Is an expensive mattress worth the money?

Be very careful. An expensive mattress, if you care for it, can last a long time and will definitely help with your pains. But just because it is expensive does not mean it is actually good, let alone good for you specifically. There are many types of different mattresses and you should take some time to find one for you.

TLDR: lie down on it before buying.

Check out Sleep like the dead

It helped me get the most value for my money and I solved my back pain issues. Also, I simply couldn't be happier with my sleep these days.

As a fellow side sleeper who just bought a Purple mattress, just remember to buy a plush/soft mattress. The reason you are hurting is because you are sleeping on your side on a, probably, cheap and firm mattress.

Firm mattresses are for back sleepers. Soft mattresses are for side gang, like us.

I will say Purple is just incredible if you can afford it but try it at a store first before committing. The important thing, though, is to get a soft, well-made mattress.

There is an old proverb I heard once. "Don't cheap out on things that separate you from the ground"

When it comes to things like mattresses, shoes, and chairs do your research and buy the best option you can. It will save you a lot of pain later in life

Never skimp on anything between you and the ground

https://www.bett1.de/anti-kartell

https://youtu.be/OUjFoFGjQyI

There is a cartell in the matress market. Dont buy pricy ones. Watch the documentation on the youtube link. Its made by public tv from germany.

The link is the store of the dude that stood up and fought against the cartell. And he survived. The united-cartell-angency (bundeskartellamt) found out about the cartell throught this dude and fined the cartels pretty hard. It is still not destroyed sadly and the prices of over 500 bucks for a fucking mattress are everywhere even though it might be a absolute dogshit mattress.

over the last 15 years or so I would have spent $10k on mattresses of all types.. inner spring, micro spring, full latex, a mix of above.. all end up with body indentations that cause back pain. In the end I bought a cheap mattress in a box (Koala Brand) that is hard as a brick and a latex topper, it has been wonderful

Maybe. I just bought a shikibuton that was $500. It's a Japanese floor mattress. It solved almost all of my pain problems. I've been sleeping on it for about 3 weeks now, and honestly it's amazing. The floor doesn't sag so everything stays aligned.

I also bought a $5000 mattress that I've yet to receive. Only reason I bought it was because my wife was mad I bought something for me only (she thinks it's stupid that I'm willing to sleep on the floor at all...anyway...). It felt nice at the store...but we'll see when it gets here. It was an Aireloom Luxury Firm.

A good mattress is definitely worth the money. They aren't cheap, I would expect to pay $1,000 for a queen size. Ten years ago we bought one from a department store during a sale, saved $ by buying a display model and saved another 10% by signing up for the store's credit card. It came to $1,000 delivered. How well you sleep affects your quality of life. Ideally you'll spend a third of your life on it.

I recommend checking out https://www.sleeplikethedead.com/ to help choose a mattress. It's independent and free of advertisements.

Before commiting to buying a $1000+ mattress, try getting yourself a foam mattress topper. A good one is only like $100. My wife and I sleep on a old generic mattress with one of these and literally sleep like angels. Every time I come home from a vacation it feels like sleeping on a cloud, compared to a hotel mattress.

I know other people will die on a hill trying to convince themselves that their $5k mattress was worth it. But in my opinion, a $100-200 memory foam topper can make a world of difference.

Mattress: something firm like a tatami mat with a thin futon on top. Your lower back and hips will be happy.

Pillow: buckwheat husk filled with a dust cover. Your neck, shoulders, and sinuses will be happy.

I went to a mattress boutique and ordered my mattress there. I would never do it differently again, I love it every night. The saleswoman took great care of trying the different mattresses to see which one had the backs of my girlfriend and I in the best positions and whenever I'm back from a trip I feel again the greatness of my mattress

I bought a $600 foam one at Costco, and it's the best mattress I've ever slept on. Unfortunately, this makes every other bed extremely uncomfortable, so YMMV.

I don't know your age, health, etc, but there are lots of reasons we hurt other than age. Ergonomics, repetitive stress injuries, regular old injuries. It doesn't take much to compound these issues into something that interferes with your life.

I spent the last twenty years sleeping on a mattress that wasn't right for my sleep style. It didn't feel great sleeping on my side and it has a slight divot. I didn't wake up in pain, but it definitely impacted the quality of my sleep.

