Best Mattresses for Pressure Points of 2023

If you’ve ever slept on your side and woken up with your bottom shoulder and hip joints hurting, you’ve experienced pressure point pain. Everyone has pressure points, but not everyone has to experience pain in these pressure points. Whether you experience pain depends on whether you’re sleeping on the right mattress.

The best pressure-relieving mattress combines materials that offer deep compression with the right firmness level for your sleep position. This combination can help you wake up pain-free every morning.

Best Mattresses for Pressure Points of 2023

Those who want a mattress that has a little something for everyone should consider the AS3 by Amerisleep. It’s got zoned pressure relief for those who suffer pressure point pain and a host of other features for everyone else.

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

How Lying Down Feels

Lying down on the AS3, you’ll notice right off the bat that it offers some of the most cooling and responsive pressure relief you’ve ever felt on a foam mattress.

This is all thanks to the plant-based memory foam comfort layer. Amerisleep’s proprietary Bio-Pur® foam swaps some petroleum products for plant oils, making this partially natural foam a better alternative to its fully synthetic counterpart.

Inside the Mattress

The AS3 starts off with a comfort layer of Bio-Pur® memory foam. This layer offers deep compression to alleviate pressure points. It also offers quick response time and tons of breathability, making this one of the rare memory foam mattresses that can accommodate hot and active sleepers.

Next, the HIVE® transition layer offers zoned support that targets five different body areas. This allows you to get adequate pressure relief for your pressure points and sufficient spinal support all at the same time.

Finally, the Bio-Core® base foam support layer offers lots of lift to keep you from sinking. This ultra-firm support layer also offers tons of durability to ensure this mattress outlasts its competitors – expect it to last at least 20 years.

If the pain in your pressure points keeps you from living your active lifestyle, check out the Zoma Hybrid. This performance mattress was made to offer active people the most restorative sleep possible.

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

How Lying Down Feels

The Zoma Mattress is a good mattress for back sleepers with pressure point problems because its feel hovers between a true medium and medium-firm. This means it offers back sleepers enough support to stay lifted but enough cushioning to protect their pressure points.

Inside the Mattress

The Zoma Hybrid starts off with a comfort layer of breathable gel memory foam. This foam not only pushes hot air out and pulls cool air in. Its thermoconductive gel infusions also draw heat away from your body to help ensure the sleep surface stays cool all night.

The next layer of the Zoma is where the magic happens. The Reactiv™ transition layer offers dynamic support and lots of responsiveness. This layer makes the Zoma a much bouncier mattress than your typical memory foam mattress, meaning it’s perfect for active sleepers.

Finally, a core of pocketed coils offers the lift you need to keep your spine aligned. It also helps ensure the Zoma can live up to its 10-year warranty.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattresses for Athletes

If you want a mattress that can better alleviate your pressure points without transferring the pain to your wallet, check out the Vaya Hybrid. This mattress has a simple design that allows it to maintain quality and affordability all at once.

All Vaya mattresses ship free and include a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty.

How Lying Down Feels

One of the Vaya Hybrid’s best attributes is its ability to absorb pressure. This mattress features ultra-contouring foam and adaptable coils that allow the entire mattress to flex and mold itself to your shape. This means it offers superior pressure relief regardless of your sleep position.

Inside the Mattress

The first layer of the Vaya Hybrid is the plush and breathable fabric cover. This cover helps keep cool air flowing through the sleep surface, and a layer of cotton woven directly underneath adds even more pressure relief.

Next, a comfort layer of highly contouring and ultra-porous memory foam provides tons of pressure relief and even more breathability to help keep you from overheating.

Underneath this comfort layer, a support core of highly adaptable coils ensures contouring throughout the entire mattress. These individually wrapped coils also isolate motion transfer and provide lots of responsiveness.

Finally, a layer of ultra-firm base foam adds stability and durability to the coils above, ensuring the Vaya will last just as long as its more expensive competitors.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattresses Under $1000

The thicker, softer Zoma Boost may be better for those seeking pressure relief than the original Zoma Hybrid. Standing 15 inches tall with a deep foam top, the responsive, cooling, gentle cushion of the Zoma Boost can feel luxurious on aching and sore bodies, like a cold compress wrapped in a soft towel.

