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If you’re living with chronic back pain, you know all too well how a poor mattress can throw your sleep — and your entire day — into chaos. Sleepless nights, poor posture, neck pain, headaches and a dip in overall quality of life can quickly become the norm. If this sounds familiar, it might be time to upgrade to a mattress designed to give your back the support it needs. Add some thoughtful sleep accessories and gifts, and you could be on your way to a more restful, rejuvenating nightly routine.
Sleeping poorly also leads to fatigue, lack of concentration, weight gain and insomnia. So it’s crucial to deal with anything that prevents you from getting a good night’s sleep, including a mattress that isn’t right for you. A good mattress provides ample support for your body’s natural curves without putting pressure on the spine.
We spoke with Dr. Andrew Casden, chief of orthopedics and spine surgery at White Plains Hospital in New York, about the best mattresses for back pain. “What we know for sure is that too soft or too hard a mattress is not good for your back and can lead to back pain,” Casden said. “You don’t want a super firm mattress or too soft a mattress.”
Where does that leave you? According to Casden, “Medical research does suggest that a ‘medium-firm’ mattress can help reduce the risk of developing back pain and decrease the pain for those already suffering from back pain.”
Read more: Best Mattress of 2024
I’ve tested over 100 mattresses from nearly every brand and spent hundreds of hours reviewing them. That experience helped me pick the best mattress for back pain, ticking all the boxes to help ease your discomfort.
Video: Best mattresses for back pain
Watch CNET Video Producer Owen Poole review the best mattress for back pain.
What is the best mattress for back pain?
After testing many beds, we selected the Saatva Rx as the best overall mattress for back pain. Its seven-layered construction includes gel memory foam, support foam, micro-coils, 8-inch individually wrapped coils and a targeted Therapeutic SupportCore system to give this mattress a supportive and comfortable design, all intended to alleviate chronic pain. The medium firmness level (or 4 to 5 out of 10 on our scale) of this bed means that it’s suitable for all body and sleeper types.
Best mattresses for back pain of 2024
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Shopping for the best mattress for back pain that fits your needs isn’t always easy. People with back pain especially have to be considerate of their new bed purchase because they don’t want it to contribute to even more aches. Here are the key things to look out for when searching for a bed to help with back pain relief.
Firmness level
As our medical experts have said, the best beds for back pain seem to be in the medium-firm range; you want a mattress that’s neither too firm or too soft. A medium-firm mattress mostly offers great support, but it’s not so firm that it loses its pressure-relieving abilities. At the same time, it’s important to consider your sleeping position to properly accommodate your needs.
Sleeping position
Medium-firm mattresses will be perfectly suitable for many people with back pain including back, stomach and combination sleepers. The key is to have a mattress that keeps your spine in a straight alignment with your neck and head. As such, side sleepers with back pain may want a slightly softer mattress that gives underneath the curves of your shoulders and hips. A medium mattress is best for petite and side sleepers because you get more pressure relief without compromising support.
Hybrid construction
Between foam beds and hybrid beds that incorporate both foam and coils, hybrid beds are typically best at helping alleviate back pain. Foam beds are more prone to sagging and indentations, and this wear and tear can help contribute to your back pain. Hybrid beds with coils in the foundation layer provide more support for all body types, and do a better job of keeping your spine in proper alignment.
Special ergonomic designs
Some beds have average designs while others are made with back pain sufferers in mind. Keep an eye out for these ergonomic mattresses. Beds like the Saatva Rx with special lumbar support will likely prove to be more beneficial for back pain than a standard hybrid or foam mattress.
When you’re shopping for the best mattress for back pain, it’s important to find a firmness level that accommodates your sleeping position.
Owen testing the edge support of the Saatva Rx mattress.
Jonathan Gomez/CNETCNET editors pick the products and services we write about based on editorial merit. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
Firmness and feel
At the start of any mattress testing, we immediately note the bed’s firmness and feel. To get the most well-rounded picture of how a bed performs in these categories, we have several team members test and rate each bed.
Our Mattress Smasher testing a mattress.
