Hello all,

I had a lot of trouble getting comfy last night and when I finally did get up this am, my lower back, which hasn't been bothering me since about a week post op really hurt. I spent the entire day asleep on my recliner. I don't want to go out and spend thousands of dollars on a bed that won't be any better for the back than what I have now. Not to mention, I really can't spare thousands of dollars anyhow, I just need to know which one everyone finds gives the best support, most comfort and least pain. Then I guess I'll go out and finance one once I know I haven't lost my job. Thanks now for the input, Usta:wave:

When I hurt my back I slept on the floor for about a week, LOL!

Seriously though, I got rid of my Tempurpedic mattress when the injury happened. It was 8 years old and was starting to sag in the middle. That's the worst thing for a bad back - a mattress that sags in the middle. That area between your ribs and hips needs to be kept stable while you sleep so the muscles can relax. In a soft bed, that part of your torso sags with the mattress, and the muscles have to work to keep your spine straight.

Now I sleep on a thin Japanese style futon on a wood platform. The futon is only about 4" thick - it's **extremely** firm. I put a mattress topper on it to soften it up a little. It's the perfect bed for me. I don't plan to ever go back to a regular mattress.

That's a billion dollar question!! We all want to know the answer to this one, and meanwhile.. the mattress manufactures are getting richer by the second!

Can you sense the synical in me?? hehehe. I spent over $3K on a very high end bed and it was defective. It is convex in shape. Meaning the mattress is higher in the center than on the sides. I complained about this, they sent someone out, he found other defects on the bed to include quilting never even stitched, and agreed about the high center and us being forced to the edge of the mattress.

The manufacturer refused to replace the bed!! By the way, this is a Stearns and Foster high end model. Horrible. You can't flip this thing, so we have turned it sideways, back around, and still.. rotten.

Good luck with your search! Let me know what you find comfy. :wave:

HI Usta,
WE have the sleep number bed for many yrs now, I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING ELSE! My hubby needs the total opposite mattress than what I need and this is the only bed I know that can do that unless you get separate ones. I need different firmness's sometimes nightly no problem with this either. As far as cost when we got ours I paid 300 down and 25 bucks a month for a few yrs or so, it was really no big financial stress for us that way. Not sure what they do now, we got ours when you could only get them off the tv. They do give you the 30 days to change your mind too, that was a big thing for us too. We weren't stuck with it if it didnt' work out.

Well GOOD LUCK it is the billion dollar question as Tammy said. Oh by the way we had one problem in all the time we have had the bed (about 7 or 8 yrs now), when we moved we knocked out the lil stem that the hose connects to, they overnighted me the part for free! I about fell right over when the lady on the phone said that, hehe.

God Bless

Carol

Thanks everyone, I didn't know if temperpedic was good, I've heard good and bad. I didn't want a conventional mattress because it seems no matter how much you spend on it, it might or might not last five years. We spent $1400.00 on our last conventional mattress three years ago and even before my back went, dh was complaining about his hurting. He had a laminectomy done three years ago and that is why we bought that bed, salesperson said best in industry for bad backs, pardon me BS. I don't think dh would go for separate beds, he was upset that I wouldn't let him sleep with me the first week post op, he is a flip flopper and I was afraid he would kick or knee my back so I sent him to the guest bed. Does Humidity and temperature affect sleep # beds and what happens if you loose power? DDD, I will definately go search the prior thread you suggested. Thanks for the info all. If anyone else has had success or failure with a specific bed, please share. Thanks again, Usta:wave:

Hi Usta,

We bought the memory foam matress topper for like 120.00 at Sams Club two years ago. It's truly been a life saver for me. Nothing was working, couch, floor, bed, air matress with foam, ect. This compared to a big expense, was well worth the money.

Good luck in your search

We've had the same mattress since we got married, almost 22 years ago. Pitiful, huh? It's still comfortable, but I recently got a memory foam mattress topper, the cheap one for $60 at a linens store, because of my protruding piece of hardware. Sometimes the hardware poking out doesn't bother me, but sometimes it gets real sensitive and I can't lay on it at all and it hurts to lean against. Hubby is very picky and sensitive though. The first night on the memory foam, he didn't notice it and was fine. The second night, I told him it was there and he woke up with a backache. He complained all day about how much his back hurt. (Yea, he doesn't know what back pain is!) He insisted that I cut it in half and only have it on half the bed. The third night he laid down and said he thought I was going to take it off his side. I had to tell him I already had! He couldn't even tell the difference! Now the bed looks silly, with one side an inch and a half higher than the other, but at least my hardware can nest in the memory foam and I'm much more comfortable. (I love him, but sometimes he's a big baby. :) )

Memory foam is really nice to add if you can't afford a new mattress.

Emily :wave:

USTA,
I also slept in a recliner for weeks until I found out w/c would pay for a hospital bed..Man it was great I jacked that bed up all the way because I couldn't stand to lay flat on my back..I doubt that any mattress is going to help,,it's easy for someone to say buy this one or that one when they have the money to do it,,but being the poor ole me I couldn't afford any luxury of buying things..

Hope things get better for you :wave:

We have a ****** and Foster. Love it. Wouldn't trade it for anything except another one. Have put both of our sons on it also.

