9 Best Mattresses for Osteoporosis of 2023

Osteoporosis is the thinning and weakening of the bones over time. Calcium loss usually occurs with age, so almost all of us can expect to experience at least a little bone loss. However, major bone loss can lead to symptoms like pain, fractures, and an overall feeling of frailty in the body.

The good news is mattresses can help counter some of the symptoms associated with osteoporosis, especially the back pain it can sometimes cause. Below, we’ve outlined some of the best mattresses on the current market that can help relieve your osteoporosis symptoms and give you an amazing night’s sleep.

Best Mattresses for Osteoporosis

The Amerisleep AS3 lands in our top spot for the best mattress for osteoporosis overall because it offers a little something to everyone. It’s cooling for hot sleepers. It’s responsive for active sleepers. And its medium firmness can accommodate multiple sleep positions.

All Amerisleep mattresses ship free and come with a 100-night sleep trial and a 20-year warranty.

How Lying Down Feels

Our team recently had the pleasure of experiencing the Amerisleep AS3 mattress, and we can confidently say that it has exceeded our expectations in terms of comfort and support. As individuals who prioritize a restful night’s sleep, this mattress has proven to be a game-changer for us.

Drawing from our experience of lying down on the AS3, you will notice a few things when you do the same. You’ll likely note how cool its sleep surface is to the touch. You’ll also note how it bounces right back as soon as you move. And you’ll probably also notice the fantastic combination of pressure relief and support it offers.

One of the standout features of the Amerisleep AS3 is its ability to provide exceptional comfort while catering to specific needs. We were particularly drawn to this mattress due to its reputation for alleviating pain and providing support for individuals with conditions like osteoporosis. Upon using the AS3, we were thrilled to find that it lived up to its claims.

Inside the Mattress

The AS3 starts off with a comfort layer of Amerisleep’s proprietary Bio-Pur® memory foam. This fantastic foam is so special because it swaps out some of memory foam’s petroleum ingredients for plant oils. This makes it a partially natural foam, which is why it is so much more responsive and cooling than traditional memory foam.

Next, you’ll find the HIVE® transition layer. This layer provides five ergonomic zones that offer the correct balance of pressure relief and support to each area of the body. This means that even some back and side sleepers can enjoy this mattress because it puts the cushioning and lift in all the right places.

Finally, a layer of high density Bio-Core® base foam provides lots of sturdy support to the mattress and also makes it much more durable than its competition. You can expect this memory foam offering to last at least 20 years.

All this comfort is wrapped in the Refresh cover. In our tests, we found this cover uses minerals to diffuse your body heat by converting it to far infrared energy. Not only does this help your mattress shed heat. It also surrounds your body with energy that has been shown to improve sleep quality and duration.

Active individuals with osteoporosis who want a cooling mattress that can offer the most recuperative sleep possible should check out the Zoma Boost. This mattress offers tons of features designed to boost performance and recovery.

Every Zoma mattress has free shipping, a 100-night sleep trial, and a 10-year warranty.

How Lying Down Feels

The softness of the Zoma Boost mattress was particularly notable in our tests. The gentle yet supportive surface contributed to a significant improvement in our sleep quality. Waking up feeling rested and ready to take on the day became a consistent experience for our team.

Quality is a crucial factor when it comes to mattresses, and we were highly satisfied with the overall quality of the Zoma Boost. It maintained a cool temperature throughout the night, allowing us to sleep undisturbed. Additionally, the minimal motion transfer ensured that we hardly noticed our partner’s movements, promoting uninterrupted sleep.

Inside the Mattress

The first layer of the Boost is its advanced cooling cover that helps keep the sleep surface at the ideal temperature for sleeping. This cover sits atop two layers of quilt foam that help give the mattress a cushiony and soft feel, even though it has tons of support inside.

Next up, a layer of graphite-infused memory foam draws body heat away from you and towards the interior of the mattress, working with the cover to keep you cool as a cucumber. This memory foam also offers deep compression to cradle your joints and prevent pressure point pain.

The Reactiv™ layer comes next, and it’s one of the main reasons we love this mattress! This ultra-responsive layer helps make the Boost as bouncy as a latex mattress without the expense or allergy potential of latex itself.

Finally, the pocketed coil support layer provides ergonomic spinal support. This keeps your spine aligned by offering the correct mix of lift and pressure relief that each area of your body needs.

