Best Mattress for Fibromyalgia

Finding the best mattress for fibromyalgia after you’ve been diagnosed is essential. Fibromyalgia is a whole-body, life-changing condition that can have a drastic impact on every corner of your life, including your sleep. If you’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, you may experience sensitivity to heat and cold, tender spots, pain in the musculoskeletal system, sleep disorders, and other factors that make regularly achieving a good night’s sleep a serious challenge.

While deep rest is recommended for everyone, paying attention to sleep habits is especially important for fibromyalgia patients. The right mattress can help reduce pain, alleviate pressure points, and bring you one step closer to a healthier night’s sleep and improved overall wellness.

In this guide, we’re sharing the best mattresses for fibromyalgia. You’ll learn our top picks for the best mattresses to help with the condition, their pros and cons, their construction, and which of these mattresses for fibromyalgia might be best for you and your unique set of symptoms.

Best Mattress for Fibromyalgia in 2020

• Loom & Leaf —Best Affordable Luxury
• Brooklyn Bowery—Best Value
• Nectar—Best for Acute Pain
• Tuft & Needle Mint—Best for Average Weight Sleepers
• Nolah—Best Soft Feel
• Purple Hybrid—Best Hybrid

The Loom & Leaf is a luxury mixed foam bed that’s available in two firmness settings. The appeal of the Loom & Leaf for fibromyalgia patients is in its cooling surface and superior pressure point relief, also making it one of the best mattresses for seniors. The bed is constructed with a quilted cotton cover that encases 4.5 inches of gel memory foam and traditional memory foam in the comfort layers and 7.5 inches of polyfoam in the support core. The gel-infused top layers improve the mattress’ breathability, an essential quality for fibromyalgia sufferers who sleep hot, while the bottom support layer creates a surface that’s virtually silent and very motion isolating.

If you’ve been suffering from fibromyalgia for some time and have the budget to invest in a mattress that’s bound to alleviate pain and move you one step closer to a great night’s sleep, you’ll enjoy sleeping on the Loom & Leaf and all the luxury amenities, like White Glove delivery, that come with your purchase.

Read our full Loom & Leaf mattress review to learn more.

Product description: The Bowery by Brooklyn Bedding is a mixed-foam mattress that provides close conforming, motion isolation, low noise, and more. It’s constructed with a quilted polyfoam cover, a dual-layer comfort system, and a dense polyfoam support core. The result is a medium firmness level and a feel that’s alleviating for aches and pains while supportive of spinal alignment.

The Bowery’s thick comfort layers (five inches) provide an exceptionally soft feel that provides amazing pressure relief for fibromyalgia patients who sleep on their side or back. We recommend the Bowery for average weight and lightweight sleepers, but it can work for heavyweight people who prefer more moderate firmness settings. The Brooklyn Bowery is also available in a hybrid model and comes with free shipping, a 120-night trial, and a 10-year warranty.

Related: Brooklyn Signature mattress review 

The Nectar mattress has a medium firm feel that’s balanced—it conforms to the body but provides adequate support. It’s constructed with two comfort layers, including quilted memory foam and gel-infused memory foam, to enhance contouring and provide the body with a pressure-relieving hug, making it one of the best memory foam mattresses. Its middle-of-the-road firmness level also makes it appropriate for sleepers in virtually any sleeping position and weight class.

We find that almost anyone suffering from pain will improve or alleviate their issues thanks to the top two comfort layers, which allow you to sink in and relax without sacrificing spinal alignment. The Nectar is priced affordably and also comes with generous policies, including a 365-night sleep trial, a lifetime warranty, and free shipping.

Read our full Nectar mattress review to learn more.

The Tuft & Needle Mint earns our pick as the best option for average weight sleepers because it suits every sleeping position, making it one of the best mattresses for side sleepers, in addition to back, stomach, and combination. It also touts sleeping cool, isolating motion, and having a mid-level firmness that almost anyone in the average weight category will enjoy. 

The bed is constructed with a 5 inch gel-and charcoal-infused comfort layer that helps it sleep cool and a 7-inch support core of high-density polyfoam. This simple construction provides the right amount of pain relief, conforming, and hugging around the hips, shoulders, and low back. 

The conforming provides pressure relief, yet the surface of the mattress doesn’t collapse enough to throw the spine out of alignment. The Tuft & Needle Mint comes with a 100-night sleep trial, a 10-year warranty, and free shipping.

Read our full Tuft & Needle Mint mattress review to learn more.

One of the most sought-out mattress qualities by fibromyalgia sufferers in the market for a new mattress is a plush, soft, memory foam mattress feel. The Nolah is an all-foam bed that provides a feel that’s somewhere between ultra soft and memory foam—it has a cloud-like surface that the majority of sleepers with aches and pains love. 

Related: Best Mattress for Hip Pain

With this mattress, you’ll enjoy the softness of memory foam without feeling stuck or like you can’t change sleeping positions. This mattress will be tender on the joints and other areas of pain, and its firmness level makes it technically appropriate for side, back, stomach, and combination sleepers. It’s medium-firm construction makes it best-suited for lightweight and average weight individuals, although heavyweight fibromyalgia patients who enjoy a very soft bed may be satisfied with the Nolah. The mattress comes with free shipping, a 15-year warranty, and a 120-night trial.

Read our full Nolah mattress review to learn more.

It’s somewhat rare to see hybrid mattresses on the list of recommendations for best mattresses for fibromyalgia or back pain sufferers, but the Purple Hybrid makes our list for good reason. This mattress combines Purple’s proprietary breathable, conforming Smart Grid comfort layer with pocketed coils for the best of both worlds in support and conforming.

