Best alternative to a memory foam mattress causing back ache?

Hi Annette,

Many thanks for your question about memory foam mattresses and sorry to hear you're both waking up aching after sleeping on your mattress. This is a common complaint with these types of memory or next gen foam beds and increasingly with the bed in a box phenomenon. We've written extensively about the difference between pocket springs and memory foam here.

Most complaints about memory foam mattresses such as Tempur, Eve, Emma, Leesa and Nectar are that they make sleepers incredibly hot and can sag quickly causing both body indentations and back pain for some sleepers. Let's take a closer look at some of the issues with memory foam and why it causes issues for some side sleepers like yourself.

Why does memory foam hurt my back?

Memory foam is a vasco elastic synthetic man made material. It requires and retains heat to work. This heat comes from your body when it's in contact with such memory foam. That's why it takes such a long time to slowly sink and conversely a long time to return to its original position when you try and move.

Once the foam has moulded around your body, it holds that shape. If your initial sleeping position is slightly misaligned, with the hips rotating forward, the lower spine not quite neutral, or the shoulders pressed inward, the foam locks that alignment in place rather than allowing your body to adjust naturally during the night. After several hours held in a subtly incorrect position, the muscles and ligaments of the lower back are under sustained strain. This is why memory foam back pain characteristically builds through the night and is at its worst in the early hours rather than immediately on lying down.

Temperature makes this considerably worse. Memory foam is a dense, closed-cell material that traps body heat and raises the surface temperature of the mattress significantly through the night. Overheating disrupts sleep cycles, increases the frequency of unconscious repositioning, and heightens the sensitivity to any existing discomfort. A mattress that sleeps hot will always make back pain feel worse than it would on a cooler surface.

For sleepers that stay put during the night this is fine until they wake up. For sleepers who need to move or adjust during the night memory foam and boxed foam mattresses can be punishingly uncomfortable. That's because when you try and move there is no real responsivity (the speed at which the mattress can rebound). So you have to force yourself out of the shape which you've moulded into. If you find yourself moving a lot in the night this can then make your sore back or shoulders even worse, so each night it becomes more and more uncomfortable.

Why memory foam is not suitable for side sleepers

Memory foam isn't really suitable for side sleepers because a side sleeper needs a softer upholstery/comfort layer in a mattress compared to a back or front sleeper. Even the softest 60kg memory foam can be too dense and slow to react for a side sleeper. As memory foam has to mostly act as a comfort layer and a support layer it struggles to do both well.

Also, most memory foams are standardised 70kg medium-firm feel foams. This is because they have to appeal to the mass market of sleepers weighing anywhere between 9 and 18 stone. So they hedge their bets and go for a firmer foam.

What a side sleeper needs is a more forgiving top layer of a mattress that allows a slight sink before some support. A side sleeper also needs a mattress that responds immediately to shoulder and hip pressure and allows those joints to decompress without the spine bowing out of alignment. Memory foam is slow to respond and slow to recover, which means the shoulder and hip are held under sustained pressure while waiting for the foam to yield. A natural fibre comfort layer over a pocket spring unit responds instantly, cushions the pressure point, and recovers the moment the sleeper shifts position. For side sleepers with back pain, this difference in response speed is one of the most meaningful factors in how they feel on waking.

What a pocket sprung mattress with natural fibres does differently

A quality two-sided pocket sprung mattress with spring tension matched to your bodyweight addresses the causes of memory foam back ache through three specific mechanisms that memory foam simply cannot replicate.

The first is instant responsiveness. Pocket springs rebound immediately when load shifts. As you move through sleeping positions during the night the mattress adjusts continuously with you, rather than holding you in the shape it moulded to hours earlier. For anyone who needs to turn and reposition regularly due to back discomfort, this makes a very large practical difference to the quality of sleep they get.

The second is bodyweight-matched support. Pocket sprung mattresses are specified with a spring gauge, the wire thickness that determines how much resistance the spring provides, chosen to suit the weight of the person sleeping on the mattress. Lighter sleepers get a finer gauge spring that responds to lower loads without feeling firm. Heavier sleepers get a firmer gauge that provides genuine support without the spring unit bottoming out under their weight. Memory foam provides no equivalent adjustment. The foam is what it is for every sleeper regardless of bodyweight, which is one of the key reasons it fails such a large proportion of people.