I recently moved and bought a new tempurpedic. I went in, went through a calibration test of sorts and tried the top recommended matches. Ended up buying the top match, which was way expensive, but I now consistently get the quality of sleep I used to get at best once a week.

Two things: the mattress was $3k, and I still have chronic shoulder pain I manage with home physical therapy.

I guess my point is, the best mattress won't fix a problem not caused by a bad mattress. You might need PT, stretching, or some other physical routine to help manage your particular pain, just like I have special exercises for my shoulder that if I stop, it will start hurting again and prevent me from sleeping on my side, no matter the mattress.

So before you throw down money on a mattress, make sure you rule other reasonable things out, and make sure you understand the return policy. E.g., of you remove the tags you can't return, of there is any discoloration, no return, etc. Just make sure you have the details down pat.

Definitely. Although some are expensive for no reason so it’s important that you do your research and buy a mattress that is of high quality.

I don't know of anyone that has a foam mattress that has liked it long term. We have mattress factory here in town, and there you can buy mattresses that are better than the stuff you buy in furniture stores for twice the price. Best bed I have owned. My king size was cheaper than the queen I bought at Macy's furniture previously, which was a top of the line there.

Yes, but with caveats. If you go to a big mattress store and buy from the big brands (Sealy, Simmons, Serta, etc.) you are getting a mattress that is cheaply built at a high price due to shitty private equity firms buying up the brands and squeezing every bit of value from them.

I ended up spending a fair bit ($2600 but the "equivalent" at the major chain store was $3400) on a locally manufactured mattress with more expensive materials like latex foam and wool but only after I tried a bunch and found one that kept me nice and aligned. Immediately I stopped waking up with the type of pain that would stay with me all day (I would be slightly stiff for 15 minutes instead), and now that my body is used to it I only very rarely wake up in pain.

The big thing is to find somewhere without shitty sales tactics, and to try a bunch of mattresses out and find out what works for you. I didn't like the memory foam mattresses, but some people love them. There is a reason why they make firm, medium, and soft mattresses. There are mattresses where the springs are the same all over, or vary based on where people keep their body weight.

It's not so much being expensive, just not a cheap one and one that has the firmness you need. I've had good results with $200-400 mattresses from Amazon .

Sleep number 100 here. Belly sleeper I prefer “very firm”. Husband is sleep number 32 , back & side sleeper and wants all the fluff, this is why we have sleep number that was purchased 10 years ago and still works.

Edit: the sleep number mattress we bought was third cheapest. Just enough to get the app access to the firmness adjuster.

I went from a cheap Amazon mattress to a fancy temperpedic mattress and it was absolutely worth every penny

What I did was I went to a mattress store to try out mattresses to see what I was looking to buy

The mattress I ended up buying was one that I laid down on and fell asleep almost instantly

Just find a local mattress store with a lot of options and start testing them out for yourself

Yes, yes and yes. Please take care of yourself by buying a high-quality mattress and office chair (gaming chairs are a scam). Your health shouldn't have a price tag.

Is sleeping on the floor with a pillow wrong?

Price aside, just don't do what I did: use an old mattress way past its usable life (e.g. like 10 years... it was creaking).

I started having back pain. And once I got a new one, I immediately felt better.

I'm very happy with my purchase and it wasn't even that expensive. It's one of those internet "mattress in a box" ones. I paid ~$300 back in 2019, though it looks like it goes for $420 now. Brand is Lucid on Amazon. It's a hybrid style: it has both pocketed / encased coils like a traditional mattress, and layers of memory foam and latex on top.

Is it worth the money? You're going to spend something like 1/3 of your time on it. Make it a good one.

In my mid twenties, I started having problems with my back, hands, elbows, etc. I stopped doing a lot of things (e.g. playing musical instruments), which helped, but the back pain persisted until I started sleeping on the floor. I was desperate, and I had heard about this solution from old anecdotes.

Since then, I've noticed that firm mattresses and very slim pillows (or soft enough pillows) are okay. Soft mattresses and big pillows bring back all the discomfort and pain in a matter of hours. I still sleep on the floor, but a mattress for me might be waiting somewhere.

I recently spent £400 on a super firm mattress from IKEA that has a 10 year guarantee and a 10cm memory foam topper for £90. I thought my back pain was due to posture but it literally disappeared overnight after sleeping on this.

