Rest of the Sleep Disorders Forum Posting

Posted by Honest Expert on January 16, 2001 at 23:26:24:

In Reply to: Re: Pillowtop Mattresses posted by Sore Feet on January 16, 2001 at 21:39:09:

Dear sore Feet,

Ah, spring Air! I may have gotten lucky!

Spring Air (trusting my memory) has two types of "zoned" construction, using the same principle, but handled differently.

In one design, they space the springs farther apart at the head and foot of the mattress and closer together in the middle. The idea being that the head and feet are lighter and the torso is heavier, so they concentrate the springs for the torso.

In the other design -- a 5-zone construction -- there is a greater concentration at head, waist and thighs, and a lighter concentration at the shoulders and hips. This allows the springs to shape more accurately to the body.

But in BOTH designs, the concentration stays the same ACROSS the mattress; it only varies from head to foot.

(Now, to make matters worse, I recall that they were also using a 7-zone construction at one time. I have no idea when they stopped ... IF they stopped! The models I have seen recently have all been the two mentioned above.)

In theory, if you were to sleep sideways on the mattress -- so you would be laying all in one zone from head to foot -- it should be a valid test of whether the zones might be the problem. BUT! With you having a pillowtop, I can easily imagine that you have some visable body impressions, with a hump in the middle between them. If so, this may make sleeping on the mattress sideways quite uncomfortable! And if you made modifications to remedy THAT problem, there would be no way to know whether the modifications were the reason your feet didn't hurt!

If it is comfortable to sleep on it sideways, though, I would definitely give it a try for at least a few nights. It is cetainly a much better choice than having to buy a new mattress! (And there is only a 4-inch difference between the length and width, so it would not look weird to turn it 90 degrees, if it works.)

I would also recommend calling Spring Air with your Model Name, purchase information and, hopefully, a serial number off the tag of the mattress. But I wouldn't tell them WHY you are calling just yet. It will be better to have them believe that you want to get another mattress of the same sort, and need to be sure you are choosing right from their variety of choices.

A word about Spring Air: Many -- if not all -- of their factories are franchises, not company owned. Consequently, it is very common that what one factory makes is different than what another factory makes. Each location has a palette of authorized design choices to choose from and they can manufacture according to what they think their market needs. As a result, there can be a great deal of difference between one factory's selection and another's -- including the model names they use. This is why having a serial number may be critical, if you call them. It is also why they may have to "get back to you" to tell you how your mattress was manufactured, since it may have been made in a different location.

I truly have my fingers crossed that you may write me back and say, "MY FEET DON'T HURT! I can't believe sleeping the other way on the mattress was all it took!"

(((Hey, it's good to have dreams!)))

I look forward to hearing from you.

Follow Ups:

Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved