One of the multitude of daily aches, pains and stiffness I get is lower back pain.

Apart from being put down for my own sake, I’ve been wondering about trying a mattress topper as a sort of cheaper way of finding out if that would help over a full on mattress and the costs involved.

I tried a memory foam one years ago I think and my abiding memory was just that it was hot.

Has anyone got any experience here with toppers, particularly related to back pain and body aches and pains?

Not this kind of Topper, that wouldn’t be comfortable.

👊

Investing in a better bed base is much more beneficial for aches and pains i.e double thick slats etc, or at least it was for me

Mrs has a bad back, in the house I surrendered and we bought king expensive John Lewis bed and king expensive herdswick mattress (replaced a old mattress and 2” down topper). In the motorhome (seat cushion bed) we use a 2”foam topper with a 1” down one on top of that, both work

Down is better (well less warm) than foam

Mattress life varies apparently ????? 8-12?????? Years ….

*king does not refer to the size

Mrs Gti suffers with back pain and just about everything else pain and she uses a thick topper. I absolutely hate a soft bed as the lack of support gives me back pain and toppers make me hot. I much prefer a hard mattress, there’s good reason why they’re sometimes called orthopaedic mattresses.

As above – a really firm mattress may help. We have a solid bed base and an extra firm foam mattress. ( for a long time we slept on a futon). If I stay in a hotel I with a soft bed I get back pain. At home I don’t.

. If I stay in a hotel I with a soft bed I get back pain. At home I don’t.

Me too. We have a loft room with a double bed in it that we use for guests. The mattress on it is some incredibly expensive thing that Mrs BWD bought before she was unlucky enough to meet me. If I sleep on it I wake up with horrid lower back pain.

Lots of free trial mattresses around at the moment – send it back if you hate it stuff, maybe worth considering one of those rather than a topper? If it doesn’t work, just return the thing.

We bought a double memory foam topper to try and alleviate my back issue (writing this as I try and tempt my vertebrae into motion after another poor sleep) and at first I thought it was the best thing ever but think it was a bit of a placebo as it lasted 6 months before i was back to the way I was.

Saving for a whole new bed.

I bought a better matress. My back is lots better. So some of the best money I ever spent.

A topper might help. But it’s the support from the springs that have made a difference. I was on a futon with added thermo rest

Mine is an Ikea mattress £800. Sadly they don’t do that model any more

Ikeas exchange policy looked better than Dreams

Unless your mattress / bed is especially soggy… try mixing things up with your pillows – the position your head / shoulders are in changes how the rest of your spine is aligned so experiment for a few days one one more or one less pillow.

Then start a thread ‘what best earplugs for my other half – I seem to have started snoring a lot’

We have a relatively firm mattress for support and then a down mattress topper for comfort. It is a winning combination. When I snapped my foot off and was in bed for 6 months I really appreciated to comfort and support. Sleep and Soak are a good company to buy from in my experience of 3-4 purchases

Yes I have a fairly thick ikea topper that made a huge difference to my back pain, also pillow height is important. I’m a side sleeper so if the bed is firm my spine sags between my hips and shoulders, need my hips and shoulders to sink in to the bed a bit to keep it straighter. Pillow height took ages to figure out though.

I’m a side sleeper so if the bed is firm my spine sags between my hips and shoulders,

Yeah I feel like this must be what happens with me, though apparently I sleep all over the shop, not just back or side.

Having a proper thick down topper reduced my back ache and also stopped me moving around at night as much too.

Down is so much better than foam. The foam can also compress a lot during ‘night activities’ and whoever is underneath ends up in a little pit.

I have just researched this extensively as I have recently bought a new mattress that I couldn’t try out before buying. It ended up being way too hard and I was waking with serious pain in my back and side (I’m a side sleeper).

I went for a panda topper as it got really good reviews and it has a 30 night trial so if you don’t like it, you can get a full refund. It has transformed my bed into the most fantastic place to be and I wake up fully rested and actually look forward to going to sleep now.

It is memory foam but not like the first generation that were sweat boxes, I am a massively hot sleeper but even in the recent heat of the nights it’s been brilliant for temperature regulation.

I have also got rid of two feather pillows and replaced with one firm memory foam one, this has eliminated the neck pain I was also getting.

I would heartily recommend both the topper and the new pillows.

That’s cool Pik n mix. I’ve been looking at those Panda ones as it happens.

Is it the panda pillows you have too? 🐼

Your topper combo sounds good wca but I won’t buy any Down products cheers. 👍

I got my memory foam pillows first and went for cheaper ones from Dunelm (£36) each, I fully intended to upgrade if I liked the foam, but they are so good I haven’t felt the need to spend more.