We like this option for fibromyalgia patients who enjoy the bounce and responsiveness of hybrid and innerspring beds but need the cradle and pressure relief that memory foam and all-foam beds typically excel in. If there were three words we’d use to describe this bed, they’d be bouncy, supportive, and cooling.

If those sound like qualities that would help with your fibromyalgia pain relief and the quality of your sleep, we’d recommend the Purple Hybrid. It comes with free shipping, a 100-night trial, and a 10-year warranty.

Read our full Purple Hybrid mattress review to learn more.

Best Mattress for Fibromyalgia Buying Guide

Fibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and is often accompanied by fatigue, disturbed sleep, memory loss, and mood swings. The condition is difficult to diagnose due to the variety of symptoms that come into play. Studies suggest that fibromyalgia is accompanied by nerve stimulation that enhances the number of neurotransmitters that communicate painful sensations throughout the body.

People with fibromyalgia often feel the symptoms listed above in addition to general musculoskeletal pain, acute joint pain on both sides of the body, burning sensations and muscle twitching, fatigue, poor sleep, brain fog, dry mouth, frequent urination, and more. The condition is caused by genetic factors, infections, and some types of trauma. Women are much more likely to be diagnosed than men.

What Type of Mattresses Are Best for Fibromyalgia? 

There’s no single best type of mattress for fibromyalgia, as each style of construction offers various benefits for patients. Read below for our analysis of how the different types of mattresses stack up for fibromyalgia patients.

• Innerspring—Innerspring mattresses contain a thin foam comfort layer followed by a steel coil support core. While these are among the most inexpensive beds on the market, they offer poor conforming and support that isn’t best-suited for fibromyalgia sufferers. 
• Foam—Foam beds feature layers of polyfoam and memory foam in the comfort layers and a denser foam support core. While these mattresses can tend to sleep hot, which can be an issue for fibromyalgia patients, they excel in conforming and comfort. Support can be compromised by a too-soft bed, so you’ll need to do your research.
• Latex—Similar to foam beds, latex mattresses offer good conforming and comfort, but they trap less heat than all-foam models. These beds also often offer the benefit of being naturally hypoallergenic, dust-mite resistant, and antimicrobial, which can be attractive depending on your shopping priorities.
• Hybrid—Hybrid mattresses combine the best of both worlds from all-foam and innerspring models and feature layers of memory foam or polyfoam atop a coil support core. These mattresses are durable and supportive, but the right combination of comfort layer foams will be essential for fibromyalgia patients to achieve the pain relief and comfort they need.

How Sleep Impacts Fibromyalgia 

Sleep and fibromyalgia are somewhat like the chicken and the egg: it’s hard to say what comes first. Poor sleep worsens fibromyalgia, and widespread joint pain as a result of fibromyalgia can make it difficult to sleep.

Pain throughout the night can cause patients to have restless sleep, leading to fatigue and worsening the condition. This leads to feeling poorly rested and tired the next day, which can then exacerbate the cycle of poor sleep. It is essential to attempt to achieve deep sleep if you suffer from fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia patients not only experience insomnia as a result of their pain but also deal with sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome in some cases. Sleep apnea is characterized as a temporary loss of breathing while asleep. Restless leg syndrome is characterized by painful tingling sensations in the legs while lying in bed. These can also lead to sleep loss.

Other Considerations

Firmness

The best firmness level for fibromyalgia sufferers will depend on individual preferences, sleeping position, and body weight. In general, medium-firm mattresses offer a middle-of-the-road feel that most average weight sleepers in almost any position will feel rested on. 

If you’re lighter, you may need a softer mattress. If you’re heavier, a firmer mattress that supports your bodyweight will be more appropriate. There’s no right or wrong firmness, but a firmness level that’s poorly suited to your body type can make pain symptoms worse.

Support

Support refers to how effectively the mattress encourages a flat sleep surface and healthy spinal alignment. If your mattress is too soft or too firm, it may not support your spine, depending on your weight and preferred sleep position. The ideal mattress for fibromyalgia will promote healthy spinal alignment, which will prevent more aches and pains from being created throughout the night.

Pressure Relief

A mattress’ firmness, construction, and materials all play a role in how closely it conforms to the body and alleviates aches, pains, and pressure points. Models that have close conforming and are designed to alleviate pain in sensitive areas—notably the back, shoulders, and hips—can be very beneficial for people suffering from widespread fibromyalgia pain.

Temperature Neutrality

Increased sensitivity to both heat and cold are common with fibromyalgia. While cold sensitivity can be dealt with via layering down blankets, duvets, and warm sleepwear, overheating at night should be mitigated via a temperature neutral mattress or, better yet, one that sleeps cool. 

Hybrid mattresses and innerspring mattresses tend to sleep cooler than all-foam and latex models. Some foam mattresses are infused with cooling materials, like gel and copper, to prevent them from retaining too much body heat.

Conclusion

If you’re suffering from widespread pain as a result of fibromyalgia, choosing a mattress with qualities that cater to your condition is ideal. There’s no right or wrong style of mattress, but choosing one that addresses the most prevalent symptoms of your condition is a start. We recommend making a list of the symptoms you believe are the most significant contributors to poor sleep and selecting a mattress whose design addresses those issues on the head.

For example, if you struggle with aches and pains, sleep hot, and sleep with a partner, a mattress with high conforming and pressure relief as well as breathability and motion isolation would be ideal. We hope this list of the best mattresses for fibromyalgia and our guide to shopping for a mattress when you have this condition puts you one step closer to reducing nighttime pain and pressure on a regular basis.