The Best Mattress for Back Pain: 7 Top Options We Tested (2025)

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Compare Our Top Five Favorite Mattresses for Back Pain

Honorable Mentions

Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress for $1,586: If you're looking for thing akin to the Plank Natural that's steadfast without being excessively firm, this is different bully pick. It has cooling features, too, which is simply a bully bonus.

DreamCloud Premiere Hybrid for $1,099: This brushed mattress was inactive supportive. I liked sleeping connected it, but it didn’t erase my backmost symptom arsenic overmuch arsenic different mattresses we recommend. Still, it was a bully enactment if you privation enactment without excessively overmuch firmness arsenic a broadside sleeper.

Essentia Tatami Organic Mattress for $3,435: This mattress is made of a truly comfy integrated latex enactment halfway that has holes for breathability (and to assistance with cooling), and the progressive integrated foam halfway helps spinal alignment and contouring enactment for unit points. It doesn't person coils oregon springs, but it's inactive amazingly supportive.

Saatva Classic for $1,879: This was a erstwhile prime successful our usher to the Best Mattresses. It's a bully enactment for backmost support, specifically successful the “Luxury” firmness level.

Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid for $1,799: The Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid is marketed arsenic firm, and is designed to enactment your little backmost with cushioning successful the center. WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning was a small excessively abbreviated astatine 5'2" for the lumbar support, but it could beryllium a bully acceptable for much average-sized folks. There are besides cooling properties, but they didn't basal retired compared to different cooling mattresses.

Nectar Premier for $949: WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar is simply a broadside sleeper who suffers from sciatica backmost symptom from clip to time, and helium says that this hybrid mattress is simply a large prime for anyone who wants a softer mattress to descend into portion getting plentifulness of unit alleviation and fantabulous contouring portion you sleep.

Plank Firm for $1,072: WIRED reviewer Adrienne So says it takes a fewer days to scope its afloat firmness levels—she thought it was excessively brushed aft she initially unboxed it, but it became overmuch firmer aft a small much time. She describes the Plank Firm arsenic sleeping connected a cleanable woody level (which she loves). It's wholly foam, and flippable with 2 antithetic firmness levels connected each side.

Purple Restore Cool Touch for $2,700: WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning says this is the implicit champion cooling mattress by a agelong shot. It's besides got a gridlike gel layer, called GelFlex, that adds other enactment and makes it casual to get retired of furniture successful the morning.

WinkBeds The WinkBed for $1,799: WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu recommends this mattress for his chap tummy and backmost sleepers. There are 3 levels of firmness. He tried the Luxury Firm and liked that the plush pillow-top besides adds a luxe, hotel-like consciousness to a comparatively steadfast bed.

Wolf 12-Inch Memory Foam Hybrid Medium Firm Mattress for $749: WIRED reviewer Molly Higgins recovered herself amazingly impressed with this affordable mattress. She says the medium-firm representation foam hybrid mattress feels overmuch much luxe than its terms constituent suggests, and that individually wrapped coils springiness large enactment and assistance with wide structure, portion the apical gel foams conform to your body’s curves and assistance successful unit relief.

Mattresses to Avoid

While the horrible futon mattress that started my hunt doesn't beryllium anymore—hallelujah for that!—there are plentifulness of different mattresses that person flared up my oregon different WIRED reviewers' backmost pain.

Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt for $2,199: This mattress was ace brushed and conforming, but it wasn't supportive whatsoever and had much of a sinking sensation erstwhile you laid connected it. My close side's musculus symptom was worse aft nights connected this mattress, and my damaged spine felt distinctly unhappy. My sister besides tried sleeping connected it, and she described it arsenic “sleeping connected an aerial mattress that is losing aerial passim the night.”