Given the quality of the topper from Panda the I can only imagine the pillows would also be excellent.

https://www.dunelm.com/product/temperature-reactive-memory-foam-firm-support-pillow-1000071824?defaultSkuId=30204368

^ Are the pillows I have.

It’s all about how you sleep, and whether or not the mattress supports this. Back sleepers should have firm mattresses. Side sleepers need softer (but still supportive) mattresses that support the body in a way that keeps the spine horizontal and inline.

I used to suffer terrible sleep related lower back issues. To the extent that I struggled to walk for the first hour or so after waking and the only way I could get my socks on was to lie on my back.

I tried lots of things, but what worked was advice from a bed specialist in John Lewis. She asked me to demonstrate how I sleep. I’m a side sleeper with the top leg reaching across the lower leg, meaning that I’m slightly twisted onto my front. Apparently this is the most common sleeping position.

As alluded to above the main issue with this position is that the lower trunk isn’t supported (try it) so you have 7-8 hours of gravity pulling your trunk down, putting it under enormous strain when it should be resting.

So rather than selling me a new mattress for £1000s, she sold me a firm, king size pillow and instructed me to have it between my legs every night, thereby supporting my lower trunk and pelvis. That was nearly ten years ago and I still use the same pillow. It comes on holiday with me, business trips, because since I started to use it my morning back pain is practically non-existent.

I spent £1000s on chiropractors (dodgy), osteopaths (great at treating the symptom, but not the cause) and mattresses and a £30 pillow solved it.

So if you’re a side sleeper who suffers from lower back pain and stiffness then you could do a lot worse than stuffing a big pillow between your legs!

Edit – the only pita with this was moving the pillow everytime I turned over in the night. After a few weeks I was doing it without even noticing

That’s really interesting cheers funkrodent. Definitely worth trying.

Yeah I feel like this must be what happens with me, though apparently I sleep all over the shop, not just back or side.

perhaps rather than a topper what you require is restraints.

😂

My experience would say go for it. I’ve a very dodgy back, to the extent that when it goes “pop” I’ll be on the floor in the foetal position, weeping, no matter where (supermarket car park, for example), then largely bed-ridden for a week.

Had a memory foam jobbie for years, but increasingly found that it wasn’t helping. Plus, as said above, they’re so hot!

Last year I bought this, along with a firm mattress. It’s just wonderful, really comfortable whilst still giving the support I need. Wish I’d done it sooner.

I am not a doctor/chiropractor/osteopath/etc, and your back problems may differ!

Mattress toppers have helped me! Well sort of! I used to have an ortho mattress from back issues.

Then when I moved in with now fiancée her bed was sooo much harder, I can’t sleep on it as too from so got a mattress topper from asda and also have a duvet underneath that. NOW it’s comfy enough and not too overpadded or hot

No worries, as with PZ above, occasionally my back would go and it’d either be straight to the floor, or a click and a gradual progression over a few hours which would lead eventually to the floor. Either way incapacitated on the ground. Strangely in no pain as long as lying flat on my back, but any attempt to move was a non-starter. Worst case was two weeks before I could move and a couple of months thereafter with a walking stick.

Whilst the lack of support whilst sleeping didn’t cause the issues per se (that was, and remains, a prolapsed disc) it was a contributing factor. If your back is already strained and stiff it is far more likely to put itself out than if it is relaxed and supple.

There’s no doubt that choice of mattress is important. When we moved house a couple of years ago my wife and I invested in an ex-display mattress from John Lewis. Thousands of springs within springs. It’s actually a medium in terms of firmness but as a side sleeper incredibly comfortable as it moulds to the shape of your body and keeps the spine level.

That said if I had to choose between the mattress and no pillow or a cheaper mattress with the pillow I’d take the pillow any day. That’s because if you’re a side/front sleeper there isn’t a mattress that’ll properly support your lower back/pelvis.

Again  as said above I’m no a doctor mon, and there are many causes of bad lower backs. However, it is indisputable that a back that isn’t stiff, strained and stressed from being not properly supported during the night, is less likely to give you issues than one that is.

Final point, if you try the pillow trick, make sure it’s a king size pillow, make sure it’s firm support and ideally a feather one (it’ll mould to your shape). Make sure you’re straddling it lengthways and that it’s properly supporting your lower torso (ie not just loose between your legs) and that it is properly wedged into and under your body.

Good luck, for me it was little more than transformational