How can anyone find hard mattresses comfortable?!

[Catt1sh]

I have had a few trips away recently, over the past 4 months and found that every single bed was so hard! No bounce or sponginess to it at all, it’s like sleeping on a slab of concrete.

It makes my back ache so much, I ended up sleeping on top of the duvet with my dressing gown or blanket over me to add some extra cushioning. I don’t understand how anyone can sleep on mattresses like these? My partners dad says he prefers hard mattresses… if you are one of these people, how?! Does it genuinely feel comfy to you? I don’t see how it could. You might as well sleep on the floor (okay, I’m exaggerating now, but still)

I have scoliosis and find a hard mattress the most comfortable. My husband hates it, so I understand how you feel

I much prefer a hard mattress but with a thick mattress topper on top of it. So, it feels supportive but comfy.

When I was young - a long time ago - mattresses weren't replaced for years and years. They got to the stage of having no support in them at all and had dips in the middle of the bed that you rolled in to. They were a nightmare on the back. So I find a hard mattress a real pleasure.

I love a hard mattress. It feels like the bed is supporting you rather than you're singing into it.

I sleep on my back and much prefer a hard mattress. If a mattress is too soft I'll struggle to walk the first few steps in the morning as my hips will be totally locked up.

I hate sinking into a mattress. But then there have been times i've willing slept on the floor rather than a squishy mattress.

In the opposite way, my back aches if I sleep on a soft mattress.

Probably because hard is a relative term.

I too dislike soft mattresses. I had the feeling of sinking down into them, and being restricted by all the material around you.

Yes, a very thick, very firm mattress with a substantial soft mattress topper is the best option, I find.

And I cannot stand a bedstead that moves when I do.

I love a hard mattress. It does take some getting used to. We bought an "extra firm" mattress because my DH had back issues. I wasn't sure at first but now I love it.

I ache all over if I sleep in a soft bed now. I like the feeling of being fully supported and not having my hips sink down. That feeling of your body being misaligned i can't bear these days.

Soft beds also mean I roll into DH and we both end up in the middle.

I'm completely the other way. If I sleep on a matress with weak springs it can set off my sciataca or I end up with a pinched nerve in my neck. I once slept in such a saggy matress on holiday that it misaligned my neck, every time I looked to the left, my right arm was all pins and needles.

I've since had a long set of treatments at the chiropractor (do regular exercises too), and I hardly ever get sciataca now. I still prefer a hard matress to keep my back flat, and if sleep on my side i use a body pillow.

Tempur mattresses are quite hard and very expensive but fabulous to sleep on.

I love a hard mattress. I have back and neck issues and if the bed is too soft I sink into it and sleep in all sorts of contorted positions and wake up in so much pain.
memory foam is the absolute worst for me. I always opt for the firmest support and feel much better for it.

We had a Tempur Cloud, which was soft. It felt really comfy initially but absolutely screwed my back over the course of 8 years. DH had no issues.
I started sleeping on the floor as this was better for my back. We now have a firm pocket sprung mattress and my back is a million times better, not so snug for DH though, but he prefers this to me sleeping on the floor!

I agree with OP. Somewhere in the middle is perfect for me, neither soft nor hard, comfortable to lie in and sleep in but not too hard that I feel like I'm on a block of plywood.

Everyone is different, so sleep on whatever works!

My partners mattress is very deep and like concrete. It’s very difficult to push into etc. he says it’s an orthopaedic one and thinks it’s amazing.

He’s agreed to a topper. I still find it too hard and I awake constantly through the night trying to get comfy.

I sleep on my side and I’m a few stone overweight so not sure if that plays into it (I’m tall but a size 16). My hips and back are in pain every weekend.

I now have the topper and then a thick duvet folded under my side of his bed and it’s still too uncomfortable for me.

it’s honestly one of several little reasons we don’t live together as I can’t imagine 7 nights a week on that and he says he couldn’t sleep on anything softer (he also plays jazz/music constantly and my brain needs a break as it’s overwhelming).

my mattress at home is springs with a built in topper and is a medium support.

I cannot tolerate a soft mattress, that awful sinking feeling when you get in bed bleuurgh, I take it one step further, I cannot stand soft pillows either, I may have to look into a wooden Japanese style neck pillow.

I like a very firm mattress with a very thin feather pillow. I like to be as flat as possible. And I love when you get onto a hard mattress and all your joints click and relax. Bliss. The same feeling you get on a yoga mat.

I could have written that, @Catt1sh. Equally, I can't cope with overly soft mattresses. Vispring all the way for me.

What does puzzle me is why some hotels and B&Bs advertise with pride their memory foam mattresses; surely the selling point of memory foam is that it maintains the shape of the person regularly sleeping on it?

I much prefer a hard mattress, it’s much better for my back.

I must admit, I have never sank into a mattress. I have never had memory foam or anything like that. I just like the ones that feels soft and comfy. I don’t understand how you can get into bed and get all snug and cosy on basically a hard surface!

A firm mattress is far more supportive for the spine.

If I sleep on a soft mattress, I ache all day. On a business trip to Monaco, the cheap foam mattress was so useless that I spent four days sleeping on the floor.

I love hard mattresses. I wake up with lower back pain every time I sleep at my mum’s house, where the spare bed mattress is really soft. Also soft mattresses are rubbish for sex.

That’s not how memory foam works! It isn’t meant to keep the shape of the person who uses it.

It’s meant to mould to whoever is currently using it, and then returns to its former shape when they get out of bed.

The ‘memory’ part is that it ‘remembers’ its original shape, not the shape it moulds to.

I've got an old spinal injury so its a hard mattress or pain!