SEE ALSO: Best Cloud Mattresses

Osteoporosis sufferers shopping on a budget should check out the Vaya Mattress. This mattress’s simple design helps it provide quality and comfort at an affordable price. That means everyone with osteoporosis can enjoy a quality mattress.

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

How Lying Down Feels

As a team of sleep enthusiasts, we had the opportunity to try out the Vaya Mattress, and we were thoroughly impressed by its comfort and support. The Vaya Mattress truly exceeded our expectations of a budget-friendly mattress and left us with a sense of rejuvenation after each night’s sleep.

The Vaya Mattress is medium to medium-soft. In our experience, this makes it a supportive option for osteoporosis sufferers who sleep on their sides. The soft top layer provides a gentle and cozy feeling, while the underlying firm layer ensures adequate support for our bodies. We found that it will provide spinal support while at the same time deeply compressing to help protect your pressure points from pain.

Not only does the Vaya Mattress excel in comfort, but it also offers excellent support. This is particularly important for individuals with specific needs, such as those with osteoporosis. The mattress provided us with the necessary support to alleviate pressure points and ensure proper spinal alignment during sleep. It truly felt like a comforting hug for our bodies.

Inside the Mattress

The Vaya Mattress features three layers. The first layer is the plush and breathable cover that helps keep cool air flowing around your body to wick away both heat and sweat. This cover rests atop a comfort layer of Vaya Comfort Foam.

This highly contouring version of memory foam offers deep compression to help ensure your pressure points stay pain-free. It also features millions and millions of tiny air pockets that help keep cool air flowing through the comfort layer to ensure the mattress does not overheat.

A layer of Vaya Base Foam brings up the bottom of the mattress. This highly durable and firm foam offers superior spinal support to help alleviate back pain and keep you lifted onto the bed. It also makes this mattress stand up to much more expensive competition. You can expect it to last for at least 10 years.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattresses Under $1000

Sleepers who want a softer mattress that works overtime to keep them from overheating should check out the ultra-breathable and cooling Nolah Signature 12. This plush mattress is one of the most breathable of its kind on the market. It’s perfect for osteoporosis sufferers seeking pressure relief who also experience night sweats.

How Lying Down Feels

Based on our firsthand experience, the first thing you will notice about the Signature is that it starts off cool like a cloud and stays that way all night. This is all thanks to the extreme breathability of the Nolah AirFoam™. Two layers of this foam pull cool air into the mattress and push hot air out to ensure no matter how much you heat up, your mattress never will.

For side sleepers like us, the Nolah Signature 12 made a tremendous difference. The mattress’s design and construction specifically cater to the needs of side sleepers, providing the necessary contouring and pressure relief. We no longer woke up with numbness or stiffness in our hips and shoulders, allowing us to enjoy a more rejuvenating sleep experience.

At first glance, we were a bit hesitant when our elbow sank into the mattress upon first contact. We thought it might be too soft for our liking. However, once we laid down fully, we immediately felt the ideal level of support. Over the next few nights, we realized that this mattress was a great fit for our comfort and sleep needs.

Inside the Mattress

The thing that keeps this mattress so cool is Nolah’s proprietary AirFoam™. The comfort layer features this cooling foam that both cradles your body and breathes in cool air, pushing out hot air to prevent heat buildup.

Underneath the AirFoam™, a layer of high-resilience transition foam helps keep the sleep surface buoyant to ensure you don’t sink into the mattress – drawing from our experience, it’s perfect for sleepers with osteoporosis symptoms.

Beneath this transition layer, a firmer layer of AirFoam™ ensures that any residual heat inside the mattress gets breathed away, keeping all the layers under you cool to ensure the layer you’re actually sleeping on doesn’t heat up.

All these layers sit atop a supportive and firm layer of durable base foam. This foam provides the spinal support for the mattress and also helps prevent sagging and soft spot development.

Those who want a natural latex hybrid should consider the Spindle Organic Hybrid. This hybrid mattress provides organic Dunlop latex combined with a pocketed spring unit to make a fantastically buoyant and responsive mattress. It also features eco-friendly and healthy organic Dunlop latex to boot!

How Lying Down Feels

Our team recently had the pleasure of experiencing the Spindle hybrid mattress, and we can confidently say that it has left us amazed. As individuals who prioritize both comfort and health benefits, this mattress exceeded our expectations in every way.

