Best Mattress for Back Pain (2026): Saatva, Bear, Helix
Compare Our Top Six Favorite Mattresses for Back Pain
Honorable Mentions
Aurora Luxe Brooklyn Cooling Mattress for $1,699: If you’re looking for something like Plank Natural that’s strong without the stiffness, this is another good choice. It has cooling properties, too, which is a nice bonus.
DreamCloud Premiere Hybrid for $1,099: This soft mattress was supportive. I loved sleeping on it, but it didn’t relieve my back pain like other mattresses we recommend. Still, it was a good option if you want support without too much rigidity as a side sleeper.
Essentia Tatami Organic Mattress for $3,435: This mattress is made of a really comfortable natural latex support core with holes for breathing (and to help with cooling), and an active organic foam center helps with spinal alignment and contouring support for pressure points. It doesn’t have coils or springs, but it’s still incredibly supportive.
Leesa Sapira Chill for $1,969: If you’re struggling with whether you want a cooling mattress or a pain-relieving mattress, the Sapira Chill by Leesa is a great value option that can do it all. The Sapira Chill is second in the Best Mattresses guide, thanks to its problem-solving abilities.
Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid for $1,699: Saatva Memory Foam Hybrid is marketed as firm, and is designed to support your lower back with cushioning in the middle. Wired contributor Nicole Kinning was a bit short at 5’2″ in lumbar support, but it might fit average-sized people well. There are cooling zones, but they weren’t prominent compared to other cooling mattresses.
Saatva Solaire for $4,199: If you and your partner want different levels of firmness, Saatva Solaire has an interesting solution: it allows you to adjust the firmness with breathable air chambers and a remote control for either side of the bed. There are 50 intensity levels, and WIRED reviewer Divya Viswanathan says her husband prefers the low setting, about 25, to help with his lower back pain and stress relief, while she likes a firmer feel, about 35 out of 50.
Nectar Premier for $949: Wired reviewer Martin Cizmar is a side sleeper who suffers from occasional sciatica back pain, and says this hybrid mattress is a great choice for anyone looking for a soft mattress to sink into while getting plenty of pressure relief and excellent contouring while you sleep.
Plank Firm for $999: Wired reviewer Adrienne So says it takes a few days to reach full firmness levels—she thought it was too soft after opening it at first, but it became firmer after more time. He describes Plank Firm as lying on a clean wooden floor (which he likes). It’s completely foam, and it’s inflatable with two different firmness levels on each side.
Plank Firm Luxe for $1,199: I really liked the firm support that this mattress provides, and it has a better support system with a middle layer of individually enclosed coils instead of the firm foam that the basic Plank has. It’s reversible, but the soft side is still very firm, and the firmest side is the hardest I’ve ever slept on. I preferred the subtle support of the firm Bear Elite and firm Helix, and both of those models were more comfortable for me as a side sleeper and my husband as a back sleeper.
Purple Restore Cool Touch for $2,699: Wired contributor Nicole Kinning says this is the best cooling mattress by a long shot. It also has a grid-like gel layer, called GelFlex, which adds extra support and makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning.
WinkBeds WinkBed for $1,799: Phone reviewer Julian Chokkattu recommends this mattress to fellow stomach and back sleepers. There are three levels of intensity. Tried the Comfort Firm and liked that the plush pillow also added a luxurious, hotel-like feel to the firm bed.
Wolf 12-Inch Memory Foam Hybrid Medium Firm Mattress for $899: Phone reviewer Molly Higgins found herself surprisingly impressed with this affordable mattress. He says the medium-firm memory foam hybrid mattress feels more comfortable than the price point suggests, and that the individually wrapped coils provide great support and support throughout the structure, while the gel foam top conforms to the curves of your body and helps reduce pressure.
Mattresses To Avoid
While the dreaded futon mattress that started my hunt is gone—hallelujah for that!—there are plenty of other mattresses that have gotten WIRED reviewers up and running.
