Do memory foam mattresses help reduce back pain?

Question

Memory foam and related products have claims like

TEMPUR Mattresses create a custom fit for your body, virtually eliminating painful pressure points and reducing your body’s need to toss and turn in search of a comfortable, pain-free sleeping position.

and

Visco-Elastic memory foam mattresses are commended by medical professionals across Scandinavia and used in the health sector throughout mainland Europe due to their widely recognised therapeutic benefits.

Many of these mattresses are also sold as "orthopedic", implying some kind of beneficial effects. There are some notes about memory foam and pressure ulcers, but little about back pain.

I have only been able to find two very small, potentially relevant studies, and I can't even tell what the "selected bedding system" is in the second article without access.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20579971

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11896375

So: Is there any evidence that memory foam mattresses help reduce back pain? Either during night-time or during the day after sleep.

Answer 1

Here is another list of studies, crosschecked with a PubMed search that yielded only a few relevant hits (see this for example).

In review, the results appear mixed and sometimes contradictory. The sample sizes are small and lack controls. The field of chiropractics where such research is often published itself borders on being a pseudo-science. In addition, I would want to make sure that none of these studies are sponsored by the mattress companies.

The answer to your question, then, is ultimately: no, there is no good evidence that memory foam mattresses help reduce back pain.^†

The studies are few, the terms are ill-defined, and the results are inconclusive. Much depends on the type of back pain, its underlying cause, the preferred sleeping position, sleeping habits, age, weight, and medical history of the subject. In short, it looks like a messy (and unprofitable) thing to study (too many variables), which would perhaps explain the lack of convincing results.

^†_{Please note that this answer does not constitute medical advice. It is only meant to summarize published research related to the topic and limited to the cited sources. Consult your physician about what these results may mean for your health.}

Answer 2

The memory foam mattress are temperature sensitive and molds according to the body temperature. This will give enough support needed to spine. It also rests the hips and shoulders reducing the stress, therefore, reducing backpain. The memory foam mattress becomes softer when the body temperature increases making it comfortable for people with back pain.So, many prefer memory foam mattress for back pain

http://www.bettersleep.org/pdfs/BetterSleepGuide_English.pdf

http://bestmattress.in/back-pain/