There are two things you will notice with the Spindle Organic Hybrid. It is extremely buoyant, and it is also bouncier than your average hybrid. This is all thanks to the way the Dunlop latex works with the pocketed springs to create two layers of responsiveness and support instead of one. This mattress will keep you lifted and bounce back as soon as you move.

Inside the Mattress

The Spindle starts off with an organic cotton cover that features organic wool batting inside its baffle box construction. The organic cotton wicks away heat and sweat, while the organic wool provides an extra layer of pressure relief, as well as an all-natural fire barrier that eliminates the need for fiberglass and harsh chemicals.

Next, three inches of organic Dunlop latex help cradle your pressure points without allowing you to sink into the bed. This natural latex comfort layer also bounces back underneath your body to fight body impressions and slow response time.

Finally, the individually wrapped pocketed coils all move independently of one another, increasing the contouring and flexibility of the mattress to ensure your spine stays optimally aligned all night long.

If you like the bounce of a traditional innerspring mattress but don’t want to deal with all the issues that come along with it, check out the Saatva Classic. With a few tweaks to the traditional innerspring design, the Classic preserves the firm and responsive feel of the innerspring mattress without forcing you to deal with motion transfer or inability to contour.

How Lying Down Feels

Our team recently had the opportunity to test out the Saatva Classic Hybrid mattress, and we must say, we are thoroughly impressed. We found the design of the Saatva Classic mattress allows you to enjoy the bounce and breathability you’ve come to expect from an innerspring mattress without having to deal with its sagging and stiffness.

Plus, the Classsic’s design means you get all the contouring and pressure relief of a hybrid too. Best of all, it comes in three firmness levels, so you can decide how lying down feels.

For those with osteoporosis seeking a softer mattress option, the plush soft is an ideal choice. It offers a comfortable level of softness without compromising on support. This mattress firmness strikes the perfect balance for those who prefer a soft but not overly plush surface to sleep on.

Meanwhile, one of our team members who often experiences back issues found that the firm mattress has been a game-changer. It has provided the necessary support and improved their sleep quality. This firsthand experience reassures us that the Saatva Classic mattress is indeed effective in alleviating back discomfort.

Inside the Mattress

The first layer of the Classic is the organic cotton fabric that features botanical antimicrobial treatments to fight common allergy triggers like dust mites, mold, and mildew. This organic cotton cover sits atop a three-inch Euro topper that offers tons of contouring and pressure relief.

Next, a layer of high-density memory foam through the center of the mattress enhances lumbar support to provide fantastic spinal alignment. In our research, we found this is a feature many people with osteoporosis can enjoy.

Under this memory foam layer, you’ll find the first support layer in this dual-core mattress. This layer is composed of pocketed coils that move independently of one another to increase the contouring far beyond what any traditional innerspring mattress could provide. This enhances the pressure relief and spinal alignment of the Classic, based on our firsthand experience.

The second support layer is what gives this mattress its innerspring bounce. These premium open coils are made of tempered steel for maximum durability to prevent sagging over time. They’re also surrounded by a perimeter foam railing system to further increase their durability.

Sleepers with allergies and osteoporosis should check out the Bear Elite Hybrid. This amazing hybrid features copper-infused memory foam. Not only does copper create a hostile environment for most microbes, protecting you from dust mites, mold, and more. It’s also a highly thermally conductive material. This means it draws heat away from your body and deep into the mattress to keep your sleep surface cool.

How Lying Down Feels

Lying down on the Elite, you will notice its cool-touch sleep surface before you notice anything else. The copper infusions work with the breathable cover to keep body heat from accumulating in the mattress. You’ll also notice the deep compression of the sleep surface, thanks to the memory foam and dynamic transition foam layers, as well as the pocketed coil support layer.

Inside the Mattress

The Elite starts off with a quilted hypersoft cover that provides a soft and smooth feel that works to keep you from sinking. This breathable cover also helps keep air flowing around you for a cool night’s sleep, as our tests showed.

Next comes the copper-infused memory foam. This cooling foam conducts heat away from your body and ensures that the sleep surface does not become hot overnight, our team discovered. The copper also makes it extremely difficult for allergy-causing microbes to gain a foothold in your mattress.

Underneath the copper gel memory foam, you’ll find a layer of dynamic transition foam that offers ergonomic support and contour and also provide seamless progression to the pocketed coil support layer below.

