different reasons that people experience back pain. Figuring out where your discomfort is coming from can be difficult, especially if you lead an active or challenging life. However, the mattress you go to sleep on at night can play a big part in how you feel in the morning. In other words, its important to find out whether your bed is to blame for your back soreness or not.

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What Causes Back Pain

The main cause of back pain in bed is poor posture, either from how a person sits at work or how they sleep at night.

Between the vertebrae in the spine are intervertebral discs, which rehydrate at night . Poor posture can prevent the discs from rehydrating.

Read more: The NHS Guide To Back Pain

Attached to the vertebra are smaller muscle groups such as the erector spinae, and large muscles such as the trapezius. Poor posture can put the muscles into awkward positions that can cause irritation over a prolonged period of time, resulting in aches or pains. Lower and middle back pain tend to be the common culprits when sleeping. While there are several causes of back pain, a small number of which can be more serious underlying health issues. NHS Live Well gives us a list of common indicators of poor posture:

  • Slouching in a chair
  • Sticking your bottom out when standing
  • Standing with a flat back
  • Leaning on one leg
  • Hunched back and text neck when focusing too much on your phone
  • Poking your chin out when at a computer
  • Rounded shoulders
  • Cradling your phone in between your head and shoulder

These points are developed with images and solutions on this helpful NHS web page.

Soft Bed Or Hard Bed For Back Pain

Mattress Buying Tips To Protect Your Spine

Study Gets Mixed Results, but More Find Soft Bed Slightly Better for Back Pain

April 3, 2008 — If Goldilocks had lower back pain, she’d still prefer the bed that was just right.

It’s one of the most common questions back pain patients ask. Which is better — Daddy Bear’s hard mattress or Mommy Bear’s soft one?

Kim Bergholdt, DC, of Denmark’s Funen Back Center, and colleagues tried to find an answer. They randomly assigned 160 patients with lower back pain to sleep in one of three beds for one month.

When the truck pulled up to the patients’ houses, it delivered either a hard futon, a water bed , or a body-conforming foam mattress . Akva and Tempur sponsored the study, although Innovation Futon provided the harder beds.

Unfortunately, many of the patients assigned to the water bed never started the study — they did not want to sleep on a water bed. And many of the patients assigned to the futon quit the study before it was over.

The large number of dropouts — and the failure to stratify the patients according to the cause of their back pain — makes the study hard to interpret, says Robert Molinari, MD, associate professor of orthopaedics at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

That’s no surprise to Molinari.

“We really don’t understand why, but some patients respond better to hard mattresses and some to soft ones,” Molinari tells WebMD. “There are very few studies lending support to one mattress over another.”

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How Can I Make My Back Stop Hurting In Bed

There are a few things you can do to help treat your back pain in bed.

First, you can consult with a physician.

They may use high-end procedures like X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, or EMGs to determine why youre experiencing back pain in bed.

However, not all back pain merits seeing a doctor.

Generally, youll want to make an appointment with your physician only if your back pain.

  • Feels especially severe or radiates to other parts of your body.
  • It quickly gets worse over time.
  • It started with a specific injury.
  • Is showing signs of infection like fever or swelling.
  • It may be causing weakness, numbness, or tingling in your lower body.

If that doesnt sound like you, though, there are a few things you can do at home to help treat your back pain.

Will A Soft Mattress Hurt My Back

There is no one size fits all mattress solution, so it’s important to ask questions and research the different facets of mattresses and what may or may not work for you. When you arrive at the question: “Will a soft mattress hurt my back?”

The answer isn’t as straight-forward as you would like, and in fact, depends on a lot of factors. First, and most importantly, it depends on how you sleep.

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How Can You Tell That Your Mattress Is Causing Back Pain

Theres a good chance that your mattress is the cause of your back pain if you wake up with back ache that dissipates throughout the day only to return the next morning you wake up in the night frequently, you toss and turn, and/or your mattress is more than 8 years old but you should always consult with your doctor to be sure.

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These free resources will help you get on the right track to ridding yourself of back pain!

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What Type Of Mattress Is Best For People With Low Back Pain

Back pain is one of the top reasons that people begin to lose mobility in middle age. Pain can keep people from engaging in physical activity, making it more difficult for them to maintain a healthy weight and keep up their strength, stamina, and balance as they age. So treating and managing back pain that results from injuries or health problems is crucial for staying on the path of a healthy and active life.

Considering that most people spend roughly a third of their lives lying in bed, choosing the right mattress is essential for managing low back pain. It can make the difference in whether you can sleep at night and function the next day.

In the past, doctors often recommended very firm mattresses. But one survey of 268 people with low back pain found that those who slept on very hard mattresses had the poorest sleep quality. There was no difference in sleep quality between those who used medium-firm and firm mattresses.

Soft mattresses, on the other hand, can also be problematic. While a soft mattress that conforms to your body’s natural curves may help the joints align favorably, you might also sink in so deeply that your joints twist and become painful during the night.

If you want to find out whether a firmer mattress would feel better than the one you’re currently using, try putting a plywood board under your mattress to dampen the movement from the bedsprings, or try placing your mattress on the floor.

Advantages Of A Soft Mattress

A softer mattress is usually recommended for those who are experiencing back pain on a standard mattress, or those who have pre-existing back problems. Theyre also recommended for lighter individuals as a harder mattress can end up not compressing for them at all.

Softer mattresses are generally better for those who sleep on their side, as they better cushion the shoulders and hips. On the side, a softer mattress better aligns the spine, too.

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Is Memory Foam Good For Your Back

For some individuals, memory foam mattresses can be good for their back because the foam is able to conform to their unique body shape to provide better pressure relief and support whilst other individuals may find that memory foam causes back pain because the mattress doesnt suit their body type.

