Mattress Forum

About two years ago my wife and I bought our first mattress after several years on futons. We got a firm spring mattress from a local company, one of their relatively high-end pieces. It was great for about the first year, but lately I've been waking up every morning with a stiff lower back. One side of the bed has also developed a bit of a dip, though both of us are pretty light weight (I'm heaviest at 170lbs).

From what I've been reading it seems likely my back problems could be from the mattress being too firm or from pressure from the springs. So I was researching 2" memory-foam toppers, thinking we'd experiment with putting one of those on top of the mattress and see if that helps any. That led me here, where I discovered that the pros seem to think latex toppers far superior.

I've read in various posts here recommendations for combining a 2" latex toppers with spring mattresses. So I'm wondering if throwing on a topper is a good start or if I need to try something more radical and gut the mattress, replacing its foam with something better. In either case, how do I figure out what firmness and thickness of latex to use? Are there any rules of thumb or is it just trial and error?

Thanks for the help and guidance.