Back problems while sleeping on boat

[Jared1048]

On land I used to have back problems from my days as a night stocker at Costco that have followed me ever since. I tried many mattress's before getting a sleep number and fell in love with it. No more back problems.

I told myself I only needed two things on the boat before I moved onto it. Internet and a damn good bed. I have failed at one of those.

I put a 5 inch heavy foam topper over the cushions and a softer 2 inch pad over that. It used to be fine but its getting worse. Im running out of space as I'm in the rear quarter berth and cant just keep piling on layers though that's what seems like is needed. Another softer layer.

What have you guys done about this? I really wish I could get a small sleep number for the bed but see they only have the twin sets. Though I could only inflate one side. Being air they are picky about how you lay on them which might not work in the boat.

Little background on me. I'm 5'10 and 215lbs.

Thanks,
-Jared

 

[Steve Dion]

Latex mattress.

 

[Jackdaw]

We use this on our 36.7. Nice comfort increase with minimal height gain.

http://www.frolisleepsystems.com/

As a bonus it keels mildew away.

 

[neilmcc]

Have you checked under there for peas?

 

[neilmcc]

More seriously:
We have the original foam cusions and a 3 inch memory foam topper on ours and my wife has a bad back when she sleeps aboard.
We are going to replace the foam and see if that helps.

 

[Jared1048]

That froili system looks nice since you could adjust the firmness. I'd like to be able to solve it with foam/latex as its easy to cut to exact size and is cheap.

 

[FastOlson]

The real problem

Your factory foam went flat in about 3 to 6 years. It's still dead... Really Dead.

Put in some new high-density foam (about 2.6).
It lasts and lasts... but costs more than the cheapie 1.8 density that most factories install new.

I replaced our foam in '95, and we still spend up to three weeks of nights aboard after all these years and we do Not bottom out sitting or laying on our cushions. (!)
We rest as well on board as we do on a top quality king mattress at home, matter of fact.

You do not need "toppers" or exotic different mattress material costing big BUC's. (And, I am 6'2" and weigh over 205 most of the time, even tho I should weigh less.)

 

[Sailvayu]

It is possible the bed is not the problem. When living on a boat we use our bodies differently, more stooping, sitting, bending, and twisting. Just getting on and off the boat can stress your system. I recommend you try a daily regimen of stretching. it has helped me more than anything else. Try it for 2 weeks and see if it does not help. Might find it helps you feel better all around

 

[Dean Strong]

I have occassional lower back pain from a couple of compressed discs and my wife has hip issues. We resolved completely them with a sleep number bed at home.

On the boat, we had a two inch memory foam topper on the original cushions and both experienced a return to "pre-sleep number bed" back issues.

To duplicate the sleep number bed, I purchased two 3 inch thick self inflating camping pads from REI. They come in short, long, regular and extra wide sizes. One regular width and one wide width fit our space. I removed all of the cushions, and replaced them with the camp pads. Then we purchased a queen size 3 inch memory foam topper from Costco.

This did the trick. No more back pain. We can individually adjust the air foundation in the camp pads, like the sleep number bed, although after experimenting, the self-inflate levels of the pads were about right for both of us.

The pads are also easy to roll up for storage, and won't mildew like cushions can. The 3 inch foam pad is a little hard to fold and manuever, so I'm thinking of trying a two inch, which I used to store in a large vacuum storage bag...but its hard to mess with success.

 

[IH82BL8]

Air mattress?

 

[Jared1048]

I have occassional lower back pain from a couple of compressed discs and my wife has hip issues. We resolved completely them with a sleep number bed at home.

On the boat, we had a two inch memory foam topper on the original cushions and both experienced a return to "pre-sleep number bed" back issues.

To duplicate the sleep number bed, I purchased two 3 inch thick self inflating camping pads from REI. They come in short, long, regular and extra wide sizes. One regular width and one wide width fit our space. I removed all of the cushions, and replaced them with the camp pads. Then we purchased a queen size 3 inch memory foam topper from Costco.

This did the trick. No more back pain. We can individually adjust the air foundation in the camp pads, like the sleep number bed, although after experimenting, the self-inflate levels of the pads were about right for both of us.

The pads are also easy to roll up for storage, and won't mildew like cushions can. The 3 inch foam pad is a little hard to fold and manuever, so I'm thinking of trying a two inch, which I used to store in a large vacuum storage bag...but its hard to mess with success.

yes, I had a similar situation. got a sleep number at home and all the problems went away. I tried to put it on the boat but wasn't successful.


update

I bought a queen size 5' thick high density memory foam "topper". cut it in half and shared the other piece with the gf's bunk. had it a couple days but what a difference! it was $300 but worth every penny.

heard a funny saying that reminded me of this. "don't be cheap on stuff that comes between you and the ground. tires, shoes and bed'

 

[kito]

It is possible the bed is not the problem. When living on a boat we use our bodies differently, more stooping, sitting, bending, and twisting. Just getting on and off the boat can stress your system. I recommend you try a daily regimen of stretching. it has helped me more than anything else. Try it for 2 weeks and see if it does not help. Might find it helps you feel better all around

I have to agree. I have a bad back and just an afternoon of sailing aggrevates it from going up and down the cabin steps, rooting around in tight places etc. The worst is my neck from looking up at the windex.

 

[ktm500mx]

sleeping issues

I have a really bad back and I went to 4" of dual density foam and the froili system and I swear I sleep better on the boat then at home and im a big guy ex weight lifter and this sytem works well for me.
later mike