Best Mattress for Ankylosing Spondylitis of 2024

Ankylosing spondylitis is one of the most painful spinal conditions that can afflict a person. Unfortunately, it is often a progressive condition that worsens over time. The good news is there is a range of treatments that can help slow and even stop the progression of the disease and significantly reduce its symptoms, and an excellent mattress is one of them.

“With roughly 300,000 Americans suffering from AS, it is crucial to find better sleeping options for them to decrease pain and find more comfort in all sleeping positions,” says Dr. Jordan Burns.

A great mattress can keep your spinal column optimally aligned, which can relieve much of the pain and stiffness associated with this condition. Below, we’ll talk about some of the best mattresses on the market for ankylosing spondylitis and how to choose the right one for you.

Best Mattresses for Ankylosing Spondylitis of 2024

One of the most versatile mattresses on this list, the Amerisleep AS2 is a jack-of-all-trades mattress that has a little something for just above everyone. Its plant-based memory foam provides contouring for side sleepers along with bounce for active sleepers and cooling for hot sleepers.

“The Amerisleep AS2 is one of my favorite mattresses for alleviating pain and providing support for anyone diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis,” says Dr. Jordan Burns.

All Amerisleep mattresses include a 100-night sleep trial and a 20-year warranty, along with free shipping.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattress for Fibromyalgia

If you don’t want to let your ankylosing spondylitis symptoms get in the way of staying physically fit, check out the Zoma Hybrid. This mattress was designed by and for athletes, but it’s fantastic for anyone with an active lifestyle, from those with physically demanding jobs to those who love to hit the gym for the fun of it.

“Cooling gel memory foam mattresses like the Zoma Hybrid mattress are a great option for providing more comfort to those suffering from ankylosing spondylitis,” notes Dr. Burns.

Zoma mattresses come with free delivery, a 100-night sleep trial, and a 10-year warranty.

SEE ALSO: Best Tempur-Pedic Mattress Alternatives

If you think you can’t get a fantastic mattress that can alleviate your back and joint pain at a reasonable price, think again. The Vaya Hybrid offers amazing quality and excellent comfort, all at a price that won’t give you a heart attack to go along with your ankylosing spondylitis symptoms.

“The medium firmness of the Vaya Hybrid mattress makes it a beneficial mattress for side sleepers diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis by providing support to keep the spine in neutral alignment,” says Dr. Burns.

Vaya’s mattresses come with free shipping, a 100-night sleep trial, and a 10-year warranty.

SEE ALSO: Best Motion-Isolating Mattresses

When it comes to achieving a restful night’s sleep, settling for anything less than optimal shouldn’t even be an option. The Helix Dusk Luxe mattress – a premium solution designed to deliver the ultimate sleep experience, tailored specifically for those who prefer a medium-feel mattress and prioritize exceptional comfort and support.

Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, the Dusk Luxe mattress combines cutting-edge technology with luxurious materials to provide a sleep surface that surpasses expectations.

With layers of pressure-relieving memory foam and body-cradling responsive foam, the Dusk Luxe strikes the perfect balance between support and comfort. Each component is meticulously selected and the foams are CertiPUR-US® certified, guaranteeing a mattress free from harmful chemicals and of the highest quality.

Hot sleepers who also suffer from ankylosing spondylitis should consider the Nolah Evolution 15. The Evolution boasts a number of different cooling technologies that fight overheating to keep the mattress pleasantly chilly all night long!

Nolah mattresses ship free and come with a 120-night sleep trial and a lifetime warranty. You can remove the sleep trial at checkout for a deeper discount.

SEE ALSO: Best Casper Mattress Alternatives

If you just can’t give up the bounce of an innerspring mattress but don’t want to deal with their laundry list of issues, check out the Saatva Classic. The Saatva Classic uses a combination of hybrid and innerspring support cores to provide the pros of an innerspring mattress without all the cons.

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If you’re looking for the hybrid to beat all hybrids in terms of that classic pocketed coil and foam feel, check out the Signature Hybrid by Brooklyn Bedding. This hybrid mattress offers tons of features that give it the perfect combination of adaptability and responsiveness.

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Those looking for a hybrid mattress that will fight their allergy symptoms and help prevent overheating all at the same time should check out the Bear Elite Hybrid.

SEE ALSO: Zoma vs. Bear: Side-by-Side Mattress Comparison

If you’re looking for all-natural pain relief for your ankylosing spondylitis symptoms, check out the Birch Natural Mattress, which offers organic textiles and natural Talalay latex.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattresses Without Memory Foam

If you want a memory foam mattress that has it all – from flippable firmness to hypoallergenic copper to a cooling cover – say hello to the Layla Mattress. This memory foam mattress is perfect for those who aren’t sure what firmness they need.