Dillon Lopez/CNETFirmness is very subjective since body weight plays a factor. To address this, CNET created a tool to objectively test a mattress’ firmness. Our proprietary machine, properly named the Mattress Smasher 9000, presses into the middle of a bed and our corresponding software measures firmness on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the firmest. We also test each bed personally for perceived firmness and feel, we have data from the MS9000 to back up our conclusions. People with back pain generally need at least a medium-firm level of support.
Here’s the data we learned testing the best mattresses for back pain with our Mattress Smasher 9000. Sorted from the softest beds to the firmest, here’s how the mattresses scored on our firmness scale.
Firmness can be measured, but feel is a preference thing. It all comes down to what you want your bed to feel like. Do you like sinking memory foam? Or thick pillow tops? What about the unique feel of the Purple mattress?
Support and pressure relief
Regarding mattresses for back pain, great support with ample pressure relief is essential. Once we had a roundup of the beds that stood out the most, we carefully considered the beds with designs that were meant to help promote a neutral spinal alignment. We also looked at mattresses that have been endorsed by the people who know best at the American Chiropractic Association. For even more expertise, we consulted specialized doctors with the necessary knowledge on the best and worst mattresses for back pain.
Read more on how we test mattresses.
It’s difficult for the average person to test every mattress they might be interested in, especially when it comes to online mattresses that are exclusively sold through the brands’ websites. That’s why we have our CNET Sleep editors test the mattresses we review, and create round-ups that include some of the best beds they snuggled up to. The beds above are top choices, but here are a few that could have easily made the list as an ideal mattress for back pain.
Avocado mattress: For individuals who live green or are particularly sensitive to household allergens, an organic mattress like Avocado might be appealing. With the optional pillow top, the Avocado mattress has a medium-firm profile that keeps the back in neutral alignment and prevents it from sagging into the mattress. It’s also endorsed by the American Chiropractic Association, although it might be a little too firm for side sleepers. Another plus about this bed is that thanks to its latex foam construction, it’s hypoallergenic and antimicrobial.
WinkBed mattress: There are several perks to a WinkBed mattress that make it an ultra-comfortable option for people who suffer from back pain. It’s offered in three firmness levels, but the firm model (rated around a medium-firm) is what I recommend, thanks to its golden ratio of support to pressure relief. Not only is it made with supportive individually wrapped coils, but it also has a “LumbarLayer” specifically designed to offer targeted support to your lumbar region.
Loom & Leaf mattress: Offered in two firmness levels, medium-firm and firm, the Loom & Leaf mattress is a memory foam mattress that can help prevent back pain and offer cooling relief at the same time. It’s a thick, foam mattress with a firm profile that keeps your spine from sagging into the bed. If you happen to sleep hot, it also has a cooling gel layer that’s very effective at keeping you and the bed at a comfortable temperature.
Dr. Jacob Hascalovici, chief medical officer of the telehealth chronic pain platform Clearing, gave us insight into the consequences of a bad mattress, and the signs to look out for.
“If you’re frequently waking up with a crick in the neck, back pain, stiff joints, experiencing mental fogginess, and having trouble falling asleep can all be signs of a mattress that is hurting your back,” Hascalovici said. “A bad mattress can mean a bad night’s sleep. It can also add up to more pain, both in your back and in other muscles and joints that are forced out of alignment or have to compensate for a lack of support.”
That’s why it’s so important to sleep on an accommodating mattress. “Over time, pain and lost sleep can lead to memory problems, lack of concentration, mood swings, lowered immunity, and even weight gain and a higher risk of heart trouble,” Hascalovici said. “Getting a good night’s sleep is vital for multiple areas of your mind and body, so it’s worth prioritizing.”
“The back is such a large and important part of the body, it’s not unusual for it to develop aches and pains,” Hascalovici explained. “While back pain can be characterized in many different ways, it can be convenient to classify it by where it shows up.”
Neck pain: “Unfortunately common, neck pain can happen for quite a few different reasons. The neck can get sore from supporting an out-of-alignment head — if you carry your head thrust forward, for example, hunch, or have ‘text neck’, you may notice soreness and difficulty turning your neck. Arthritis can happen, or the neck can get injured. It’s also not uncommon to wake up with neck pain from unsupportive pillows, from sleeping on your stomach, or from tooth-grinding during the night, among other things.”