At the bottom of the mattress, we get to the individually wrapped pocket coils. These coils are arranged into zones that offer more support through the middle of the mattress and more pressure relief on the ends keep your spine aligned and provide adequate cushioning. They also are reinforced around the perimeter for superior edge support.

If you want a luxurious and softer feel without sacrificing the spinal support that keeps your back free from pain, we recommend the Helix Midnight Luxe. This luxurious mattress is not short on pressure relief, but it brings the support to ensure you feel weightless, leaving you feeling like you’re sleeping on a buoyant and cool cloud.

How Lying Down Feels

Lying down on the Midnight Luxe, you’ll notice the luxuriously soft feel right away. Though this mattress is actually medium firmness, it features so many layers of pressure-relieving foam that it feels pillowy and softer than it is. This means side sleepers who want a little extra support should definitely check out this mattress.

Inside the Mattress

The Midnight Luxe starts off by giving you a choice. You can pick between two premium cooling covers. The first is breathable TENCEL, and the second is thermally conductive GlacioTex fabric. Either way, the cover will sit over a premium cooling pillow top that helps it maintain a pleasantly chilly temperature.

The next layer is the Helix Responsive Foam. This foam is designed to cradle your pressure points and contour to your body. It also offers lots of buoyancy to keep your body on top of the sleep surface.

Next, comes a layer of copper gel memory foam that draws heat away from your body and fights all kinds of allerens, including dust mites, mildew, and bacteria. This memory foam also contours to your body to increase compression depth and pressure relief.

Sandwiched between the gel memory foam and pocketed coils, you’ll find a layer of higher-density Memory Plus Foam. This foam provides stability and increases pressure-free buoyancy for lift without too much firmness.

Finally, the layer of pocketed coils features reinforced coils around the perimeter and through the middle for enhanced lumbar and edge support.

If you want a pocketed coil and memory foam mattress, check out the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan Hybrid. This amazing hybrid offers copper memory foam, premium coils, and multiple firmness options for different sleep styles.

How Lying Down Feels

Our team recently had the opportunity to experience the Brooklyn Bedding Spartan mattress, and we are delighted to share our firsthand impressions with you. Lying down on the Spartan, you will note the mix of cool comfort and sturdy support. This is thanks to the combination of copper memory foam and premium pocketed coils that provide lift and buoyancy no matter which firmness layer you choose.

One of our team members described the Spartan mattress as the most comfortable one they have ever slept on. This sentiment resonated with the rest of us, as we, too, found the mattress to be incredibly comfortable and supportive.

Whether sleeping solo or with a partner, the Spartan mattress offered a remarkable level of comfort and adaptability. Based on our first-hand experience and the positive reviews we encountered, the Spartan mattress is undoubtedly worth considering for a truly restful and rejuvenating night’s sleep.

Inside the Mattress

The construction of the Spartan depends on its firmness level. There are slight variances between the soft and medium versions and the firm one. All three versions feature a CopperFlex™ comfort layer that has a water-based surface infusion to draw excess heat away and added copper infusion to help prevent bacterial growth.

Next comes the premium memory foam. The memory foam’s firmness helps determine the support level of the mattress. There are three options: soft, medium, and firm. Each one provides a different mix of support and pressure relief targeted to different sleep styles.

The next layer is where the firm version diverges from the medium and soft ones. The soft and medium versions of the Spartan have gel swirl memory foam for added compression, while the firm version features VariFlex™ material for added buoyancy and support.

Finally, the Ascension™ coils offer premium support. These individually wrapped coils are arranged into zones to ensure each area of your body gets the right balance of support and pressure relief.

How to Choose the Best Mattress for Osteoporosis

Choosing a mattress for osteoporosis is more complicated than just picking one that can help alleviate pain and increase mobility. You will want a balanced mattress that is supportive enough to keep your spine aligned and contouring enough to offer pressure relief.

You may also want to consider responsiveness and edge support in the best mattresses that you browse, as these attributes can help make it easier to get in and out of bed, reducing the risk of falls and fractures.

Ideal Mattress Materials for Osteoporosis

When it comes to alleviating osteoporosis symptoms, our research has shown that some materials and types of mattresses are markedly better than others. While there are several options you can choose from to help alleviate your osteoporosis pain, there is one you will want to avoid.

Along with picking a suitable mattress type, you will also need to understand your other sleep needs, such as temperature regulation and responsiveness, to ensure you are getting the right mattress.