SEE ALSO: Mattress Sizes and Bed Dimensions

How to Choose the Best Mattress for Ankylosing Spondylitis

Finding the best mattress for ankylosing spondylosis begins with finding the best mattress for back pain that will best align your spine. For most people, this means finding the right combination of mattress construction and firmness level.

The good news is that shopping for the best mattress doesn’t have to be complicated. You just need to know a little bit about your body type, your sleeping position, and your condition.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattress for Tall People

What is Ankylosing Spondylitis?

Ankylosing spondylitis is “a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the joints and ligaments of the spine,” according to the National Institutes of HealthVerified Source National Library of Medicine (NIH)World’s largest medical library, making biomedical data and information more accessible.View source. Some people with the disease only suffer mild symptoms, but for others, the symptoms can be extreme.

In severe cases, the inflammation can cause the individual vertebrae in the spinal column to fuse together. This can leave the ankylosing spondylitis sufferer with a hunched appearance and an altered gait that affects mobility.

Sometimes, you might experience minor back pain that comes and goes. Other times, you could have extreme pain and stiffness that are debilitating. It all depends on how severe your case is and how well your treatment plan is working. While shoppers can look at the best mattresses for arthritis, it can help to shop for ones specifically for ankylosing spondylitis.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattress for Scoliosis

Ideal Mattress Materials for People with Ankylosing Spondylitis

As with most cases of back pain, there are mattress materials that work for ankylosing spondylitis, and there are mattress materials that don’t. To best relieve symptoms, you need a mattress construction that offers lots of support and lots of contouring.

There are three primary types of mattresses that can potentially offer relief to ankylosing spondylitis sufferers: memory foam, latex, and hybrid. Each one of these mattress types has its own strengths and weaknesses, but they all can help alleviate your pain, depending on your needs.

Memory Foam

Memory foam mattresses are among the best mattresses for all types of back pain. This is because flexible polyurethane foam – commonly known as memory foam – is the most contouring mattress material on the market today.

This foam inside a memory foam mattress for back pain can follow the curve of your body, molding itself to your shape to keep your spine aligned. Or in other words, this contouring ability makes memory foam especially good for people suffering from back pain because it can offer optimal spinal alignment regardless of your sleep position without sacrificing pressure relief.

The main problems with memory foam really only affect hot sleepers and active sleepers. Memory foam is not as good at regulating its temperature as other foam types. Even a gel memory foam mattress is not as cooling as latex and coils. Memory foam also doesn’t bounce back as quickly as other mattress materials.

SEE ALSO: Memory Foam vs. Gel Memory Foam: What’s the Difference?

Latex Foam

Natural latex foam is made by processing the liquid sap of the rubber tree. There are two basic types of latex: Dunlop and Talalay. Dunlop latex is denser and more buoyant, while Talalay is lighter and more contouring.

Natural latex fixes memory foam’s issues without sacrificing much of its contouring. Latex mattresses are more breathable and cooler than memory foam, and it’s also much more responsive. This means hot and active sleepers with ankylosing spondylitis may do better on a latex mattress.

Just be aware, natural latex is not as contouring as memory foam. It’s close enough for most back and stomach sleepers, but side sleepers especially may notice a difference in pressure relief and contouring between latex and memory foam mattresses of the same firmness.

An organic latex mattress can also be a significant investment. The materials last and last, so many shoppers deem the cost worth it, but that may keep one out of reach of budget shoppers.

Hybrid

Hybrid mattresses are also a contender for the best mattress type for ankylosing spondylitis. Hybrids combine either latex or memory foam with individually wrapped coils that each come in their own fabric or foam case.

Pocketed coils are an excellent solution for sufferers of ankylosing spondylitis because they can all move independently of one another. This means they offer the support and lift of coils along with the contouring and flexibility of base foam. This makes them a perfect mix of support and pressure relief, which can be especially important for side sleepers.

The main problem with hybrids has nothing to do with the way they feel. Hybrid mattresses are less durable than most foam mattresses and are almost as expensive upfront as latex. This makes them much more expensive over the course of their lives than any other mattress type. Bear in mind how long a mattress lasts if you’re shopping on a budget.

Innerspring

Of all the most common mattress types, innerspring mattresses are the worst for virtually all back pain and are best avoided. These mattresses have open coil support cores. This means their coils are networked together with steel wire.

Open coils have several major issues, the worst of which is their inability to contour. This means that open coil support cores tend to sag under your body weight where they should contour. Their sagging can pull your spine out of alignment and cause even more pain.

Open coils are also the least durable type of support layer. They lose tension and wear out faster than pocketed coils and base foams alike. They also can start making squeaking and creaking noises after a few years because the individual coils have no encasement to keep them from grinding against each other. For all these reasons, we recommend you get a hybrid if you want coils in your mattress.