A good mattress is worth it, but don't just go into a store like Mattress Firm (despite how good the company name is) and buy whatever they've got on display. Do some research first. Costco have some good mattresses but you can't really try them out first.

Don't get one that's extremely soft because you'll probably like firmer mattresses as you get older. You can add a topper to make it softer if needed.

Cooling memory foam + an adjustable base is totally worth the money, but it’s also going to set you back a lot out of pocket.

I don't mean to be condescending but try a new pillow first!

Probably. Quality typically correlates with cost and the quality of your sleep is one of the most important things in life

Anything between you and the ground is always worth buying quality. Shoes, tires, mattresses, etc.

It depends. The most important aspect for a mattress is having the right stiffness, you could get the most expensive mattress in the world and it might suck for you, or it might be great. You gotta try them. If you're a side sleeper, getting a soft memory foam or hybrid mattress is probably ideal. If you overheat a lot when sleeping and can afford it, a latex mattress really helps, and is typically stiffer. If you can't afford an expensive mattress, you might want to try sleeping on a futon, which is pretty comfortable for plenty of reasons and more affordable (though not for everyone).

Also, if the sides of your neck are hurting, maybe a new pillow might help. It will certainly be cheaper to get a nice pillow than a premium mattress.

I don't know if it was expensive or not but I would pay a lot of money for whatever mattress my ex had. That bed was the best sleep I ever got. Unfortunately that relationship ended really bad so I can't contact her to ask about it.

I would say yes. For a good 30 years i slept on the cheapest matresses possible, because i didn't mind, always slept like a rock and never had any problems. Then for the forst time i bought a really "good" matress and it was a bit meh at first, because it was pretty hard. Then i bought a topper and that was the game changer for me. I don't even know how important the matress is anymore, but a good memory foam topper is a godsend.

A good mattress is absolutely worth it but it may not necessarily be good just because it's expensive. I know someone that bought an expensive mattress with lots of memory foam and one year later it went from soft to very uncomfortable after the top layer got squished a lot.

I bought a cheap mattress but a pretty expensive pillow (tempur), the pillow made all the difference to me. It's so crucial to my sleep quality that I have to bring it on trips, it works for any mattress.

Try a matress pad. It's cheaper and less hassle.

Is it expensive because it is higher quality, or is it expensive because of marketing BS?

I could absolutely see very expensive ones being the price they are simply because of marketing, but mid-tier brands can be very good. I personally swear by the one that advertises individually wrapped coils (I think Sealy). Have one now and had one before and they are incredibly comfy. I do not think the foam ones are particularly good.

It's more important you get the right type of mattress for you than the price. If you do go shopping for one, try to remember how that one at the hotel was. Softer? Firmer? Springy? What feels comfy for 20 minutes can feel very painful for 6 hours.

It depends on the mattress. I’ve slept on cheap mattresses until 3 years ago when I purchased a Personal Comfort mattress. They’re an adjustable mattress like Sleep Number but a little cheaper and I liked the assembly a bit better since it lets you replace individual layers should they wear out, and the mattress can be “upgraded” to something more plush over time.

It was pricy and hard to justify at first but I’ve slept so much better.

Being able to adjust the firmness has been less gimmick and actually kind of nice but probably isn’t useful to everyone. It’s handy if you’re sharing the bed with someone though.

If you order a mattress, find a place that’ll let you trial it for a month or two. You should be able to tell if it’s helping or not in that timeframe.

Sometimes? We got an expensive one and I didn't really think it was that special at the time, but when we "upgraded" from a queen to a king of a much lower costing brand it was immediately noticeable how much nicer the previous was. First was a regular mattress from Serta or something and the next was a highly rated bed in a box we ordered. I sleep like shit every night now and really miss that queen sized mattress.

Avocado Mattress on a Thuma bed frame. Heaven. And really fucking expensive too.

I would suggest a low VOC (volatile organic compound) mattress whatever you do.

Just bought one recently. We walked in and the guy immediately started showing us ones for as low as $200. I asked what the difference was between those and the display models and he started showing us some of the floor models. We really didn’t feel much difference between any of them. The ones leaning up were absolutely not worth it and uncomfortable but we went with a $1k hybrid because it felt the same as a $5k premium Stearns and Foster. We got a Sleepy with a medium stiffness. It’s a combination of memory foam and springs. It helped my back pain and I got the best night sleep in years the day we got it.