Memory Foam

Memory foam mattresses are fantastic for osteoporosis sufferers. When it comes to contouring, nothing beats memory foam. This is because flexible polyurethane foam is chemically designed to alter its shape to fit yours. This means it can follow the curve of your body to offer you more customized support than any other mattress material.

Aside from its contouring and pressure relief, memory foam also has a lot of other things going for it. It is the most affordable mattress material over time because it is almost as inexpensive as the cheapest mattress type, innerspring, but it is much more durable. This means you will pay less for memory foam over time than any other mattress.

Memory foam is also lightweight and easy to move. This can be wonderful for people who switch apartments a lot and need to move a mattress alone.

You can basically pick memory foam mattresses up, toss them in a moving van, and not worry about them, our team has found. Some people even like to compress their memory foam mattress at home for easier mobility.

Despite all this, memory foam mattresses do have a couple of problems. Perhaps the biggest problem with memory foam is its lack of responsiveness. Memory foam mattresses just cannot bounce back underneath you in the way that other mattress types can.

Memory foam mattresses are also not the coolest sleep solutions in the world either. Because it is a synthetic foam, memory foam tends to retain heat more than natural latex or springs. Cooling infusions such as copper and gel can help memory foam shed heat, but even infused memory foam is not as cooling as other materials. This can be a problem for hot sleepers.

Latex Foam

Natural latex is the answer for those who want a foam mattress that can respond and breathe. A latex mattress is naturally bouncy and will spring back into place as soon as you move.

As a natural foam, latex is also much more breathable and cooling than memory foam. This can make it a great alternative as a cooling mattress for hot sleepers and active sleepers. Latex is also a lot more buoyant than memory foam. It fights sinkage much better and can keep you lifted onto the sleep surface. Watch out, though, because this buoyance comes from latex’s desire to retain its shape.

Latex is denser and a bit less flexible than memory foam, which means it is a slightly less contouring material. Side sleepers and petite sleepers may notice this issue more than other sleepers. See our memory foam vs. latex mattress guide.

Then, there is the issue of latex’s price. While latex is the most durable of all mattress types by a landslide, it is also the most expensive. This means you will be paying more for it upfront than you would for any other mattress type.

The fact that you don’t have to replace your latex mattress very often will save you money in the long run, but you might get a little sticker shock when you go to buy your latex mattress, especially if it is organic latex.

Another big problem with latex is its potential to trigger allergies. While latex is very hypoallergenic for people who do not have latex allergies, we recommend that people who do have latex allergies stay away from this material. Even though it is under the mattress cover, there is always the potential for contact.

Hybrid

Hybrid mattresses combine a support layer of pocketed coils with a comfort layer of any type of foam. Hybrid mattresses may also feature transition layers of denser or firmer foam. As long as it is a mattress with pocketed coils and at least two inches of foam, it is a hybrid mattress.

Hybrid mattresses can make wonderful mattresses for those suffering from osteoporosis. There pocketed coils all move independently of one another, thanks to their individual casings. This means pocketed coils can contour better than any support foam. They also bounce back better than foam of any type.

Hybrids can give you the contouring and pressure relief of memory foam mattresses and the responsiveness and buoyancy of latex mattresses all in one. Best of all, you can even find hybrid mattresses with both memory foam and latex to give you the best of both foam types.

The one major issue with hybrid mattresses is their expense. Hybrid mattresses are almost as expensive as latex mattresses upfront. When you combine this with the fact that pocketed coils tend to lose tension and break down faster than base foam, you wind up with the most expensive mattress type over time. This can put hybrids out of reach for some people.

Innerspring

Innerspring mattresses are the ones to avoid if you have osteoporosis. These mattresses are created by topping an open coil support core with a layer of plush material. This plush material could be foam, cotton, fiberfill, or virtually anything else. The problems with innerspring mattresses don’t stem from its comfort layer but from its support layer.

Open coils are unencased and wired together using steel cables. This can create loads of problems, the most significant of which is a lack of contouring. Innerspring mattresses are stiff and inflexible. This leads them to sag under your heavier parts, rather than molding themselves to fit your shape.

This means innerspring mattresses typically have inferior pressure relief and are much more likely to throw your spine out of alignment. Both of these issues can cause immense pain for osteoporosis sufferers.

There are other problems with open coils, as well. The fact that these coils are not encased means that there is a lot of metal rubbing on metal inside your bed. This is why innerspring mattresses tend to start squeaking and creaking after a couple of years of use.

