my husband's back has been hurting for a while, and I'm sure our matress is not helping! it is 9 yrs old with a slight divet in the middle! we know we need a new one however money is tight and we don't want to buy another queen size. but there is no way we can get a king size that we want in this house(old house lots of funky angels)! we are moving in 1-2 years and were really hoping to buy it then. SOOO my question is: do you think a thermal(?) matress topper would help back problems or is that a waste of money? thanks for any thoughts on this!!!
The memory foam mattress toppers are supposed to be great, and I'd recommend looking at Overstock.com and even Amazon for great prices. The higher the foam density the better they last (and the firmer they are). I also agree a board under the mattress may help too. I'm planning to order one in the next week so I've been doing some research. Good luck!
we're saving up for a tempurpedic, but i would also recommend the mattress topper from costco. i have trouble sleeping and have back problems, and this really helped.
Mattress toppers have never worked for me. If the foundation they're sitting on is bad then they aren't going to be very helpful, just like no matter how nice a floor in your house is, it won't do well sitting on a crummy foundation.
My chiropractor told me the only truly helpful mattress is sleep number for helping your back. He said that although they cost a fortune you break even in the long run since they last twice the lifetime of a normal mattress, and you'll save on chiropractor's bills and get more sleep at night so you're less likely to get sick or be grouchy so they're worth it. My husband and I are saving up for a sleep number bed right now.
There is nothing more frustrating than waking up hurting! Any new mattress is better than an old one. They should last about 5 years. Tempurpedic mattresses are great, but pricey. Still, a new mattress won't make back problems go away. Low back pain is the result of tight and weak core muscles. By tight, I mean your husband needs to do certain stretches for the hamstrings and back of the body. A low back hurts when the core muscles (all the muscles around the mid-section, front, back and sides) cannot properly support body weight and the spine. The antidote to that is strength training the core. I'm not sure where you live, but if you are near Hoffman Estates, we (Multiform Fitness on Algonquin Rd, 1 mile east of Barrington Rd.) have a stretching guide we can give you. I can give you and your husband a free personal training session to help you see how strength training can help the sore back problem. Just ask for me, I'm one of the owners!
P.
My husband had back surgery for broken discs due to a work injury. The neurosurgeon told us that unless the pain in your back is from stress on the mattress, the toppers they sell and foam topped matresses actually contribute to back problems. We had an old mattress and bought a new one (which is how we found out foam topped mattresses are bad. He had suggested putting a board between the mattress and base if we were not able to buy a new matress right away. It would give the support needed. If the problem wiht your matress is the "divot", i would go along with this and just make sure the board or boards is cut to just within the size of the mattress. Maybe 1/2 inch less and at least a 1/2 think.
Waste of $. Try putting a piece of pressboard from a Home Depot type of place between the mattress and boxspring. Half inch thick or better should do it and they'll cut it to the size you need.
We just bought a 2" memory foam mattress topper at Costo - the only one they offer there....it was worth it! I think it cost us $150...but they have a return policy that if it doesn't work out for you they'll take it back. It saved us because we were thinking about getting a sleep number mattress until we looked and saw how much they cost, so this will add a few more years onto our current mattress and I barely have no more back pain (I will always have some because of the medical conditions I have, but this greatly reduced them)! (I just found the receipt and it says "nutrafoam queen: $145.99" plus tax)
My hubby had back pain too & the Tempur-pedic is sooooo good!
He resisted buying it at first because he thought it cost too much but now he wishes we had gotten it sooner.
If you really want a bigger bed, there area lots of things that act as a bridge between two twin mattresses, creating a king sized bed. You can search online to find the mattress connector. Then, you dont' have to worry about getting a huge mattress in and out of your house.