Ideal Firmness Level for People with Ankylosing Spondylitis

Mattress firmness falls on a scale of one to 10, with one being the softest. Most of the time, you’ll never find mattresses softer than a three or firmer than an eight. This is because mattresses on the extreme ends of the spectrum would either have no spinal support or no pressure relief.

Typically, the best firmness level for all types of back pain is medium-firm. Medium-firm mattresses offer a balance of support and pressure relief that has just a touch more support. This keeps the body lifted and ensures minimal sinkage while still offering enough contouring to keep the spinal column aligned.

However, though medium-firm mattresses are normally the best ones for back pain, there are other considerations to think about. The two main ones are your sleeping position and your body type.

Sleeping Position

Your sleep position is the main factor that decides your firmness needs. Think of the firmness level that corresponds to your sleep position as your baseline firmness. Other factors, such as your back pain or body type, will increase or decrease your firmness needs from this baseline firmness level.

The reason your sleep position impacts your firmness needs so much is it decides how your body contacts the bed, where your pressure points are, and how your spine lines up. Thus, your mattress firmness needs to accommodate the way you sleep first and foremost.

Back Sleepers

Back sleepers need a sleep surface that offers lots of support and contouring all at once. When you sleep on your back, you don’t need a lot of pressure relief because your weight is more evenly distributed. However, you still need lots of contouring to ensure the mattress can compress under your buttocks and rise to meet the lumbar region.

At the same time, you also need lots of lift to ensure you stay on top of the sleep surface, as sinking can bend your spine out of alignment. All this means medium-firm mattresses (6) are the best mattresses for back sleepers. Incidentally, this works out well for ankylosing spondylitis sufferers who sleep on their backs, as medium-firm is the ideal firmness for back pain too.

Combo Sleepers

Combo sleepers don’t have a strong preference for any one sleep position. They may sleep on their stomachs one night, their backs the next, and their sides the night after that. Some combo sleeper change positions several times throughout the night.

All this means combo sleepers need a highly versatile mattress that can accommodate whatever position they choose. Medium mattresses (5) fit this bill the best. These mattresses for combination sleepers offer an even balance of support and cushioning that can provide enough lift and pressure relief to accommodate all sleep positions without targeting a specific one.

Side Sleepers

Side sleepers have the hardest time with pressure-related pain. When you sleep on your side, your body weight presses your hip and shoulder joints into the sleep surface. If your mattress is too firm, it resists the pressure of your body weight rather than compressing under it. This can cause you to wake up with joint pain in your pressure points.

To counter this pressure, side sleepers usually need soft mattresses (3). However, side sleepers with ankylosing spondylitis might consider a medium-soft (4) or even a medium mattress to get enough spinal support. It all depends on what you consider adequate pressure relief and support.

Some mattresses for side sleeping also offer targeted support for the shoulders and hips, yielding to these areas quickly and enveloping them to relieve pressure points.

Stomach Sleepers

Stomach sleepers typically have lower back pain regardless of any spinal conditions they have. This is because sleeping on your stomach allows your pelvis to sink into the sleep surface. This overarches the spine and throws it out of alignment. This will very often leave you waking up with pain in the morning, which is why it’s crucial to have the right mattress for stomach sleeping.

To counter this problem, stomach sleepers should choose a firm mattress (7). Stomach sleepers with spinal disorders may need even more support and should think about an extra-firm mattress (8) to alleviate their back pain.

Body Type

Your body type does not have the same impact on your sleep needs as your preferred sleep position. However, it does have some effect on your firmness needs.

To the mattress industry, the average adult weight range is 130 to 230 pounds. If you fall into this weight range, then you won’t have to worry about how your body type impacts your firmness needs. Just pick the firmness that goes with your sleep position.

On the other hand, if you fall above or below this range, mattresses may not fit your needs like they fit those of someone heavier or lighter than you. This means you’ll have to take your weight into consideration when thinking about your mattress’s firmness.

Plus-Size Sleepers

If you weigh more than 230 pounds, you’re considered a plus-size sleeper. If that’s the case, you’ll need to increase your mattress firmness level from the one that corresponds to your preferred sleep position.

This is because mattresses that directly correspond to your sleep position may not have sufficient support to accommodate your body type. Going up a firmness level in a mattress for heavy sleepers should fix the issue. So, for example, a back sleeper would normally need a medium-firm mattress, but a heavier back sleeper might need to go up to a firm mattress for sufficient support.

Petite Sleepers

Petite sleepers (under 130 pounds) have the opposite problem as heavier sleepers. When you weigh less than 230 pounds, mattresses may not compress enough to give you sufficient pressure relief. This means petite sleepers should go down a firmness level from the one that goes with their sleep position when shopping mattresses for lightweight sleepers.