These mattresses are also too responsive. They bounce back like trampolines underneath your body, and they amplify motion and transfer it all over the bed, as well. For all these reasons, we suggest avoiding innerspring mattresses and going with hybrids if you want a mattress with coils. Modern pillow top mattresses may also avoid these issues, particularly ones that use foam instead of other fills.

Ideal Mattress Firmness for Osteoporosis

Since osteoporosis can cause back pain, especially if it involves spinal fractures, those who suffer from it may want to consider opting for mattresses on the firmer side. However, you will still need to take your sleep style and body type into account when choosing your mattress.

Mattress firmness is communicated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the firmest. However, you are unlikely to find mattresses softer than about a three or firmer than about an eight because mattresses with no support or no pressure relief are not comfortable.

Sleep Position

Your sleep position is the main factor that decides what firmness level you need. It’s true that your body type and preferences do have an impact on your firmness needs, as well. But your sleep position decides your firmness baseline. You will go up or down from there based on other factors.

Back Sleepers

Back sleepers have an easier time finding a mattress for osteoporosis because they already need the ideal firmness level for back pain: medium-firm. Medium-firm mattresses (6) provide a balance of support and pressure relief that slightly favors support.

This mix of support and contouring is perfect in mattresses for back sleepers because it both keeps the body lifted on top of the sleep surface and is flexible enough to follow the curve of the spine. Both of these attributes are required for ideal spinal alignment if you sleep on your back.

Combo Sleepers

Combination sleepers don’t have any single sleep position preference. Instead, they may adopt any position at any time during the night. This can make it difficult for combo sleepers to find a mattress that can accommodate them. They need mattresses for combination sleepers that can comfortably sleep all positions without being designed for any specific one.

For this reason, we recommend that combination sleepers go with medium mattresses (5). Medium mattresses offer an exact equal balance between support and cushioning.

This means they are soft enough to accommodate side sleeping some of the time and firm enough for back and stomach sleeping, as well. This can help combination sleepers get a good night’s sleep, whichever position they take.

Side Sleepers

Side sleepers typically need the softest mattresses because sleeping on your side causes your body weight to press your hip and shoulder joints into the bed. This can lead to pain in those pressure points if your mattress is too firm. In this scenario, your mattress will exert pressure on your joints instead of absorbing it. This is what causes you to wake up with pain.

We recommend that side sleepers with osteoporosis go with medium-soft mattresses (4). These mattresses for side sleeping offer enough cradling to protect your joints from pain but also retain some buoyancy and support for proper spinal alignment. This firmness level can help prevent back pain as well as joint pain.

Stomach Sleepers

Stomach sleepers need the firmest mattresses, sometimes even an extra-firm mattress. Sleeping on your stomach allows your pelvis to sink into the bed. When this happens, it overarches your spine and pulls it out of alignment in the lumbar region.

This leads to lower back pain, which can already be an issue for osteoporosis sufferers. For true relief, we suggest that stomach sleepers try to train themselves out of sleeping in this unhealthy position instead of looking at mattresses for stomach sleeping.

If you can’t stop stomach sleeping, however, it’s best for you to go with a firm mattress (7). Firm mattresses will keep your pelvis lifted onto the sleep surface and combat the spinal misalignment that causes pain. You can even put a thin, flat pillow under your hips for added support.

Body Type

Depending on how much you weigh, your body type may or may not have any impact on your firmness needs. If you fall between 130 and 230 pounds, you don’t have anything to worry about. You can just go with the firmness level that matches your sleep position.

If you fall outside this weight range, however, you may need to go up or down a firmness level from the one that would normally correspond to your sleep style.

Petite Sleepers

Petite sleepers are under 130 pounds. If you are lighter than this, you tend to not get enough pressure relief out of the firmness level that matches your sleep style. This can lead to pressure point pain and even spinal alignment issues, depending on how you sleep.

In our experience, that means you will want to go one firmness level down from the one that would typically correspond to your preferred sleep position in mattresses for lightweight sleeping.

For instance, back sleepers normally need medium-firm mattresses. But in our experience, petite back sleepers do much better on medium mattresses. They get the same amount of support and contouring that a heavier person would get on a medium-firm mattress.

Plus-Size Sleepers

If you’re over 230 pounds, you are considered a plus-size sleeper. Heavier sleepers tend to have the opposite problem as petite sleepers. Where petite sleepers get insufficient pressure relief from mattresses that correspond to their sleep style, heavier sleepers get insufficient support.