Is Your New Memory Foam Mattress Causing Back Pain

Mattress for back pain

If you buy an extra firm or extra soft memory foam mattress, it may cause your body aches, joint pain, and back pain. The medium-firm memory foam mattresses are fit for all sleeping styles and provide optimum back support. Most people buy too soft memory foam mattresses for more comfort but it may cause them lower back pain after sleeping a few days on it. I recommend you use a medium-range memory foam mattress that has a thick supportive foam layer. Some people ask that memory foam mattress hurts my back I think they should choose the correct mattress and maintain the right sleeping posture.

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Is Your Mattress Too Soft 5 Signs You Need A Firmer Bed

We all know the feeling of sinking into bed after a long day but if youre sinking too far, you might be doing more harm than good. While theres nothing wrong with preferring a softer sleep surface, everyone needs a certain amount of support to promote healthy spinal alignment.

Beyond just preference, choosing the right firmness level comes down to your unique sleep needs, body type and sleep position. From lower back pain to muscle and joint stiffness, these are some of the signs that your mattress is too soft.

Sign #1: You wake up with a stiff and sore lower back.

The most common symptom of a bed thats too soft is a stiff and sore lower back. This usually happens first thing in the morning, after youve been in bed for a prolonged period of time. While there are plenty of causes for a sore lower back, persistent morning aches and pains are usually a good indicator that your bed is the problem.

Sign #2: You have a hard time getting comfortable.

Tossing and turning every once in a while is commonstress, anxiety and even poor health can be contributing causes to insomnia. That said, your mattress plays an important role in how long it takes to get comfortable at night. If you find yourself constantly readjusting it could be a sign your muscles arent able to fully relaxa key sign your mattress is too soft.

Sign #3: You sleep on your stomach, and often wake with neck or shoulder pain.

Sign #4: You struggle to get in and out of bed.

What to do about it:

It Needs To Keep Your Spine Aligned

You may not realize it, but good posture is important when you sleep. The muscles and ligaments in your back need to relax and recover while you snooze. If a mattress is too firm — or too squishy — it won’t support your spine at your neck or lower back the way it needs to. What’s firm enough is different for everyone: If you have wide hips, for instance, a slightly softer surface may be better. You need some more give in order to keep your spine in alignment. Someone with narrower hips might be better off with a firmer surface.

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Best Mattress Firmness For Back Pain

For many people, a medium-firm mattress is the best choice for reducing back pain.

One small study tracked the sleep quality of adults with lower back pain. After tracking the participants sleep quality for 21 days on their own mattresses, they were given medium-firm mattresses with foam and latex layers. After 12 weeks, the participants had progressively less back pain and stiffness.

Your mattress firmness may not be right for you if lying on it causes your spine to become misaligned. Look at it this way:

  • Your mattress is too soft if your hips sink lower than your shoulders.
  • Your mattress is too firm if your hips and shoulders lie flat on the surface.
  • Your mattress is just right if your mattress contours to your body shape and keeps your spine aligned.

Looking for a mattress thats just right? We have thoughtfully designed mattresses at every price point, so you can say sayonara to nighttime back pain without breaking the bank.

  • Casper Element® Mattress: A seriously comfortable sleep at our coziest price
  • Casper OriginalTM Mattress: Our most popular mattress, engineered for cool, comfortable sleep
  • Casper Nova® Hybrid Mattress: Our most plush mattress is also supremely supportive
  • Casper WaveTM Hybrid Mattress: Our most supportive mattress, now combining foam and springs for added lift, airflow, and edge support

The Influence Of Sleeping On A Hard Or Soft Bed

Choosing a Mattress for Back Pain
Sleeping on a soft surface

the body will bend back into the sagged pit, causing limited freedom of movement and strain for certain muscle groups

Sleeping on a hard surface

a firm mattress will cause higher pressure on certain places

Both with sleeping on a surface thats too soft or too hard, the spine will be supported insufficientlyThose with a bad back require a good balance between support and comfort.

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Why Does My Back Hurt When I Get In Bed

If youre experiencing pain when youre getting into bed, dont ignore it.

Back pain is a symptom of an underlying problem. And when you feel those dull aches and sharp pains, its your bodys way of telling you, Something needs to change!

For many, back pain is just something they live with daily. They think that theyre stuck with it.

But in fact, back pain across the US has actually gotten worse over the years, according to The Lancet.

Graph of back pain across the United States

According to the study, the disability-adjusted life-years from back pain have risen substantially across all age groups.

This may be due to longer work hours, an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, and more office work.

Simply put, if youre experiencing back pain in bed, its because theres an underlying problem that you need to deal with.

It could be poor posture, stress, or even a medical condition.

Is A Soft Mattress Bad For Your Back

A mattress thats too soft will cause your back or hips to sag, and your spine to fall out of alignment which can lead to major pain. A mattress thats too firm will put too much pressure on your joints, especially if you sleep on your side or your back.

latex foam

Beside this, Are foam mattresses good for back pain?

Yes, memory foam mattresses are the best for relieving back pain. They conform to your body providing pressure-point relief, reducing aches. Memory foams body-conforming feature is the best in all mattress types. This viscoelastic foam forms to the natural curvature of your spine, promoting lumbar support.

Likewise, Which density foam is good for bed?

For these reasons, low- to medium-density foams tend to perform best for sex. Low-density foams weigh much less than high-density materials. A bed utilizing primarily low-density foam will typically weigh between 50 and 60 pounds, while a high-density foam mattress may weigh 90 pounds or more.

Also, Which foam is best quality?

Latex foam is also an excellent quality foam for mattresses that can be used in sofa cushions as well. Latex foam is one of the highest quality foam seat cushions that can be purchased, with an unparalleled feel from the foams rubber construction.

Why does a soft mattress hurt my back?

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