Just an aside. We have always had good mattresses for our two sons. So, when they left for college they needed a new bed to take with them..queen size..****** and foster. Next kid we have (as if ever!) will sleep on a piece of foam and be happy for a futon! LOL. That sure set us back a few cents for those two. Our oldest son's wife loves the hard bed, the youngest one's wife HATES it. But that was her comprimise. She leaves the ceiling fan on high, and they sleep on his mattress. ;) :D ;)

My mom's back surgeon told her to only sleep on a ****** and Foster mattress....

we all have our favs.........

Usta,
As far as the weather effecting the bed, no it doesn't. If the power would go out it only effects the air pump from filling up the mattress. We have never had a problem with the power out and the bed. It's like a heavy duty air mattress enclosed in a mattress.

Good Luck!! in your search.

God Bless

Carol

Thanks for everyone's input,
I do not want to sleep in the recliner, so I've been on line comparing different beds and on the phone still batteling the ins. co. hosp. billing dept. about er visit on 2-7-07. The hospital said that code billed under was back ache. BACK ACHE? I told the lady, so does not being able to walk, sit, lay down, peeing your pants and hyperventalating sound to you like a back ache? She said that now a days the ins. co.'s say that a true er visit is something reserved for a life threatening situation. So I told her, you know, if I had a gun, the pain would have caused me to shoot myself, does that count as life threatening? Anyhow, I now have the hospital writing an appeal and the Ins. co wants me to write them an appeal. Hope this gets the job done. Back to the bed thing, I think we are going to go with the :cool: SAT bed. :cool: It is considered dme by many ins. co's. our ins co may cover anywhere from 40 to 80 percent. I plan to add the diag. of dh to hopefully get at least 60percent. They are actually a little cheaper than sleep# and temperpedic. Similar to the sleep# but instead of one air bladder on each side, it has 9 air bladders on each side and doesn't use a pump, it uses Boyles Law. When you lay down on it, it comforms to your body by expelling air to the correct support setting and then the valve closes. When you get up, the intake valve opens and refills the champers back to normal. It has been tested in many health facilities and hospitals. And some major hotel chains are switching to them. Anyone still looking for a bed might want to look them up on line. Thanks again all for your input, I greatly appreciate it! Usta:wave:

I know everyone has differing opinions on this, but I absolutely love my temperpedic, after trying many others. I could never go back to the conventional inner spring mattress now, because the other kind above has helped so much. I haven't had any problems with it sagging, but it does get a little softer during the summer months because temperature does effect the firmness, but not to the extent where it's a problem.

You guy's are goofy ..:dizzy: Just jack your mattress up with pillows and you'll feel much better..Plus you save a buck or two:D

C-Ya on the beach :cool:

instead of one air bladder on each side, it has 9 air bladders on each side and doesn't use a pump, it uses Boyles Law. When you lay down on it, it comforms to your body by expelling air to the correct support setting and then the valve closes. When you get up, the intake valve opens and refills the champers back to normal. It has been tested in many health facilities and hospitals. And some major hotel chains are switching to them. Anyone still looking for a bed might want to look them up on line. Thanks again all for your input, I greatly appreciate it! Usta:wave:

That sounds like the beds they have where I had my surgery, St. Mary's in Richmond. It was the worst bed I ever laid down on! You know how when you don't feel comfortable, especially from back pain, you try to just shift a little bit to relieve the pressure and get more comfortable? Every time I tried to shift just a little bit, the stupid bed did its air changing thing and put the pressure right where I had just lifted the hurting part off the bed for a second. It was excrutiating! I got so I was afraid to move because the bed's brain thought it knew better than me how I should want to lay and where the pressure points should be. The beds in ICU for the first 5 days weren't like that. When they moved me to orthopedics, I had the privilege of their state-of-the-art newfangled bed that I had no control over, and it was miserable.

If you go for this kind, maybe see if they have a money back guarantee in case you don't like it.

Emily :wave:

Usta,

The wife and I bought one of the ones that you see on TV; where they jump up and down on it with the wine. It is a little on the pricy side, but the wife and I love it. The first week after the surgery it seemed that I lived in it it seemed. I love the bed as well as the wife. It is very good; I asked my Spine Surgeon the very same question. He laughed and said that he is a back doctor and not a salesmen of beds.

He went on to tell me that all people are different and like different things.
He told me that almost all of his patients ask this questoion and all have different beds that they like. He did not have a good answer and would not put one better than another...

It was a interesting question the Spine Surgeon Agreed and we both left it at that;I guess my answer is what you like is the one that you want.


Roy 47
:wave:

Hi Roy: I'm glad you mentioned your conversation with your Dr. because I just remembered I asked my neuro the same thing, and he said the tempurpedic, which is what we both have.

I've tried so many beds and the reason I got this one is they had that 90 night sleep trial on it, so I was able to use it that long before deciding on it. You still have to pay for it, in a payment, but if you change your mind you can give it back and get the money.

Anyway, I love it, but everyone has there own feelings on what's comfortable. It replaced a good orthopedic mattress I had for only a couple of years that I couldn't stand anymore.