This means a mattress that would normally match your preferred sleep position will likely allow your spine to fall out of alignment if you are heavier than 230 pounds.

Because of this issue, we’ve found it’s typically best for heavier sleepers to go up one firmness level from the one that would normally go with their preferred sleep position in a mattress for heavy sleepers. For example, heavier stomach sleepers might want to upgrade from a firm to an extra-firm mattress for the same level of support.

Should I Use an Adjustable Bed for Osteoporosis?

An adjustable bed can offer significant benefits to individuals with osteoporosis, a condition characterized by weak and brittle bones. By allowing the user to customize the bed’s position, an adjustable bed provides increased comfort, support, and overall well-being. Here are several ways in which an adjustable bed can help someone with osteoporosis.

Enhanced Spinal Alignment

Osteoporosis can lead to curvature of the spine and compression fractures. An adjustable bed allows users to raise the head and foot sections independently, facilitating proper spinal alignment. There are even adjustable beds for back pain, a common ailment of osteoporosis patients.

By adjusting the bed to a position that reduces strain on the spine and promotes a more neutral posture, such as the zero-gravity position, individuals with osteoporosis can alleviate discomfort and minimize the risk of additional fractures.

Reduced Pressure Points

Pressure points are areas of the body that experience concentrated pressure, leading to discomfort and potential injury. Adjustable beds offer the ability to distribute body weight more evenly across the surface, thereby reducing pressure points. For maximum effect, sleepers with osteoporosis can pair an adjustable frame with a top-notch mattress for pressure points.

By adjusting the bed’s position, individuals with osteoporosis can relieve pressure on vulnerable areas, such as the hips and shoulders, promoting better blood circulation and reducing the risk of bedsores.

Improved Breathing and Circulation

Certain positions facilitated by adjustable beds, such as elevating the head section, can enhance breathing and circulation. Osteoporosis patients may experience respiratory difficulties due to spinal curvature or reduced lung capacity.

Raising the head section of the bed can help open up the airways, making it easier to breathe. Additionally, elevating the legs can promote blood flow back to the heart, reducing swelling and the risk of blood clots.

Ease of Movement

Osteoporosis can limit mobility and make it challenging to get in and out of bed independently. Adjustable beds can sometimes be adjusted to a bed height that accommodates easier entry and exit, reducing strain on the bones and joints. This feature can enhance independence, improve safety, and contribute to an overall sense of well-being for individuals with osteoporosis.

For further ease of movement, shoppers can look at a mattress with edge support. The firmer sides make it easy to slide out of bed in the morning, especially when the adjustable bed is used to rise to a sitting position.

Enhanced Bed Rest

An adjustable bed can particularly be helpful to improve comfort during periods of bed rest. In general, long-term bed rest is not recommended for individuals with osteoporosis unless there are specific medical reasons or complications that require it. Prolonged bed rest can actually exacerbate the effects of osteoporosis and lead to further bone loss, muscle weakness, decreased mobility, and other health issues.

However, there may be certain situations where temporary bed rest is necessary for individuals with osteoporosis, such as during the acute phase of a fracture or when other medical conditions require strict immobilization. In these cases, bed rest is usually prescribed for a limited period of time and under the guidance of a healthcare professional, with a mattress designed to prevent bed sores.

Paired with a mattress for sitting up, an adjustable bed makes it easy for someone staying in bed to lounge about during the day.

Customized Support and Comfort

The ability to adjust an adjustable bed to personal preferences and comfort levels is particularly valuable for individuals with osteoporosis. Different positions can be utilized to relieve pain, support specific areas of the body, or accommodate other health conditions or personal preferences.

By tailoring the bed’s position to their individual needs, individuals with osteoporosis can find relief from discomfort and achieve restful sleep.

Should I Use a Mattress Topper for Osteoporosis?

Perhaps you can’t quite afford a new mattress right now, but you still need to improve the comfort of your bed. A mattress topper can potentially help individuals with osteoporosis by providing additional comfort and support while sleeping.

For example, osteoporosis can make individuals more susceptible to developing pressure sores and experiencing discomfort due to pressure points. A mattress topper, particularly a memory foam mattress topper, can help distribute body weight more evenly and alleviate pressure on vulnerable areas. This can reduce the risk of pressure sores and provide relief to sensitive joints and bones.

