Best Mattress for Scoliosis

If you suffer from symptoms of scoliosis (or outright scoliosis pain!), you may find it difficult to sleep well at night. And that makes sense — the curvature of the spine produced by scoliosis can often exert uncomfortable pressure on the joints, nerves, and lower back. Understandably, this can make it hard to catch the Zzz’s you need to live a happy and healthy life. And though there’s no substitute for professional medical care when it comes to assessing and treating pain, one thing you may want to consider is buying a new mattress.

To help you get started on your search, I’ve decided to compile a list of the best mattresses for scoliosis. While they differ in terms of style, design, and price, they’re all built to alleviate tension across the body and cushion sensitive spots that might need a little extra TLC.

I’ll introduce you to my picks below and then go over the methodology I used to select them. That way, you’ll be well-equipped to find the mattress of your dreams!

Best Mattresses for Scoliosis – Top 5 Picks!

• Best Memory Foam Mattress for Scoliosis – Loom & Leaf
• Best Mattress for Back Sleepers – DreamCloud
• Best Mattress for Side Sleepers – Nectar
• Best Firm Mattress – WinkBeds
• Best Hybrid Mattress for Scoliosis – Casper Wave Hybrid

Note: The content on Sleepopolis is meant to be informative in nature, so it should not be taken as medical advice, nor should it ever take the place of medical supervision from a trained professional. If you feel you may be suffering from a sleep disorder as caused by scoliosis pain, please see your healthcare provider immediately.

Best Memory Foam Mattress for Scoliosis – Loom & Leaf

Memory foam can be an excellent material for alleviating tension at sensitive spots like the shoulders, hips, and lower back. Why? Well, it’s got a slow response to pressure, which allows it to contour to the curves of the body with a deep, gentle hug. If this sounds like the feel for you, I’d recommend checking out one of my favorite memory foam mattresses: the Loom & Leaf.

This luxury model features two top layers of memory foam for intense body-contouring and pressure relief. But though these sections do provide plenty of room to sink in for extra cushioning at the shoulders and hips, the bed is actually quite firm, scoring a 7/10 on the firmness scale from us. This means that it’s also supportive enough to lift the spine up into the neutral alignment we were discussing above, thereby striking a pleasant chord between pressure relief and support. Good news for all sleepers, but particularly for those who deal with scoliosis pain.

Sound like a winner? Then head on over to our full Loom & Leaf mattress review.

Best Mattress for Back Sleepers with Scoliosis – DreamCloud

When thinking about the best mattress for back sleepers with scoliosis, I wanted to pick a medium-firm model with enough mobility to make changing positions in the night a breeze. After considering these things, I landed on the hybrid DreamCloud.

What’s especially wonderful about the DreamCloud is how great it is for back pain, especially in the back sleeping position. Its foam layers provide the contouring necessary for lumbar support and give some great pressure relief for the shoulders and hips. This feature makes it a great mattress for seniors. Another bonus? The DreamCloud sleeps extremely cool. With gel-infused memory foam and coils for airflow, hot sleepers shouldn’t overheat on this bed. All in all, this bed could be a slam dunk for back sleepers who sometimes struggle with getting the support they need at the hips, shoulders, and lower back.

Get all the goods at our full DreamCloud mattress review.

Best Mattress for Side Sleepers with Scoliosis – Nectar

When trying to get good sleep with scoliosis pain, one of the most important things to consider is support. While sound support is important for all folks, those who have scoliosis need to be extra wary of how well (or not well!) their bed supports them in the night, especially if they sleep on their side. And that’s why I’ve decided to kick off this list with the Nectar mattress.

What’s especially cool about this all-foam bed is it offers some amazing pressure relief and body contouring. The shoulders and hips should get a good amount of sinkage, promoting good spinal alignment for these sleepers. For an all-foam mattress, the Nectar provides some great support with its seven inches of high-density foam, so side sleepers shouldn’t feel they’re getting stuck in this bed. Additionally, this base layer provides durability to the Nectar. This prevents the mattress from sagging and therefore promotes good spinal alignment.

For more on this bed, check out the full review of the Nectar mattress.

Best Firm Mattress for Scoliosis – WinkBeds

If you like a firmer mattress, look no further than the WinkBed, a hybrid with a supportive innerspring feel. It comes in three firmnesses: Softer, Luxury Firm, and Firmer. A Plus version is offered for heavier sleepers as well. 

With this in mind, this bed is fantastic for scoliosis. Regardless of your body type and sleeping position, you should be able to find a WinkBed that provides adequate support. The WinkBed’s plush Tencel cover provides back sleepers sinkage and pressure relief to support the lumbar region. It also boasts a plush Euro pillow top that cradles the hips and shoulders of side sleepers, especially on the Softer model. Combination sleepers should appreciate the “on top of” feel, since they are the ones looking for a responsive bed with firm support. Selecting a firmer option of the WinkBed should promote stomach sleepers’ spinal alignment.