Tempur-Pedic Tempur-Adapt for $2,199: This mattress was very soft and compliant, but not supportive at all and had a sinking feeling when you slept on it. The muscle pain in my right hand got worse after a night on this mattress, and my damaged spine felt very uncomfortable. My sister also tried sleeping on it, and described it as “sleeping on an air mattress with no air all night.”
Magniflex Magnistretch 12 for $3,699: This Italian-made mattress touts itself as a back stretcher. Endorsed by retired Italian soccer player Giorgio Chiellini and professional basketball player Stefano Tonut, who plays for the Italian equivalent of the Boston Celtics. Yes, the Magniflex does do something on the spine, though WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar found it to be very unwelcome. He only stayed two nights on the Magnistretch before crying uncle and limping to the next test mattress. He describes the morning feeling as being like sleeping on a hammock made of chainlink fence.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does A Mattress Help With Back Pain?
What makes a mattress ideal for back pain relief? A general rule of thumb is to aim for a firmer mattress. “A medium-firm mattress may be better for people with back pain than a soft or firm mattress,” but this is based on low-quality studies, says Sean Mackey. Harvard Health also recommends avoiding both soft and firm mattresses if you have back pain.
You want something that can provide spinal support if your pain is coming from your spine, or pressure relief if your pain is coming from pressure points where you are lying. The firmness of the mattress plays a big role, but so does the overall design of the coils, foam layers, and any additional support measures added.
During my testing, I was impressed to find that a firmer mattress led to a significant improvement in my back pain. I expected the firm surface to cause flare-ups of pain or even throw my back out of place, which has happened with cheap and firm mattresses in the past. However, I slept well and woke up with no aches or pains. Although a soft mattress was my go-to as I’m a side sleeper, choosing a firm mattress style immediately supported my spine better and ended up hurting, rather than opening it up like I thought.
Mackey also recommends seeing your doctor or occupational therapist. He says: “Because of chronic conditions, we don’t have the words ‘This is the best thing for you.’ And he recommends testing a few things while you sleep, whether that’s different pillows or mattresses of different firmness. You could also try physical therapy or stretching before bed: Mattress maker Charles P. Rogers has an entire section of his site dedicated to pain-free sleep. It’s not just what you sleep with, but how well you take care of yourself before you sleep.
I will probably always live with my back conditions, and there are things that help, like stretching before bed and being more active during the day. But sleeping on a better mattress is a great 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 an easy place to start: the knee pillow. It was one of the first recommendations that Sean Mackey, neurologist, chief of the Division of Stanford Pain Medicine, and past president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM), gave me when I asked him about how to reduce pain while sleeping. He explained that one of the sources of pain can be a lack of alignment of the rachis, or alignment of your spine. “Generally, you should lie on your back or put a pillow or pillow under your knees to align your spine,” says Mackey.
As a side sleeper, I went out and tried a few knee pillows made for side sleepers and my first mattress, a foam mattress that I had been sleeping on for the past five years. Mackey wasn’t kidding—it helped. I was more relaxed and fell asleep faster. I liked both the Pillow Cube Knee Knee Cube (discontinued) and the Everlasting Comfort Knee Pillow ($34) for different reasons. The Everlasting has a strap to keep it in place, but it’s nice and small if you don’t want something as big as a Pillow Cube on your bed. I found that the smaller Everlasting was more likely to stay on the floor, however, compared to the Pillow Cube it was easier to remove and return to my knees during the night. Both helped my spinal alignment and reduced my back pain quite a bit, but I still found switching to a supportive mattress to be a huge improvement.
Are WIRED Test Mattresses for Back Pain?
For a general mattress test, we sleep on all mattresses for at least a week, if not longer (most of my options I slept on for close to a month) depending on how they perform. I previously tested all my mattresses on the old Article bed frame, and now I test the mattresses on the IKEA Tonstad bed frame. For back pain, I pay attention to my back pain areas the day before and see if they are better or worse the morning after sleeping on this mattress. I also look for pressure relief as a side sleeper (and another source of pain) and ask my back sleeper husband about his experience and if it has caused him problems or pain that I wouldn’t experience as a side sleeper.
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