How Lying Down Feels

The Zoma Boost hovers between a medium and medium-soft, feeling plush yet supportive to most bodies. It’s constructed to give only so much room for individuals to push down, without mitigating the soft, relaxing cushion. Sleepers can stretch out and feel the bed’s cloud-like feel whisk them away to better rest without feeling as if they’ll fall through the bed.

Inside the Mattress

The Zoma Boost distinguishes itself from other mattresses with its light and breathable ultra-cool fabric cover. Unlike the thicker and heavier materials used by competitors, the Zoma Boost’s advanced fabric provides a refreshing and weightless feel, its calming effect bolstered by underlying materials.

The Zoma Boost’s two top layers of foam combine softness, a cooling graphite infusion, and responsiveness to offer superior comfort. These foams gently cushion sensitive areas to melt away tension that can cause or worsen pain. The mattress also draws away heat from the sleeper, reducing interruptions that can leave one feeling tired the next day.

In the middle of the mattress sits a layer of Reactiv™ foam, designed to be adaptive and bouncy, effectively preventing any sagging and eliminating discomfort when changing positions.

Underneath these foams stands a layer of individually wrapped coils, expertly minimizing motion transfer for an uninterrupted night’s sleep. These coils are supported by a solid base, reinforcing the mattress’s overall stability.

The mattress also features handles along the sides, making shifting the bed to change sheets and clean the mattress easier tasks to accomplish.

Those who sleep hot and have pressure point problems should check out this mattress that combines multiple cooling technologies and layers of foam to relieve overheating and pressure alike: the Nolah Evolution 15.

How Lying Down Feels

The Evolution is designed to be one of the most cooling mattresses you’ve ever slept on – and that cool-touch feel is the first thing you’ll notice when you lie down. Thanks to the mattress’s cooling technologies, it’ll remain pleasantly chilly all night.

Inside the Mattress

The Evolution starts off with an ultra-cooling organic cotton cover that sits directly on top of a cooling quilted Euro topper that draws heat away from your body and towards its third layer: a premium heat escape gusset that pushes warm air out of the mattress.

Any heat that manages to evade these three cooling technologies will hit a comfort layer made of Nolah AirFoamICE™. This graphite-infused memory foam works overtime to conduct heat further away from your body.

Underneath this comfort layer, two transition layers of high-resilience and high-density foam keep you lifted and protect you from pressure exerted by the coils below.

The pocketed coil support core of the Evolution features reinforced coils around the perimeter and through the middle to offer enhanced lumbar and edge support. This gives your pressure points the relief they need without sacrificing lumbar support.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattresses That Won’t Sag

Those who want the best organic latex nature has to offer should check out the Spindle Mattress. Not only does this mattress feature all organic ingredients. It also sports swappable firmness for any sleep position.

How Lying Down Feels

The Spindle Mattress is a Dunlop latex mattress. This means it’s durable, breathable, and buoyant. You’ll notice immediately that the Spindle has much more bounce and lift than a memory foam mattress, and it pulls it off without the use of a coil support core!

Inside the Mattress

The Spindle starts off with a breathable and moisture-wicking cover made of organic cotton and stuffed with organic wool batting. The long organic cotton fibers offer tons of cooling power, while the wool adds pressure relief and natural fire protection.

Next come three layers of organic Dunlop latex: a soft layer, a medium layer, and a firm layer. The great thing about these layers is they don’t come in any particular order. You can easily unzip the cover and stack them any way you want.

Depending on your sleep position, you can create a soft mattress, a firm mattress, or any feel in between. Side sleepers can stack the soft layer on top and the firm on the bottom. Stomach sleepers should flip this order. Back and combo sleepers may have to try a few different combinations to get it right.

SEE ALSO: Best Mattresses Without Fiberglass

If you’re not sure what firmness level you need or have never found a firmness level that works for you, consider the Saatva Solaire. This mattress offers 50 precise firmness settings that can be changed at the touch of a button.

How Lying Down Feels

The Solaire has no specific feel. Rather, it has whatever feel you choose. Using the remote, you can select an ultra-soft feel, an ultra-firm feel, and everything in between. This is especially fantastic for combo sleepers because it allows them to tailor their feel to whatever position they choose.