For example, stomach sleepers typically need firm mattresses, but firm mattresses may cause pressure-related pain for petite sleepers. Thus, a petite stomach sleeper should consider a medium-firm mattress instead.

Mattress Sizes

Saving on a Mattress for Ankylosing Spondylitis

If you’re anxious to get the best possible deal on a new mattress for a medical condition, one of the best ways to do so is by shopping the year’s big mattress sales:

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Where you shop also influences how much you can expect to save on a mattress. Generally speaking, online mattresses are more affordable than mattresses at showrooms and big box stores. Web retailers strive for competitively low prices and have fewer overhead costs to meet.

If a mattress is too much of a big ask at the moment, you can still improve comfort with a mattress topper for back pain.

Other Mattresses for Medical Conditions

If you have a case of back pain and aren’t sure yet if the cause is ankylosing spondylosis, then it’s best to get a doctor’s diagnosis. It’s possible it’s another condition,and you may need another mattress to ease symptoms.

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Saving on New Mattresses

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• Best Labor Day Mattress Sales
• Best Columbus Day Mattress Sales
• Best Black Friday Mattress Sales
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FAQs

What is the best firmness for ankylosing spondylitis?

Typically speaking, the best firmness level for all back pain sufferers is medium-firm. Medium-firm mattresses keep the body lifted onto the sleep surface and support the spine to encourage optimal alignment.

At the same time, these mattresses also offer enough contouring and cradling to provide sufficient pressure relief. This can alleviate back pain caused by just about anything.

That being said, you’ll need to take your sleep position and body type into account. If you’re a side sleeper or petite sleeper, you may do better on a medium mattress. Conversely, firm mattresses might be best for heavier sleepers and stomach sleepers with back pain.

Can a bad mattress worsen my ankylosing spondylitis symptoms?

A bad mattress can absolutely worsen your ankylosing spondylitis symptoms. While it’s unlikely that a saggy or unsupportive mattress will outright cause ankylosing spondylitis, it can increase your pain and stiffness.

Mattresses that let your spine fall out of alignment put pressure on the vertebral column and the spinal cord itself. This means you will probably wake up with severe pain and stiffness in the morning, and this pain may last for hours or even all day.

Furthermore, a mattress topper may not fix the problem. If an overly firm mattress is causing you pain, a thick, plush topper can help bring down the firmness level. However, if a sagging or overly soft mattress is the issue, you’ll likely have to replace it to relieve your back pain, as the mattress’s support comes from its core, not its surface.

Which mattress material is the best for ankylosing spondylitis symptoms?

There are several mattress materials that can help relieve your ankylosing spondylitis symptoms. Memory foam is one of the best options. This supportive and contouring foam can follow the curves of your spine to keep it in a neutral position that relieves pressure on the spinal column and eases pain.

Those who find memory foam too unresponsive or too warm should consider latex as an alternative. Latex foam is not as contouring as memory foam, but it’s much more buoyant and responsive.

This means it may be the best option for active sleepers with ankylosing spondylitis. Those who want the bounce and breathability of latex and the contouring of memory foam can choose a hybrid.

Is a hybrid mattress a good option for ankylosing spondylitis?

A hybrid mattress is a wonderful option for those with ankylosing spondylitis. Hybrid mattresses combine either latex or memory foam comfort layers with pocketed coils. The foams and coils provide contouring that runs through the whole mattress.

This means a hybrid mattress can mold itself to your body shape just as well as pure memory foam mattresses can. These coils are also just as cooling and responsive as natural latex foam. All this means that hybrid mattresses can relieve your ankylosing spondylitis pain and offer you top-notch sleep all at the same time.

Will an adjustable base help my ankylosing spondylitis?

Adjustable beds can work wonders for all kinds of back disorders. Sleeping with the head and legs elevated takes the pressure off the spinal column. This can help alleviate pain in a way that even an amazing mattress by itself can’t.

The zero-gravity position, in particular, has a litany of benefits for back pain sufferers. In this position, both the head and knees are elevated above the heart.

This is the most optimal spinal pose, and it can relieve pain from just about every spinal condition, from ankylosing spondylitis to scoliosis to degenerative disc disease and more. That means an adjustable bed for back pain can be a fantastic solution for those looking for drug-free relief.

Bottom Line

Back pain often starts in bed. Even if the pain is caused by an underlying condition, sleeping on a bad mattress almost always exacerbates your symptoms. The good news is you can solve your problem by replacing your saggy or unsupportive mattress with an excellent new one – and it doesn’t even have to cost you an arm and a leg!

Dr. Burns tests each mattress at eachnight’s facility to make sure the recommendations are based on real, expert reviews.