The third is temperature regulation. Natural fibres including Wool, Cotton, and Horsetail breathe freely and actively wick moisture away from the body during sleep. They do not trap or accumulate body heat the way dense polyurethane foam does. A natural fibre pocket sprung mattress sleeps significantly cooler than any memory foam product, which removes a major contributor to the discomfort and sleep disruption that worsens back pain through the night.

What mattress to choose for a side sleeper with back pain

If you're looking for a mattress that will allow a soft sink and also be responsive for turning in the night have a look at our Artisan Naturals mattress.

It's a great model for people with backache as it allows a soft sink before medium support. Not too soft, not too firm. It's also 85% Natural fibre making it really breathable. Have a look at the spring tension guide below which is chosen based on your bodyweight.

There's a video below to explain spring tensions as some people often pick the wrong tension in the mistaken belief that it will create the overall feel of the mattress. If you and your husband are in different weight brackets consider a dual tension or zip and link mattress so you can both have the perfect spring tension.

Artisan Naturals Mattress

1: 1200GSM BLENDED BRITISH FLEECE WOOL AND COTTON
2: HAIRPROOF CAMBRIC COVER
3: 1250GSM REBOUND POLY COTTON
4: 1500GSM 100% PURE MOHAIR
5: 1600 CALICO ENCASED POCKET SPRINGS [49MM] [1.28MM]
TOTAL: 3950GSM
DEPTH: 27-30CM
CHEMICAL FREE COVER

The Artisan Naturals mattress is also 2 sided meaning you can and should turn it each month, unlike a memory foam bed. This means it has a far longer life span than one-sided models that can sag and dip at an alarming rate. The reason they dip is that you're sleeping in the same position each night without being able to turn the bed to even out this settlement.

This is why there are so many complaints online about boxed mattresses and memory foam mattresses dipping and becoming lumpy. The materials and memory foams they are made of simply can't take this constant pounding without compressing quickly to the point of no return.

How the Origins Pocket 1500 compares as a more accessible alternative

For a couple of side sleepers waking with back pain, the Origins Pocket 1500 is also worth considering alongside the Artisan Naturals. It is our entry-level two-sided pocket sprung mattress using calico-encased pocket springs and a Cotton and Wool comfort layer. It is a meaningful step up from memory foam in terms of support, breathability, and longevity, often at a comparable price to the memory foam mattress being replaced.

The Artisan Naturals carries a substantially higher proportion of natural fibres including Wool, Cotton, Mohair, and Horsetail, is hand-tufted and two-sided. For people who have been sleeping poorly on memory foam for some time and want a more substantial improvement, this is the mattress we point to most often. The higher GSM natural fibre content gives both better pressure relief and significantly better temperature regulation than any foam-based product at a comparable price.

If one partner prefers a slightly firmer feel and the other a softer one, both mattresses are available as zip and link versions with independently specified spring tensions on each side. This resolves the fundamental compromise that memory foam forces on couples with different bodyweights or preferences, because each side is specified for the person sleeping on it.

What about a latex alternative to memory foam?

Natural latex is worth considering as a third option if you liked the contouring quality of memory foam but want to address the heat retention and slow-response problems. Latex responds to pressure rather than heat, which means it does not trap body heat in the same way. It also has a much faster rebound rate than memory foam, so turning in the night is effortless rather than requiring you to push yourself out of the shape the material has formed around you. Our Fusion latex range combines a pocket sprung core with 100% natural latex comfort layers and is two-sided, which gives it a considerably longer useful life than any single-sided memory foam product.

How to choose the right spring tension for your bodyweight

As a general guide for side sleepers moving from memory foam, medium spring tension suits most people between 11 and 16 stone. Soft tension suits those under 11 stone where a medium spring would feel too resistant. Firm tension suits those over 16 stone where a medium spring does not provide adequate support. If you and your partner are at significantly different bodyweights, a zip and link mattress with split tension is the correct choice rather than compromising on a single tension for both.

Finally, we would need to check your bodyweights and heights to confirm this but have a look at the model above as a good starter for ten Annette.

Our full guide comparing pocket springs versus memory foam and our guide to the best mattress for a bad back cover the back pain angle in detail. Our orthopaedic mattress myths guide is also worth reading if you have been told previously that a firm mattress is what a bad back requires.

It may be worthwhile for you to give us a call on 0161 437 4419 just to ensure we have all the details to help you. We look forward to hearing back from you.

John & Ryan