Osteoporosis can also lead to decreased bone density and increased vulnerability to fractures. A soft mattress topper with extra cushioning can provide plush support that helps protect the bones by absorbing and dispersing the impact of movement. This can be especially beneficial for individuals with osteoporosis who may have fragile bones and require added support to minimize the risk of injuries.

Some mattress toppers are also designed with cooling properties, such as breathable materials or cooling gel-infused foam. Osteoporosis patients may experience hormonal changes and fluctuations in body temperature, making temperature regulation crucial for a comfortable sleep environment. A cooling mattress topper can help dissipate heat and promote a cooler, more comfortable sleeping surface.

FAQs

What is the best mattress firmness level for osteoporosis?

Osteopetrosis can cause a lot of back pain. Typically, the best mattress firmness level for all types of back pain is medium-firm. Medium-firm mattresses offer a balance of support and pressure relief that slightly favors support.

This means your body stays lifted onto the mattress while getting sufficient contour to maintain spinal alignment, all at the same time. This is typically the perfect combination to relieve back pain, which is why we recommend it to most back pain sufferers.

Overly firm mattresses can lead to problems with insufficient contour. Overly soft mattresses can allow your body to sink. However, it’s important to remember that you will need to take your sleep position and body type into account when deciding on a firmness level that’s right for you.

Which mattress material is best for osteoporosis?

If you have osteoporosis, you have a couple of different options when it comes to mattresses that can help ease your symptoms. In general, we recommend that you stick with materials that offer lots of contour and pressure relief without sacrificing support.

Those who want foam should check out latex or memory foam. Latex tends to be more supportive, while memory foam tends to be more contouring. So we’d suggest going a little softer if you get a latex mattress, especially a Dunlop latex mattress, and a little firmer if you get a memory foam mattress.

Those who want the bounce and breathability of coils should check out hybrids. These mattresses feature pocketed coils, which are much better at contouring to the shape of your body than open coils. This can provide far superior pain relief to osteoporosis sufferers.

Will a mattress topper help my osteoporosis pain?

A mattress topper might help your osteoporosis pain in certain situations. The main situation where a mattress topper can help your osteoporosis symptoms is if your mattress is too firm. A mattress that cannot contour to your shape will not keep your spine aligned. Using a softer mattress topper can help add some needed contouring an overly firm sleep surface.

Watch out if your mattress is too soft, however. Mattress support comes from the core. This means that a firm mattress topper will not do the same job on a soft mattress that a soft mattress topper does on a firm mattress. If your mattress is too soft to keep you supported, we suggest you get a new one to help ease your osteoporosis symptoms.

How much should I pay for a mattress for osteoporosis?

Generally speaking, ergonomic mattresses are not cheap. This means you may be paying a little more for a mattress that can provide osteoporosis symptom relief than you would for a mattress that doesn’t have the same kind of depth and support. That being said, the price you pay for a mattress for osteoporosis will still depend largely on the type of mattress you buy.

Latex is by far the most expensive mattress type, while memory foam will be the most affordable mattress that can still help your osteoporosis symptoms. Though innerspring mattresses are slightly cheaper, on average, than memory foam ones, they are not good for osteoporosis. We have found in our tests that they simply do not contour enough to relieve pain, on average.

This is why we recommend going with latex, hybrid, or memory foam mattresses instead. This means you can expect to pay anywhere from $800 to over $2,000 for a queen size mattress for osteoporosis. If you need a less expensive option for pain relief, consider a mattress topper for back pain.

Can a bad mattress cause osteoporosis?

No. A bad mattress cannot cause osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is caused by bone loss. As we age, our bones lose calcium and become less dense and more fragile over time. Mattresses don’t slow or speed up this process. However, a bad mattress can certainly exacerbate the symptoms of osteoporosis.

If your mattress is not adequately supporting you or is failing to contour to your body, then your spine could fall out of alignment. Since osteoporosis already causes back and shoulder pain, a misaligned spine due to a bad mattress can make that pain much worse.

This is why you should always make sure you have a mattress that offers adequate support and contour for your body type and sleep style.

Bottom Line

An awesome mattress is not a cure-all for osteoporosis. But it can help reduce the pain associated with this unpleasant and often debilitating condition.

A mattress that keeps your spine aligned can help alleviate pain both while you sleep and during your waking hours, as well. So don’t skip out on a fantastic mattress if you have osteoporosis. It can do a lot more than help you get a good night’s sleep.