Arthritis spine

carole1509

I've had low back pain for about 10years (I'm 48 years old) since a lifting injury sustained at work. When I have occasional flare ups where it goes into spasm it usually gets better on it's own with painkillers after a few weeks. In December last year I began having problems with my neck and an X-ray diagnosed cervical spondylosis - I had terrible pain and numbness in my arm and shoulder that took about 5 weeks to improve with physio, and now 8 months later is not quite back to 100%. Since the neck problem my lower back has become chronically stiff and painful in the mornings when waking - it's a real struggle to get moving and getting underwear and socks on is difficult as I can't bend sufficiently. I suspect that I have a similar degenerative problem in my lumbar spine. I have a Tempur mattress which I feel has served me well until recently, but am thinking of changing it as I need a bigger bed - can anyone recommend a good mattress for my type of problem?

frogmorton

hI carole

Good to meet you

I recommend trying them out before buying them to be honest. Some swear by memory foam - others find them too hot :?

Think they should have a look at yor back?? Mine used to do what yours does - play up then after meds rest and time get better....in the end it went completely and I lost all the feeling in my RT leg and had to have surgery. I still cant feel part of my Rt foot and bum cheek and behind rt knee.

Surgeon said if he could have operated sooner my nerve would not have been so damaged.

Mine is a kingsdown mattress which has memory foam top layer.

Hope you find a good one.

Love

Toni xx

woodbine

Hello Carole,

I have OA in my lumbar spine too - I'm 41 and have had back probs since my early 20s. Your main symptoms sound very like mine - always stiffness in the mornings, and occasional spasms / flare ups that take a few weeks to wear off.
We used to have a very firm posturepedic matress until a physio suggested that this might be making things worse. We bought a memory foam matress in a sale ( a fairly firm one - some were very soft) and, though it does seem a little warm on warmer nights, my back has improved quite a bit, especially first thing in the morning.
We recently went on holiday in a self-catering cottage where the bed was extremenly hard - it took just 2 nights to make my back bad again. (We ended up buying an air matress to sleep on for the remainder of the holiday!)

So - you need a matress which supports, but isn't too hard. I'm told that one way to check is to lie flat on the matress, and try to slide your hand under the small of your back - if it won't go at all, or is very tight you're sinking too far into the matress so it's too soft , but if the gap is so great that it allows you to put your hand in and out without touching the bed or your back, it's too hard and not letting you sink into it at all. This seems to work for me!
The lady at the bed shop let us lie on a few matresses and try this before we decided, so don't be afraid to try a few You could also buy a memory foam matress topper on your own bed which will make it softer while still being supportive.

Hope that's helpful,
Naomi

bambi59

hi i also have the same problem lumbar and cervical damaged discs and arthritis. getting to sleep is painful, during the night and mornings are painful. stiffness in the mornings is also a big problem, i have a 4in memory foam topper on top of a posturepedic bed. i also use sevral shaped pillows to suport legs back ect to aid comfort and ease pain. i have memory foam pillow but find this too hard and rigid and use it under my leg more. i love my laytex pillow
i have tryed sponge topper and one with riges, and other toppers feather pollester!! you name it, the one i have now seems the best for me. i think its trial and error as we all have different needs.
my daughter says im obsessed with pillows and bits of sponge but if you carnt sleep it really brings you down. so hope you find the best for you. but try the memory foam topper but not a thin one, 3-4 in at least.

frogmorton

Oh I forgot - I think the amitriptyline from the docs also helps as does the pillow between knees

Love

Toni xx