Back pain is one of the most prevalent health afflictions around the world. Here in the UK, 80% of Brits regularly suffer from disabling back pain, the number one cause of disability in the country according to the NHS.

The most common type of back pain is lumbago, or lower back pain, but such discomfort can also occur anywhere along the spine. In most cases, a bad back is temporary—caused by overworking your muscles, a slipped disc, or sleeping on a lousy mattress, for example. However, it can also turn into a long-term problem as a result of conditions like chronic sciatica or a sedentary lifestyle.

Thankfully, back pain isn’t necessarily cause for alarm. With therapy and prevention tactics, it is entirely possible to ease and recover. However, if it goes unaddressed for too long, it can seriously impede your life. If you routinely experience back pain, it might mean you need to make a lifestyle change. Given that people spend a third of their life in bed, finding the best mattress for back support seems like the perfect place to start. Ask your healthcare provider to find out if your mattress might be escalating your back pain. 

Good posture goes a long way, especially in your sleep! To allow your body to fully recover from the stress of the day, you need a mattress that promotes neutral spinal alignment.

Waking up with back pain means your mattress isn’t necessarily doing that. A bad back could possibly be a sign in and of itself that you should upgrade to a better mattress for back pain. It’s not the only sign, though. Here are a few other indications it might be time to start shopping for a new mattress.

• It’s getting old – It’s a fact of life that mattresses decline over time. Even the most carefully constructed, high-end mattresses eventually lose some of their beneficial qualities. If you’ve had your mattress for going on ten years, it’s time to consider replacing your mattress. You won’t regret it—a 2009 study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine showed that sleeping on a new mattress almost always results in better quality sleep.

• It’s sagging – Your mattress has lost its form and has begun to droop in high-pressure areas. Sagging occurs most quickly in foam mattresses, as the material wears out and compresses over time. In traditional innerspring mattresses, this happens when springs break.

• It doesn’t bounce back – Supportive memory foam moulds to the heat and weight of your body, then returns to its original form when you get up. If you get up and the impression of your body remains, your mattress has lost its ability to support you.

• It’s lumpy – Lumps develop when the padding in the top layer of the mattress has shifted and gathered in one spot. In addition to being downright uncomfortable, lumps prevent your spine from attaining a neutral alignment, making it impossible for your mattress to support you.

Finding a mattress that will support your body as you sleep requires careful consideration. With so many mattress options and confusing jargon, it’s easy to feel confused—especially when every brand claims to offer the best mattresses for back pain.

For more efficient shopping, pay attention to the factors that will impact the way your body feels in the morning.

Firmness

For a long time, people believed that the best mattresses for back pain were stiff and firm, but a recent literature review published in Canada in 2014 has debunked that. Among the 300 sleepers with back pain observed, most ended up preferring a medium-firm mattress instead. Now, medium-firm is generally considered the most universally comfortable firmness level and is the most common firmness level of mattresses on the market.

Still, there is no such thing as the ideal firmness level for everyone. The best mattress for back support is the one in which you feel most comfortable.

Sleep Position

Because proper spinal alignment is important to soothing back pain according to some opinions, you must consider the way it is affected by your sleep position.

Side sleepers should be especially careful about choosing a supportive mattress, as they are at the highest risk of sleeping out of alignment according to some. Make sure your mattress supports high-pressure areas like the hips and shoulders. If you have wide hips or shoulders, choose a mattress on the softer side that will cradle these high-pressure areas. If you have narrower hips, choose a mattress on the firmer side to feel more comfortable at night.

Back sleepers should choose a medium to medium-firm mattress. An overly firm mattress won’t absorb the increased pressure in the hips and shoulders, resulting in an unsupported arch. Meanwhile, a mattress that is too soft absorbs too much pressure, might result in your neck craning forward and sloping the spine.

Stomach sleepers should look for the best mattresses for lower back pain in particular, as this sleeping position is particularly stressful in the lumbar region. Some people recommend choosing a mattress with a medium firmness to absorb just enough of the pressure from the hips and upper torso to maintain proper alignment. Too soft a mattress could cause the stomach to sink in and the back to arch. On the other hand, a firm mattress might not absorb the pressure from the shoulders, causing the lower back to arch and creating lumbago pain.

Materials

Memory foam and its natural alternative, latex make good mattresses for back pain according to certain opinions. The body-contouring properties of these materials cradle the body to support sensitive high-pressure zones.

If you have a bigger budget, consider a hybrid mattress, which combines memory foam or latex layers with a responsive coil base. Sleepers get all the cradling comfort of the top layers and even better zoned support from individually-wrapped coils that react to pressure.

Above all, avoid traditional innerspring mattresses, which don’t adapt to different levels of pressure and might only make back pain worse.

A few minutes of testing a mattress at a mattress store is not enough to give you a full picture of the product, especially if you are searching for a mattress that to ease back pain. To truly understand if a mattress provides the support you require, you need to sleep on it—and not for just one night. General recommendations say that it takes at least 90 days to break in a mattress and gauge whether it is right for you. For those who suffer from a bad back, it may take even longer than that to see any concrete results.

Thankfully, many sleep brands offer generous trial periods and money-back guarantees when you buy online. If, during that trial period, you notice that your back pain has not improved or has gotten even worse, simply contact the brand and they’ll help organise a return and issue you a refund. In many cases, even return shipping is free.

Recommended Mattresses for Comfort & Support

Nectar UK – The Nectar mattress is a medium-firm memory foam mattress the offer body-hugging support. It features a pressure-relieving memory foam layers and a 7-zone support base, which in some opinions, can make it one of the best mattresses for lower back pain. Nectar offers an impressive 365-night trial period.

Simba Sleep – The Simba Hybrid mattress is one of the UK’s highest-rated mattresses. Its patented conical pocket springs combined with built-in hip and shoulder support zones make it a strong contender for the best mattress for back support, in some opinions. The Simba Hybrid is also medium-firm and includes a 200-night trial period.

Dreamcloud UK – The Dreamcloud Hybrid mattress is a luxury hybrid mattress featuring breathable, supportive memory foam and individually-wrapped pocket springs. Its quilted pillow top layer gives it a plusher firmness, about a medium on the firmness scale, ideal for side sleepers. Dreamcloud also offers a generous 365-night trial period.

A supportive mattress can be crucial to helping you sleep comfortably during the night. Start your search for the best mattress for back support on our site, where you can read our detailed mattress reviews and learn more about shopping for mattresses.