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Well, my right lower back pain is GONE! I just had my hysterectomy/oopherectomy/pelvic repair on Monday. Came home yesterday. The back pain was gone immediately. Docs said the cyst had grown to about the size of a grapefruit and were amazed it didn't hurt more. Hurray! Now I just have the post surgery pain to contend with for awhile. I can handle that as long as it finally goes away! I had ordered the 2" 4 lbs. memory foam topper from Sleepwarehouse which is due to arrive anyday. Since I can't lift anything over 10 lbs. I may have to wait before trying it out on my mattress. In the meantime, before my surgery, I tweaked my toppers around a bit. I still have the 1" 32 ILD latex. But I added the softer, Overstock 1" latex topper over that and finally the comfy Cuddle Bed fiber bed type topper. So far, so good. But I'm still curious to see how a 2" memory foam topper feels in comparison to my cheap 1" memory foam. Not sure if I'll stick that under my latex. I WILL get rid of the softer latex, though. Or if I'll put the memory foam directly under the Cuddle Bed. I heard it's nice under a firm latex topper. The sofness of the memory foam and the conforming support of the latex underneath. We'll see! |
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haysdb wrote: In a conventional mattress there is a layer of fiber mat laid on top of the coils. This keeps the softer materials above, which was typically cotton in the old days, from pushing down between the springs. But it also makes the bed feel more firm than if it was just a sheet of something very thin. One trick the custom mattress makers do is add a second layer of this fiber mat. It makes the mattress feel much more firm, but still allows the individual coils to work. What intrigues me about what BeddyBye has done with the thin plywood is that she's not just achieving firmness but rigidity. For some of us that's the key factor. For instance my mattress as it stands is very firm. I just don't think it's quite rigid enough. It may be the convoluted PU foam layers. I was told this particular mattress had more precompressed material in it than a plush, so it may very well have 2 layers of fiber mat in there already. I won't really know until I take the thing apart and look inside and that won't be for some time to come because the mattress is only five months old and hasn't started sagging yet. When I do disassemble it and replace it with my own foam layers I'll know at once whether it was the PU foam or the spring unit itself which wasn't rigid enough for me. If the PU foam is to blame then my problem will be solved. On the other hand if it's the coil unit, then I have a feeling the 1/8" plywood between the springs and the new foam layers may do the trick. For awhile I was sleeping on about 3" of 35 IL:D HR foam under 1" of eggcrate foam and 2" of 4lb memory foam placed directly on a foundation that must be very much like the one Hays had--just slats covered with cardboard and some padded material. Now that was rigid! It just didn't have enough give to it without a spring unit. |
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The flexible slat foundation definitely gives some of that box spring feel back, and it allows the use of a thinner mattress, potentially helping to defray some of the added cost of the foundation. The clincher for me was the ability to make some areas more firm. It has allowed me to get the support I need with a softer latex. I would still like to know what a super-firm bottom layer would feel like, but I'm not bottoming out or sinking in too far, and feel well supported. I am really happy with mine. Sorry, kind of wondered a bit off topic. This message was modified Oct 20, 2007 by haysdb
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You're right. Without any comfort layers that sucker is MORE than firm! No sinking or swaying goin' on, that's for sure. And, that's exactly the feel I was striving for. HOWEVER, if I hadn't been able to soften it up with the various foams and fiber/featherbeds, it would be a no-go. It's not my goal to bottom out on this rigid bed. But, I DO want the reassurance that my springs aren't so comforming that I can feel my hips sinking in, hence hurting my lower back. I'm counting the days when I can (gently) tear open that box with the Sleepwarehouse 2" 4 lbs. memory foam topper and be able to LIFT it. I'm going to try a few configurations with it. I also found an excellent clearance price on a King featherbed from Mervyn's dept. store. I figure for the price, even if I don't like it, I can always use it somewhere else. I also have the luxurious down alternative fiberbed which I want to try at some point. Too many toppers, not enough time! Or I could stack them all at once and use a ladder to get into bed like the Princess and the Pea. :) Lindsay cloud9 wrote: What intrigues me about what BeddyBye has done with the thin plywood is that she's not just achieving firmness but <em>rigidity</em>. For some of us that's the key factor. For instance my mattress as it stands is very firm. I just don't think it's quite rigid enough. It may be the convoluted PU foam layers. I was told this particular mattress had more precompressed material in it than a plush, so it may very well have 2 layers of fiber mat in there already. I won't really know until I take the thing apart and look inside and that won't be for some time to come because the mattress is only five months old and hasn't started sagging yet. When I do disassemble it and replace it with my own foam layers I'll know at once whether it was the PU foam or the spring unit itself which wasn't rigid enough for me. If the PU foam is to blame then my problem will be solved. On the other hand if it's the coil unit, then I have a feeling the 1/8" plywood between the springs and the new foam layers may do the trick. For awhile I was sleeping on about 3" of 35 IL:D HR foam under 1" of eggcrate foam and 2" of 4lb memory foam placed directly on a foundation that must be very much like the one Hays had--just slats covered with cardboard and some padded material. Now that was rigid! It just didn't have enough give to it without a spring unit. |