Inside the Mattress

The Solaire starts off with an organic cotton cover featuring antimicrobial treatments to fight allergens in your bed. This cover sits atop a cooling quilted Euro topper for extra pressure relief.

Directly underneath the Euro topper, you’ll find a layer of ergonomically zoned latex that offers targeted pressure to five different body areas. Under this layer, a layer of gel memory foam adds contouring and adaptable support.

The support core of this mattress is made of vulcanized air chambers. These chambers offer consistent edge-to-edge support, and they’re also responsible for adjusting the firmness level of the mattress.

SEE ALSO: Best Customizable Mattresses

If you suffer from allergies, the microbes in your bed could be contributing to your symptoms. The good news is the Bear Elite Hybrid can help keep you from sharing a bed with your allergy triggers.

How Lying Down Feels

The Elite features copper infusions. You won’t notice these infusions working in the background to fight allergies. What you will notice are the infusions’ cooling properties. Copper infusions work overtime to fight heat buildup and keep your sleep surface cool.

Inside the Mattress

The Elite starts off with a hypersoft cushioned cover that combines PCM fabric and Celliant fibers to create a cool-touch sleep surface.

Directly underneath this cover rests a layer of copper-infused memory foam that works a double shift to fight both overheating and common microbes that trigger allergy symptoms – like mold, dust mites, and mildew.

Next up, a layer of dynamic transition foam protects you from pressure exerted by the coils below. These coils offer adaptable spinal support and a reinforced perimeter for superior edge-to-edge support.

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

Side sleepers who want the ultimate pressure relief without sacrificing an ounce of spinal support should check out the supportive and cushioning Helix Midnight Luxe.

How Lying Down Feels

This mattress features a core of ultra-supportive coils and several layers of cradling and buoyant foam. This means you’ll get all the pressure relief your heart desires, but you’ll also notice there’s very little sinkage for such a soft mattress.

Inside the Mattress

The Midnight Luxe starts with a choice between cooling cover fabrics. You can choose breathable TENCEL™ or thermally conductive GlacioTex fabric. Whichever cover you choose, it will sit atop a layer of premium copper-gel memory foam. This foam can help dissipate heat even as this medium-soft mattress hugs and cradles your body.

Next, a layer of high-density Memory Plus foam provides contouring and buoyancy to keep you lifted onto the sleep surface. This layer is aided by a transition layer of high-grade polyfoam to make it even more buoyant.

Finally, a layer of zoned pocketed coils offers pressure relief under your hips and shoulders and extra support under your middle to ensure your waist is lifted and your spine is kept in a straight line. Reinforced perimeter coils also offer superior edge support.

SEE ALSO: Best Hybrid Mattresses for Side Sleepers

Those who want a hybrid mattress with a classic hybrid feel should check out the Spartan Hybrid by Brooklyn Bedding. This mattress features responsive coils arranged into ergonomic zones that offer ideal support to each area of the body.

How Lying Down Feels

Lying down on the Spartan, you’ll get a good feel for the zoned pressure relief. You’ll notice right away there’s extra support under your lumbar region, while your shoulders and hips get the pressure relief they need.

Inside the Mattress

The first layer of the Spartan is the Smart Fabric cover. This cover helps diffuse body heat by converting it to far infrared energy. This energy may help improve sleep quality and circulation.

Next, a layer of copper-infused memory foam draws heat away from you and fights common allergens. This layer of cooling memory foam rests atop a layer of premium memory foam that decides the firmness of the mattress: soft, medium, or firm.

The transition layer of the mattress is also determined by what firmness you choose. Those who select soft and medium feels will get a layer of gel swirl memory foam, while those who select the firm option will get a layer of VariFlex™ material.

Finally, a layer of pocketed coils offers adaptable and responsive support for the whole mattress. These zoned coils also offer targeted pressure relief calibrated to each body area.

SEE ALSO: Mattress Sizes and Bed Dimensions

How to Choose the Best Mattress for Pressure Points

You would think the best mattress for pressure points pain would just be the softest mattress you could find. However, this is not necessarily the case. It won’t do you much good if you have a mattress that’s so soft it relieves your pressure point pain but lets your spine fall out of alignment and leaves you with back pain.