Magniflex Magnistretch 12 for $3,699: This Italian-made mattress advertises itself arsenic stretching the spine. It’s endorsed by retired Italian shot subordinate Giorgio Chiellini and existent pro basketballer Stefano Tonut, who plays for the Italian equivalent of the Boston Celtics. Well, the Magniflex decidedly does thing to the spine, though WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar recovered it precise unwelcome. He lasted lone 2 nights connected the Magnistretch earlier crying uncle and limping implicit to the adjacent trial mattress. He describes the morning-after sensation arsenic akin to sleeping connected a hammock made of chainlink fence.

FAQs

What makes a mattress perfect for solving backmost pain? A communal regularisation of thumb is to purpose for a medium-firm mattress. “A mattress that is medium-firm whitethorn beryllium amended for radical with backmost symptom alternatively of 1 that's brushed oregon firm," but these are based connected low-quality studies, says Sean Mackey. Harvard Health besides recommends avoiding some precise brushed and precise hard mattresses if you person backmost pain.

You’re looking for thing that tin supply spinal enactment if your symptom originates successful your spine, oregon unit alleviation if your symptom comes from unit points you’re sleeping on. Mattress firmness plays a large role, but truthful does the wide plan of the coils, foam layers, and immoderate further enactment measures added.

During my testing, I was impressed to find that a firmer mattress truly did pb to large improvements successful my backmost pain. I expected a harder aboveground to origin flare-ups of symptom oregon to adjacent propulsion my backmost retired of place, which has happened connected cheap, hard mattresses before. However, I slept good and woke up without immoderate aches oregon soreness. While a softer slumber aboveground was my go-to since I’m a broadside sleeper, choosing a firmer benignant of mattress instantly supported my spine amended and kept symptom away, alternatively than flaring it up similar I assumed.

Mackey besides recommends checking successful with your ain doc oregon an occupational therapist. “With chronic conditions, we don’t person a ‘This is the champion happening for you,’” helium says. He besides recommends trialing retired a fewer things portion you sleep, whether that's antithetic pillows oregon mattresses of antithetic firmnesses. You mightiness besides effort carnal therapy oregon stretching earlier bed: Mattress shaper Charles P. Rogers has an full country of its tract dedicated to sleeping pain-free. It's not conscionable astir what you're sleeping on, but however good you're taking attraction of yourself earlier you spell to furniture too.

I volition astir apt ever unrecorded with my spine conditions, and determination are things that help, similar stretching earlier furniture and staying ace progressive during the day. But sleeping connected a amended mattress is simply a bully archetypal measurement to staying progressive and pain-free—at slightest for the morning.

If you're hesitant astir investing successful a caller mattress, there's an casual spot to start: a genu pillow. It was 1 of the archetypal recommendations that Sean Mackey, doc of neurology, main of the Division of Stanford Pain Medicine, and past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), gave maine erstwhile I asked him astir however to trim symptom portion you sleep. He explained that 1 of the sources of symptom tin beryllium a deficiency of rachis alignment, oregon the alignment of your spine. “Generally, you should either beryllium sleeping connected your backmost oregon putting a pillow oregon enactment underneath your knees for spinal alignment,” says Mackey.

As a broadside sleeper, I went retired and tried a fewer genu pillows designed for broadside sleepers with my original, crappy foam mattress I've been sleeping connected for the past 5 years. Mackey wasn't kidding—it did help. I was much comfy and fell dormant faster. I liked some the Pillow Cube Knee Cube (which is discontinued) and the Everlasting Comfort Knee Pillow ($30) for antithetic reasons. The Everlasting has a strap to support it successful place, but it's bully and tiny if you don't privation thing arsenic bulky arsenic the Pillow Cube successful your bed. I did find that the smaller Everlasting was much apt to extremity up connected the floor, though, versus the Pillow Cube's being easier to relocate and tuck backmost into my knees successful the mediate of the night. Both helped with my spinal alignment and reduced my backmost symptom a bit, but I inactive recovered switching to a much supportive mattress to beryllium a bigger improvement.

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