Medium-firm mattress best for back pain

If lower back pain is making life a misery, a medium-firm mattress could provide some relief. Although a firm mattress offers better support and is recommended by most doctors, according to Spanish researchers a less rigid mattress is best for a pain in the back. Lower back pain is one of the most common ailments and affects most people at some point in their lives. The pain, which can last for a few days, months or years, is usually caused by trauma from an injury, lifting, an accident or muscle dysfunction. It is one of the most prevalent ailments in the industrialised world.A medium firm mattress is better than a hard mattress for back pain, according to researchers of the Kovacs Foundation, a medical charity in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Researchers compared the impact of hard and medium-firm mattresses on 313 people who suffered from chronic lower back pain. The patients were randomly selected and given either a firm or medium firm mattress and were asked to report on the amount of back pain they suffered while lying in bed and rising in the morning.

After three months, people who slept on the medium-firm mattress reported greater pain relief and less disability than the other group. The use of a mattress of medium firmness improves the clinical course of low back pain in a higher proportion of patients than the use of a firm mattress. If the mattress is too firm or hard, it may not adapt to the natural curves of the spinal column. The findings come as a relief for doctors with patients suffering from lower back pain. After the study, clinicians may be confident in recommending a mattress of medium firmness rather than previously recommended hard bed for patients with chronic low back pain.