Sleep should rejuvenate your body, not enhance its aches and pains. Sleeping on the wrong type of mattress will not only elevate your back pain and make it worse, it can also increase your likelihood of developing chronic back pain later in life. If you suffer from constant or occasional back pain, you'll be glad to know that switching to the right mattress can help alleviate your discomfort, provide pressure relief and give you a better night's sleep. Read our guide to understanding how to choose the best mattress for back pain.

Overview:

The Best Mattresses for Back Pain
Important Mattress Features
Firmness and Softness
Mattresses for Body Weight and Sleeping Position
Additional Mattress Types for Back Pain

What are the Benefits of Using the Right Mattress for Back Pain?

• Better, more rejuvenating sleep
• Decreased back, joint and muscle pain
• Pressure relief
• Better mood, increased energy and improved brain function
• Decreased likelihood of developing chronic pain, anxiety, depression and migraines
• Longer life expectancy

The Best Mattresses for Back Pain

Chances are, if your current mattress isn't enabling you to get a good night's sleep, it's time to invest in a new mattress altogether. Struggling to fall asleep, excessive discomfort, restless tossing and turning, rousing multiple times in the night, insomnia and waking up more tired than when you went to sleep and struggling to get out of bed in the morning are all symptoms of a bad mattress. If you've had your mattress for a decade or longer, it's absolutely time to choose a replacement model.

The right mattress for back pain ensures that your spine rests in healthy alignment while you're sleeping. Just like maintaining good sitting and standing posture, maintaining healthy spine alignment during sleep is the key to minimising back pain and providing pressure relief.

Important Mattress Features

• Be firm enough to support your spine but not too firm
• Soft enough to mould to your body's natural shape but not too soft that you just sink into it
• Accommodate to your body weight and sleeping position

Firmness & Softness

The two key characteristics to look out for when choosing a mattress for back pain are firmness and softness. The firmness or softness of your mattress determines your spine's alignment while you sleep. You want to choose a mattress that is firm and supportive enough to prop you up in a natural position but not so firm that some parts of you are elevated awkwardly while you sleep. Softness is also important – you want a mattress that is soft enough to contour to your body's natural shape, however a too-soft mattress will swallow you up and won't be able to support your spine.

Your choice of mattress will depend on your body's specific characteristics, more specifically your body weight. In general, the heavier you are, the more support you'll need to prevent your spine from sinking to an uncomfortable position, therefore the firmer your mattress should be.

Firm

Firm mattresses offer the most support possible, as they provide a stable and even surface for sleeping. People who tend to sleep on their backs can really benefit from this level of firmness.

Medium-Firm

If you find that the firmness of your mattress is too hard, then a medium-firm mattresses is a better option. Medium-firm mattresses allow your body to sink gently into the mattress but still offer ample support where it matters, keeping your spine in proper alignment whilst you sleep.

Soft

Soft mattresses are usually recommended for those who experience pain in their back from sleeping on a medium-firm mattress or anyone with pre-existing back problems. Since softer mattresses are better at cushioning hips and shoulders, these mattress types are better for side sleepers.

Mattresses for Body Weight and Sleeping Position

As briefly mentioned, your sleeping position is another important indicator of what level of firmness the right mattress should be in order to best support you. Matching your sleeping position to a mattress specifically designed for it will help further prevent back pain and provide that much needed pressure relief.

Back Sleepers

Sleeping on your back is one of the most beneficial sleeping positions for back pain. If you're a back sleeper, a medium-firm mattress will support you just fine. If you want to go a step further to ensure your spine is in proper alignment, place a pillow under your knees to elevate them while you sleep.

Side Sleepers

Too firm of a mattress will leave side sleepers' hips, knees and shoulders uncomfortably out of alignment, ultimately causing back pain. The proper mattress for side sleepers will be soft enough to accommodate their shoulders and hips.

Stomach Sleepers

Sorry stomach sleepers, your sleeping position is one of the worst for managing or preventing back pain. Sleeping on your stomach puts a ton of pressure on your lower back, which can not only enhance existing back pain but encourage its development if you don't yet have it. The best mattress for lower back pain like this is a firmer one as it can help prevent your pelvis and hips from sinking too much into the bed, which can exacerbate the pressure on your spine. You can also try placing a slim pillow under your hips to help even out your spine.

Additional Mattress Types for Back Pain

Memory Foam

Memory foam mattresses are probably the best at easing back pain and overall pressure relief. Ticking all the above boxes, these mattress types conform to your body, providing pressure-point relief and reducing aches and pains. The beauty of memory foam is that its body-conforming feature works well in all mattress types. The foam quickly forms to the natural curvature of the sleeper's spine, which in turn promotes lumbar support.

Tip: While this guide goes into detail about choosing the best mattress for back pain, you may be left wondering about other mattress characteristics like material, foundation type and size. For more mattress information, check out our tips on How to Choose the Perfect Mattress and The Complete Guide to Bed and Mattress Sizes.