This means to find the best mattress for you, you’ll need to choose the right material and mattress firmness to give you the correct balance of support and pressure relief.

What Causes Pressure Point Problems?

Everyone has pressure points. These are simply the areas of your body that press down hardest on the mattress. Your sleep position determines where these pressure points are.

“The importance of posture in facilitating good sleep is often underestimated,” explains Dr. Nayantara Santhi. “A good sleeping position is critical for sleep because it can impact a person’s breathing, muscles, and even brain activity.”

For example, side sleepers’ pressure points are the hip and shoulder joints that contact the mattress, so they benefit from a pressure-relieving mattress for shoulder pain. Meanwhile, stomach sleepers may have pressure points in the chest or hip bones.

Whether you experience pressure point pain depends on your mattress. Mattresses that are too firm can push back on the pressure points, causing you to experience pain in them when you wake and sometimes even throughout the day.

Ideal Mattress Materials for People with Pressure Point Pain

If you have pressure point pain, you’ll need a type of mattress that’s good at absorbing pressure to ensure you get sufficient relief. However, you don’t want to sacrifice spinal support to get pressure relief. That will just leave you with a whole new set of problems.

Getting the right balance of pressure relief and support means getting a mattress that’s good at contouring. Mattresses that can contour mold themselves to your shape to align the spine and relieve pressure at the same time – and some mattress materials are much better at contouring than others.

Memory Foam

Flexible polyurethane foam – memory foam – is made using processed petroleum products. These products are whipped into a synthetic foam that is more flexible and adaptable than virtually any other.

Memory foam is perhaps the best material for contouring on the market. A memory foam mattress compresses under your pressure points to absorb pressure, and it rises to meet inward curves in your body to support your spinal column.

This means memory foam is one of the best materials to relieve pressure point pain without sacrificing spinal support. The material has even been used in mattresses for bed sores that hospitals rely upon to keep patients in long-term comfort.

The main issues with memory foam spring from its synthetic composition. It’s not the most responsive foam on the market, so it can develop issues with body impressions and be slow to spring back into place. It also tends to retain heat more than other mattress types.

So hot sleepers and active sleepers should take note. If you often wake up. In a sweat or like to toss and turn at night, you may do better with a hybrid or a latex foam mattress than with a memory foam one.

Latex Foam

Hot sleepers and active sleepers who want an all-foam mattress should check out natural latex. Natural latex foam comes from the sap of the rubber tree. The liquid sap is whipped into a foam and processed into one of two main types of foam: Talalay and Dunlop.

For pressure relief, a Talalay latex mattress is best. It’s lighter and more flexible than Dunlop latex, which allows it to contour and compress better. However, Dunlop latex cannot be beaten in the buoyancy category. This dense and sturdy foam is also the most durable material on the market.

Both Talalay and Dunlop are highly responsive, and they’re also much more breathable than memory foam. This makes a latex mattress a much better alternative for those who sleep hot or like to change positions during the night.

There are a couple of things to watch out for when it comes to latex. First, latex wants to hold its own shape more than memory foam. This means it’s not quite as contouring. Most people won’t notice a difference, but if you’re a side sleeper, you might.

Another issue with latex is its potential to trigger allergies. If you have a latex allergy, it’s best to stick to memory foam because there’s always a risk of coming into contact with the rubber in your mattress. Cost is another drawback for many, particularly when it comes to organic latex mattresses.

Hybrid

For those who need the most intense pressure relief of all, a hybrid mattress might be the best option. Hybrid mattresses combine pocketed coils with comfort foams to create a mattress that offers the best of both springs and foam. Hybrids can come with latex or memory foam comfort layers – some hybrids have both!

Hybrid mattresses offer lots of pressure relief, thanks to their ability to contour all the way through the mattress. Pocketed coils can move independently because they’re individually wrapped. This means each coil can compress in its own way to take your shape, providing pressure relief and support all at the same time.

Hybrids are also fantastic cooling mattresses for hot sleepers and active sleepers. The pocketed coils circulate cooling air throughout the mattress, and they also bounce right back as soon as you move. That means memory foam hybrid mattresses can be a good alternative for hot and active sleepers who still want memory foam.

