The Best Mattress for Back Pain: 7 Top Options We Tested (2025)
Compare our top five favorite mattresses for back pain
Honorable mentions
Brooklyn Bedding Aurora Luxe Cooling Mattress for $1,586: If you’re looking for something similar to Plank Natural that is firm without being too firm, this is another good choice. It also has cooling features, which is a nice plus.
DreamCloud Premiere Hybrid for $1,099: This soft mattress still provided good support. I enjoyed sleeping on it, but it didn’t erase my back pain as much as other mattresses we recommend. Still, it was a good option if you want support without too much firmness as a side sleeper.
Essentia Tatami Organic Mattress for $3,435: This mattress features a very comfortable organic latex support core that has holes for breathability (and to help with cooling), and the active organic foam core helps with spinal alignment and pressure point contour support. It doesn’t have coils or springs, but it still offers surprisingly good support.
Saatva Classic for $1,879: This was a previous pick in our guide to the best mattresses. This is a good option for back support, especially in the “Luxe” firmness level.
Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid for $1,799: The Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid is marketed as firm and is designed to support the lower back with padding in the center. WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning was a little too short at 5’2″ for the lumbar support, but it might work for people of average height. There are also cooling properties, but they don’t stand out compared to other cooling mattresses.
Nectar Premier for $949: WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar is a side sleeper who suffers from sciatica back pain from time to time, and he says this hybrid mattress is a great choice for anyone who wants a softer mattress to sink into while still getting significant pressure relief and excellent contouring while you sleep.
Plank Firm for $1,072: WIRED reviewer Adrienne So says it takes a few days to reach its full firmness level: She thought it was too soft after initially unboxing it, but it became much firmer after a little more time. She describes Plank Firm as sleeping on a clean wooden floor (which she loves). It is fully foam and flip-up with two different firmness levels on each side.
Purple Restore Cool Touch for $2,700: WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning says this is by far the best cooling mattress. It also contains a grid-shaped gel layer, called GelFlex, which adds extra support and makes getting out of bed easier in the morning.
WinkBeds The WinkBed for $1,799: WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu recommends this mattress to fellow stomach and back sleepers. There are three levels of firmness. He tried the Luxury Firm and liked that the plush pillow top also added a luxurious, hotel-like feel to a relatively firm bed.
Wolf 12-inch Medium Firm Memory Foam Hybrid Mattress for $749: WIRED reviewer Molly Higgins was surprisingly impressed with this affordable mattress. She says the medium-firm memory foam hybrid mattress is much more luxurious than its price suggests, and the individually wrapped coils provide excellent support and help with overall structure, while the superior gel foams conform to the curves of your body and help relieve pressure.
Mattresses to avoid
Although the horrible futon mattress that started my hunt no longer exists – hallelujah for that! – there are many other mattresses that have made my back pain worse or that of other WIRED reviewers.
Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt for $2,199: This mattress was super soft and conforming, but it didn’t offer any support and had more of a sinking feeling when you lay on it. The muscle pain on my right side was worse after nights on this mattress, and my damaged spine felt distinctly unhappy. My sister also tried sleeping on it, and she described it as “sleeping on an air mattress that loses air all night.”
Magniflex Magnistretch 12 for $3,699: This Italian-made mattress claims to stretch the spine. He is supported by retired Italian footballer Giorgio Chiellini and current professional basketball player Stefano Tonut, who plays for the Italian equivalent of the Boston Celtics. Well, the Magniflex definitely does something to the spine, even if WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar found it very unwelcome. He only spent two nights on the Magnistretch before crying uncle and limping to the next testing mattress. He describes the feeling the next day as like sleeping on a hammock made from a chain-link fence.
FAQs
How does a mattress help with back pain?
What makes a mattress ideal for solving back pain? A general rule of thumb is to aim for a medium-firm mattress. “A medium-firm mattress may be better for people with back pain than a soft or firm mattress,” but these are based on poor-quality studies, says Sean Mackey. Harvard Health also recommends avoiding very soft and very hard mattresses if you have back pain.
You’re looking for something that can provide spinal support if your pain is coming from your spine, or pressure relief if your pain is coming from the pressure points you sleep on. The firmness of the mattress plays an important role, as does the overall design of the coils, foam layers, and any additional added support measures.
In my testing, I was impressed to find that a firmer mattress actually led to big improvements in my back pain. I expected a harder surface to cause flare-ups of pain or even make my back move, which has happened on cheap, hard mattresses before. However, I slept well and woke up without any pain. Although a softer sleep surface was my choice since I was a side sleeper, choosing a firmer mattress style immediately supported my spine better and kept the pain away, rather than exacerbating it like I thought it would.
Mackey also recommends consulting your own doctor or occupational therapist. “In chronic disease, we don’t have ‘This is the best thing for you,’” he says. He also recommends trying a few things while you sleep, whether it’s different pillows or mattresses of different firmnesses. You can also try physical therapy or stretching before bed: Mattress maker Charles P. Rogers has dedicated an entire section of its site to pain-free sleep. It’s not just about what you sleep on, but also whether you take care of yourself before you go to bed.
I will probably always live with my spinal issues, and there are things that help, like stretching before bed and staying very active during the day. But sleeping on a better mattress is a good first step to staying active and pain-free, at least in the morning.
If you’re hesitant about investing in a new mattress, there’s a simple place to start: a knee pillow. This was one of the first recommendations that Sean Mackey, MD, chief of Stanford’s division of pain medicine and former president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), made to me when I asked him how to reduce pain while you sleep. He explained that one source of pain can be a lack of alignment of the spine or spine. “In general, you should either sleep on your back or put a pillow or support under your knees to align the spine,” says Mackey.
As a side sleeper, I went out and tried a few knee pillows designed for side sleepers with my original, low-quality foam mattress that I’ve been sleeping on for five years. Mackey wasn’t kidding: it helped. I was more comfortable and fell asleep faster. I liked both the Pillow Cube Knee Cube (which is no longer in production) and the Everstanding Comfort Knee Pillow ($30) for different reasons. The Everstanding has a strap to hold it in place, but it’s nice and small if you don’t want something as bulky as the Pillow Cube in your bed. I did, however, find that the smaller Everstanding was more likely to end up on the floor, while the Pillow Cube was easier to move around and put back in my lap in the middle of the night. Both helped align my spine and reduced my back pain a bit, but I still found switching to a more supportive mattress to be a bigger improvement.
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