lower back issues, some success
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Very cool to find this site, and that others have been experimenting and making custom matresses!!! Here is what worked for me for 4 years. A box spring base with a 1/2" sheet of plywood on top. On top of the plywood a layer of 3/4" x-firm gym mat, next a 1/2" layer of firm camp pad. On top, a 21/2" layer of X-firm (not sure can't find records). My back went out after 4 years so I turned everything 180 degrees, and that lasted another year. Also in the mix I might have slacked off on doing situps which helps with back support muxcles. Now I am having back issues again. What I found in addittion that really helped was on top of everything I added what I would call maybe a back support sleeping brace?? Using some 1-3/4" extra foam that was too soft to lay on I made this configuration. I layed down on it and took a magic marker and traced out under my back an hour glass shape which came out to 24" long, 12" wide under the shoulder end, 6" wide at my lower back, and 10" wide at my butt area. I then cut out the foam using this shape with a bevel cut. So laying on my back I fit into this side supportive cut out. I will see if I can post a photo if anyone is interested. This foam is soft enough that when I turn on my side out of the pocket it doesn't make much difference. What will my next move be? Maybe flip everything again? This message was modified Jun 24, 2012 by isleomaniac
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Re: lower back issues, some success
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I believe my top 21/2" layer is 44 ILD which puts it in the hard category. My 3 layers of hard foams are just about as hard as you can get without feeling uncomfortable. So after a month of indecision and back issues I flipped and turned the top layer yesterday and this morning my back feels great once again. After thinking about it during this recent change/flip, 90% of my body is actually lying on a 2" soft topper which has the sleeping brace cutout for my back. So only the 10% part of my body, my spine from upper back to lower that needs contact with the firm surface is lying on it. Anyway, all this experimentation over the years has been a very interesting project. Hopefully it may help someone else with back issues? Can we post photos on here? I am unable to figure out how so far? This message was modified Jun 26, 2012 by isleomaniac
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Re: lower back issues, some success
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I, personally, have a latex mattress (2 in topper soft and 6 in core firm) that I bought from foambymail(dot)com that is certified to be safe by eco-INSTITUT, I have only had it a week so I cannot recommend it 100% but I did A LOT of research before I bought it. If I was going to buy a memory foam mattress I would buy it from bedinabox(dot)com as they are CertiPUR-US® certified. If you are going to buy memory foam only buy one that is CertiPUR-US® or Oeko-Tex® certified. Why? because when you buy a CertiPUR-US® memory foam mattress you can know, for example, that it is free of or is below harmful levels of toxic poisons and cancer causing ingredients like: Low emission (low VOCS) BPA-free Phthalates-free Made without ozone depleters PBDE-free Mercury, Lead and heavy metal free Made without formaldehyde BHT-free Protection for you investment: Whether you get a latex mattress or a memory foam mattress make sure you get a really good mattress protector because latex and memory foam will break down quicker from sweat, urine, dirt, spills etc. Protect-a-bed makes good mattress protectors but they can be pricey for some people so shop around online. Do a web search on CertiPUR-US®, Oeko-Tex®, & eco-INSTITUT for more information about their certifications. Considering a spring mattress? Forget it! Almost all of them are made to FAIL. They are one sided so you cannot flip them to get more life out of them. Some say they put some special foam boarder around the bed so you can have more support when you sit on the edge of the bed BUT it is really to give you less springs which makes it less expensive for them to make the bed. If you sit on the edge of you bed too much and/or for to long it will FAIL. Even if they put some latex, High Resiliency foam a.k.a. HR foam, High Density foam a.k.a. HD Foam, or Memory foam a.k.a. visco-elastic polyurethane foam in the bed it is almost ALWAYS buried deep down in the mattress so they can sell you on it and with a higher price. Then they put JUNK polyurethane foam on top of it (that is why people do “mattress surgery” and cut their mattresses open and pull out all the junk foam and replace it with a latex or memory foam topper). Those polyurethane junk foam top layers will start to break down on day 1 and if you can stand it the mattress will only last you 4 years at best even though it has a 10 year warranty. During those 4 years the mattress will (pick your word) dip, crater, canoe, hammock. Your back will hurt and you will have wasted your money. *Please note that there are some “brand” name mattress companies out there that sell latex and memory foam mattresses that ARE NOT 100% top to bottom end to end latex or memory foam. What they do is put an inch or 2 of latex or memory foam on top of a block/foundation of some “other” type of foam and call it a latex or memory foam mattress. This still may be better then having the latex or memory foam buried in the bed above the springs BUT when the block/foundation of that “other” type of foam under the latex/memory foam collapses you will need a new mattress. The only exception (there maybe others) is bedinabox which states that their, “mattresses use only HR support [base] foam with a rating of 24/32. That means a 2.4 lb density with a 32 IFD.” This appears to be the good quality foam base with high enough specs to work as a base support system to work under their memory foam. |