The main issue with hybrid mattresses is their expense. The coils break down and lose tension faster than base foam, which means hybrids don’t last as long as foam mattresses.

Furthermore, they’re also among the most expensive mattresses on the market. Combined with their lowered durability, hybrids’ high average upfront cost leaves them as the most expensive mattress type of all.

Innerspring

Innerspring mattresses are not the best when it comes to pressure relief. They combine a thinner comfort layer with a support core of open coils. Open coils are wired together with steel cable, which poses a lot of problems that can interrupt your sleep.

The main problem with open coils vs pocketed coils is the fact that open coils cannot contour all that well. They tend to sag underneath your heavier parts and don’t compress well underneath your pressure points. This means they can allow your spine to fall out of alignment and also exert a lot of pressure on places where they shouldn’t.

Additionally, open coils have issues with motion transfer, low durability, squeaking and creaking, and even breakage and poking through the comfort layers. You also cannot use innerspring mattresses with adjustable beds because they’re too stiff. For all these reasons, we suggest going with a hybrid if you want a coil support core.

Ideal Firmness Level for People with Pressure Point Pain

Mattress firmness is measured on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the firmest. Mattresses do not cover the entire firmness range. Rather, the overwhelming majority of mattresses fall between a three and an eight. This is because no one wants a mattress with no support or no pressure relief. Every mattress needs to have a little of both.

The balance you need depends on a couple of factors, namely your sleep style and your body type.

Sleep Position

Your sleep position is the most important factor in your decision on your mattress’s firmness. The position you prefer to sleep in decides how your spine lines up and where your pressure points are. This means the way you sleep most impacts where and how your mattress needs to compress.

Back Sleepers

Back sleepers don’t tend to have as many issues with their pressure points as people with other sleep preferences. This is because the body weight is fairly evenly distributed across the back. Most back sleepers have problems with spinal alignment instead.

An overly firm mattress won’t compress under the buttocks, letting the lower back slouch and misaligning the lumbar region. An overly soft mattress will allow the whole body to sink, which bends the spine out of alignment.

For this reason, back sleepers need medium-firm mattresses (6). These mattresses for back sleeping offer a balance of support and pressure relief that will keep the spine optimally aligned.

Combo Sleepers

Combination sleepers don’t have a strong preference for a single sleep position. They may adopt any sleep position on any given night or even several times throughout the night. This can pose a problem for those who suffer pressure point pain because it means they have multiple pressure points all over the body.

The best way to deal with this is to get a medium mattress (5). Such mattresses for combination sleepers offer a good balance of cushioning and support that can help prevent spinal misalignment and pressure point pain in multiple sleep positions.

Side Sleepers

Side sleepers have the most pressure point problems of all. Sleeping on your side presses the hip and shoulder joints into the mattress. Hours upon hours of your body weight pushing these pressure points into the mattress can lead to severe pain and stiffness – especially for those who can only sleep on one side.

That’s not to say side sleeping is a bad position. On the contrary, it’s often regarded as one of the best sleep positions.

“The physiotherapist Michael Tetley grew up among tribal people in Africa, and they taught him to side-sleep so he could listen for danger signals with both ears,” notes Dr. Santhi. “While we probably don’t have to listen for danger signals in the relative comfort and safety of our homes, side-sleeping is still one of the healthier sleep postures to adopt.”

Soft mattresses (3) are the best way to counter the pressure of side sleeping. Soft mattresses offer deep compression and tons of pressure absorption.

Side sleepers who need a little extra support can consider a medium-soft mattress (4) or medium as an alternative. These mattresses for side sleeping still provide tons of pressure relief, but they also offer a bit more support.

Stomach Sleepers

Like back sleepers, stomach sleepers have more problems with spinal misalignment than pressure point pain. Sleeping on your stomach causes your pelvis to sink into the mattress. This overarches the spine and causes lower back pain. A supportive mattress for stomach sleeping counters the effects of gravity on the torso.

Firm and extra-firm mattresses (7 and 8) counter this sinkage to help keep your spine in proper alignment. If you have pressure points in your hips, chest, or knees from stomach sleeping, a true firm mattress may be best for you. Avoid going lower than a medium-firm to prevent back pain.

