Mattresses and Back Pain: Firmer Isn't Necessarily Better

Patients with low-back pain and their physicians generally believe that firm mattresses are preferable to soft mattresses. To determine whether this belief is correct, Spanish researchers conducted a randomized double-blind trial in 313 patients with chronic nonspecific low-back pain. All patients had backache while lying in bed and upon rising. Patients with referred pain were excluded.

Each patient received either a firm mattress (firmness score, 2.3 on a standardized scale from 1 [firmest] to 10 [softest]) or a medium mattress (score, 5.6). Patients were not told that 2 mattresses were being compared, but only that the study was to assess the effect of this mattress on back pain. After 3 months, both groups experienced improvements in sym…