I bought a 1400 dollar Queen. Upgrade from my shit 200 dollar twin. It's such a huge difference. My back still hurts, but that my shitty back. But no more knee pain from the crappy mattress buckling in the middle

Probably if you have the money I know the mattress I have is wrecking my sleep but I can't commit to replacing it at this time. I know the frustration of remembering what a good night's sleep is like the rare time I go to a hotel very well...

The Saatva I bought about ten years ago is still holding up well, after the previous Sealy only lasted about 3-4. Generally I think people need a more firm mattress than they think they want when they're at the store and plunk down into a big soft pillowtop thing.

Depends on what you can afford. Foam mattresses are easy, b/c you can have them shipped, but you can't try before you buy. Hybrid mattresses are popular. They have springs inside and foam on one side. You can't flip them over, like you can with old-fashioned mattresses. Recently, I saw in a Goodwill thrift shop, a decent hybrid mattress for little money. They have a deal with a US manufacturer. I know this b/c I needed a new mattress a couple of years ago. In the process of looking, I found a couple of online sites comparing different brands and types. I seem to remember they weren't affiliated with any sellers. If I'd saved the links, I'd share them. Figuring out exactly what they're selling and comparing between brands is complicated. Good luck. P.S., Low-quality foam deteriorates quicker than pricier foam.

I bit the bullet in 2017 and got a Stearns and Foster mattress set. I think it was less than $2k for the set, queen size, at City Mattress, and they had a “zero percent interest for a year” thing going on. It’s one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

You’ll find them for much higher prices online, it was going to the store that got me the deal. Find a mattress store near you that carries that brand and you may find a deal, too. It’ll save your back and you’ll sleep so much better.

I personally prefer a hammock, gets the added benefit of being rocked to sleep.

It depends on what you like. I purchased a custom made Japanese futon style mattress which is quite firm, and I really like it. It was a fraction of the cost of a typical mattress. Like, less than $1000 whereas really expensive mattresses can be almost $10k, maybe more.

I don't have back problems, but I think the futon with it's firmness helps with that. Neck problems could be caused by having too much or too little pillow.

Yes.

There are three things you should drop money on:

• A TV that is like a theater
• A shower you never want to get out of

And

• A bed that holds you like the womb

There are different types of mattresses, most of it is personal preference, except for making sure they are all full body so that no house guests accumulate inside. I personally prefer mem foam mix with some other material that makes the mattress just soft enough. As mentioned by others the mattress will not magically fix everything but it can greatly help not to make it worse.

I think it depends on how heavy you are. I am kind of long & lean not heavy and no. We have a probably 18 year old mattress and it's survived thousands of rounds of sex and nights of sleep. No mattress has caused me back pain BUT one time I did have to put a board under the mattress I had because the combination of frame (it was not a real bed frame just a space a mattress fit) and soft mattress did hurt.

But it's a purchase that will last for years, regardless. If yours is old why not get one, one that suits you perfectly? Sleep is so important to your health.

Marshall Mattress. I prefer the tight top - it sleeps cool and you can flip it. Mine is nice and firm, but they do have softer ones.

I sleep fine on just a couple blankets on the floor, sure maybe i could sleep a bit better on a fancy mattress but this is essentially free and extremely convenient so i would not say that spending a bunch of money on something that takes up space permanently is worth it. I would rather improve my health in other ways.

We buy ours from American Furniture Warehouse because they have a 30 money back guarantee. For us we sleep on it for three weeks and if we're not in love we swap it for another one. We get a new one every 8 years pretty religiously and so far this method has done us well.

We typically get one of if not the most expensive mattresses they have.

Yes for sure. I have a really firm orthopaedic mattress for my back issues and it is amazing. Wasn't even more expensive than the normal matresses

How much do you think hotels pay for mattresses? Probably a lot less than you.

No. It's all bullshit. I bought a traditional Japanese futon. My back has never felt better, posture improved. Its just technically 'harder'. Western mattresses sink and sag and fuck your back and neck up, and then you have buy a new one. They're environmentally bad, bad for your wallet, bad for your back, and they take up loads of space. Futons can be folded away easily in a cupboard. Hammocks are another potential solution.