Body Type

Not everyone’s body type impacts their firmness needs, but it sometimes can. The mattress industry considers the average human body weight range to be between 130 and 230 pounds. This means they create mattresses with that standard in mind.

If your weight falls between these two numbers, you don’t need to worry about your body weight impacting your firmness needs. It isn’t a factor for you. If your weight falls outside of these numbers, you’ll need to take that into consideration.

Petite Sleepers

Petite sleepers weigh less than 130 pounds. Those who fall into this category tend to have problems getting enough compression to alleviate their pressure points.

This means they can wind up with pressure-related pain on a mattress that corresponds to their sleep position. This is why petite sleepers usually need to go one firmness level lower than the one that goes with their preferred sleep position. Softer mattresses for lightweight sleepers are quick to hug the body.

Plus-Size Sleepers

If you weigh more than 230 pounds, you’re a plus-size sleeper. Plus-size sleepers tend to have the opposite problem as petite sleepers. Mattresses that correspond to their sleep position often don’t offer enough support to counter sinkage, which leads to spinal misalignment.

This means heavier sleepers need to go one level firmer than the typical mattress that would correspond to their sleep position. Firmer mattresses for heavy sleepers can withstand the added wear and tear better and softens up underneath a plus-sized body.

FAQs

Why do I have pressure points?

The short answer to this question is that everyone has pressure points. Pressure points are just the areas where your body presses down on the bed, depending on how you sleep.

Pain can occur in these areas if you sleep on a mattress that doesn’t work for your sleep style and body type. Overly firm mattresses are the most common cause of pressure point pain, though too-soft mattresses made of materials that can’t contour can cause pressure point issues as well.

Most of the time, finding a mattress or mattress topper that better fits your sleep needs can fix the problem. For example, if you have a medium-firm mattress but are a side sleeper, you’d need to either find a plush mattress topper or replace your mattress with a medium-soft or soft mattress.

Which mattress material is best for pressure points?

There are several different materials that can help ease pressure point pain, but the best of these is memory foam. Memory foam offers the deepest compression, which translates into the most pressure relief at each firmness level. This means you’re more likely to get sufficient pressure relief at the right firmness level for you with a memory foam mattress.

If you take issue with the heat retention and slow response time of a memory foam mattress, check out a memory foam hybrid instead. It will have all the contouring of a memory foam mattress, but it’ll be much more responsive and cooling than an all-foam mattress.

Can an adjustable bed help my pressure point pain?

Adjustable beds can help your pressure points because they’re so great at relieving pressure. Sleeping on an adjustable bed allows your body to achieve a natural bend that pulls your weight off of your joints, which can relieve pressure.

The zero-gravity pose is among the best positions for pressure relief. Elevating the head and feet above the heart helps take some of the weight off of common areas that experience pressure-related pain, like shoulders, hips, and knees. It also helps alleviate back pain, so it offers a one-two punch of pain relief.

Which firmness level is best to relieve my pressure points?

The firmness level you need depends mostly on your sleep position. Side sleepers have the most problems with pressure points. Side sleepers also need the softest mattresses of all sleep positions.

So side sleepers who have pain in their hips and shoulders should consider a true-soft mattress. Side sleepers who are heavier or have back pain should go up to a medium-soft. If you’re a stomach or back sleeper, be careful with how soft you go. Back sleepers and, especially, stomach sleepers need a lot more support than side sleepers.

Back sleepers should stick to a medium-firm mattress, and stomach sleepers should go with firm mattresses. If you’re waking up with pressure point pain with these firmnesses, consider a soft mattress topper to provide more pressure relief without losing the support of your correct firmness.

What causes pressure point problems?

In a word: pressure. When you sleep on any surface in any position, certain areas of your body will contact the sleep surface more than others. Your body weight pushes these areas against the sleep surface, and if the sleep surface pushes back, the areas against it will experience pain. It’s that simple. This is why getting the correct firmness level is so important.

Bottom Line

Pressure points are a part of life. Everyone has them, and anyone can experience pain in them. The good news is there’s a simple solution – a comfortable and pressure-relieving mattress!