Upper back pain: “The upper back, or thoracic spine, can suffer from musculoskeletal pain,” Hascalovici said. “Discs can slip, strains can occur, and nerves can get pinched. Often, the causes of upper back pain can be traced back to being sedentary, having relatively poor posture or weakened muscles that let the spine tilt out of alignment. Upper back pain can affect the shoulders; shoulders may also hurt if you’ve been putting pressure on them unevenly while sleeping.”
Lower back pain: “Only five vertebrae comprise the lower back, but those bones bear a lot of weight and pressure,” Hascalovici said. “Herniated discs, muscle strains, nerve damage, and arthritis can all cause lower back pain. Doing heavy, repetitive labor, lifting heavy weights, toting a hefty bag around, or slumping don’t help, either. For people with lower back pain, a medium-firm or firm mattress can sometimes yield some pain relief.”
“Wherever pain shows up in the back, it can be frustrating,” he continued. “The back is vulnerable to damage and to soreness caused by inflammation and arthritis; stress also contributes to back pain, since it often makes people clench their muscles.” As a remedy, Hascalovici suggested “supplements, regular exercise, good posture, an anti-inflammatory diet, managing stress, and getting enough sleep all help to prevent and manage back pain.”
Hascalovici said some sleeping positions are better than others for back pain, and offered a few tips to help you sleep more comfortably.
- If you can, try to sleep on your side while bending your knees a little. It may help to put a firm pillow behind your back to help hold you in place.
- A soft body pillow or feather pillow between your knees may make you feel more comfortable.
- If you naturally prefer sleeping on your back, tuck a small pillow under your knees to keep your lower back from arching and possibly hurting more.
- Try to avoid sleeping on your stomach, but if you can’t, you can at least stick a pillow under your hips at night to keep your back from arching too much.
- Consider a mattress topper to make your bed feel more supportive or more pressure-relieving, depending on what you need out of your current mattress. If your bed is too soft, consider a latex topper to add firmness. If your bed is too firm, a plush memory foam topper can help soften things up.
Yes. A poor mattress or ill-suited bed for your needs can be a contributing factor to your back pain. If your bed is fairly new, less than a few years old, your bed may be too firm or too soft for your needs.
A soft mattress can cause back pain for back and stomach sleepers because it allows the lower back to sag into the foam. On the other hand, a firm mattress can press into the shoulders and hips of side sleepers, causing the spine to be misaligned.
If your mattress has sags, indents or visible wear and tear, it’s a sign your bed is too old. Old mattresses with lumps and bumps aren’t efficient and promoting proper spinal alignment, and can lead you to wake up with back pain.
Memory foam and latex are the most commonly recommended mattress materials for back pain. These materials conform to your body and provide pressure relief where you need it most. 100% memory foam mattresses and hybrid mattresses — which combine springs with memory foam and/or latex — are both good choices.
Memory foam mattresses are among the best for back pain. They contour your body, alleviating pressure on your joints and reducing aches and pains. The memory foam also aligns with the natural curvature of your spine, providing lumbar support.
Very firm mattresses were often recommended for back pain in the past, but based on feedback from sleepers, a mattress that’s too firm can disrupt sleep and contribute to back pain. On the other hand, mattresses that are too soft also contribute to poor sleep quality and back pain, by throwing your spine out of alignment and putting too much pressure on your joints.
In general, the best mattress for back pain is one that’s rated medium to medium-firm, but it also depends on how you sleep. For example, side sleepers need a mattress that’s softer than back sleepers who generally need a firmer mattress, so the right mattress depends on your existing sleep habits.
Some of the best mattresses to help alleviate back pain include:
- AS5 Hybrid
- Saatva
- DreamCloud
- Purple Hybrid
- Nectar Premier
- Saatva Rx
- Allswell
- GhostBed Flex
- Helix Plus
The best sleeping positions for back pain are on your back with a pillow underneath the knees to alleviate pressure or on your side with a pillow between the knees. If you sleep on your stomach and can’t make the switch, sleep with a pillow underneath the lumbar region (your lower back area).