Learn more at my full WinkBeds mattress review.

Best Hybrid Mattress for Scoliosis – Casper Wave Hybrid

Another type of mattress that I really like for those who deal with scoliosis pain is a hybrid mattress. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, “hybrid” refers to any bed that combines foam top layers with interior sections of pocketed coils. This establishes a balance between pressure relief and support that can be ideal for those who struggle with aches and pain. While there are a lot of hybrid mattresses on the market, I think the Casper Wave is particularly well-suited to the needs of sleepers with scoliosis.

I’m highlighting the Casper Wave Hybrid because of its complex, five-layer construction. Not only does it feature gentle top layers of foam, but it’s also got two interior sections of zoned support. As we mentioned earlier, these sections provide targeted relief to different parts of the body, helping to position the spine in a healthy, neutral alignment. When you combine these layers with the core foundation of pocketed coils, you get a luxurious mattress that’s pressure-relieving, supportive, and highly mobile, which makes it easy to move around and change positions in the night.

For more details, hop on over to my full review of the Casper Wave Hybrid mattress.

What is Scoliosis?

You may remember being tested for scoliosis in middle school, but have likely forgotten about the condition if you didn’t happen to have it. Basically, scoliosis occurs when the spine curves out of its natural alignment, either in an S- or C-shape.

While the causes of scoliosis aren’t totally clear, this curvature most often forms right before puberty, hence the spine test in middle school. According to the Mayo Clinic, scoliosis is quite common, and affects some 3 million people every year. And because most cases of scoliosis have no discernible cause, the main types of scoliosis are defined as “idiopathic,” or lacking cause.

As far as scoliosis pain is concerned, it mostly comes from the curved spine placing pressure on the spinal disks, joints, and nerves. Though the best way to treat scoliosis pain is to seek medical advice from a professional, you may want to consider buying a new bed to help create a more supportive sleeping environment.

What to Look For In A Mattress If You Suffer From Scoliosis

If you’re looking for a mattress that can adequately address scoliosis, here are a few factors to keep in mind while shopping:

Support

First and foremost, you’ll want to think about the support of your mattress. While sound support is important for all sleepers, it could be especially important for those who deal with regular scoliosis pain. That’s because support really just refers to how well a bed is able to set the spine in a neutral line all the way from the shoulders to the hips. This helps reduce pain and relieve pressure across the back.

Good support comes from a balanced design of gentle comfort layers and sturdy foundational cores. In my opinion, beds built with pocketed coils typically have fantastic support and mobility, working to lift the sleeper more “on top” of the bed than “in” it. However, if you like sinking into a structure, you could find some nice support in a bed that utilizes a base layer of high-density poly foam.

Trial periods will also be crucial in assessing a bed’s support. When sleeping on a mattress, pay extra close attention to any new pains you notice over the first week, especially at the lower back. This could be a sign that the bed isn’t quite supportive enough.

Pressure Relief

For me, pressure relief and support go hand in hand. High-quality support can do a lot to elevate one’s comfort at night, but it’s nothing without deep and effective pressure relief. Folks with scoliosis will likely need to relieve pressure at the joints and nerves, most typically at the shoulders and hips. So, any bed they buy must be able to cushion these spots throughout the night.

A nice dense top layer of foam could do wonders for this task. I tend to recommend memory foam as its slow response to pressure provides plenty of space for the sleeper to sink in for pressure relief. Latex foam can also be effective, though it doesn’t have the same “hug” that memory foam does. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on the kind of vibe that you want.

Another option is to consider a pillow top mattress. These models are typically made mostly of coils, but feature a plush, quilted top layer sewed onto the structure itself. Though not as contouring as memory foam, pillow tops can provide some nice comfort to the sleeper as they doze.

Mobility

And last but not least, you’ll want to consider a bed’s mobility, which refers to how easy it is to move around and change positions. While all different sorts of sleepers may appreciate a highly mobile structure, pain sufferers can especially benefit from ease of motion. Why? Well, if one position isn’t quite cutting it, they can quickly roll into another.

To ensure that you’ve landed on a mobile structure, keep an eye out for pocketed coils and latex foam. These are two of the bounciest mattress materials you’re likely to find on the market with both working to lift the sleeper up and out of the bed.

Summary: The Best Mattresses For Scoliosis

Our Methodology

Here at Sleepopolis, we’ve reviewed more than 220 products in our mattress lab, running each one through tests such as pressure-mapping and measuring motion transfer with a seismometer. From there, we give every mattress an overall score based on materials, comfort, support, cooling, and edge support. We also factor in brand performance with categories such as value and warranty.

If you suffer from scoliosis, you want to make sure your mattress has a lot of pressure relief. When we test out our products, pressure relief falls under comfort, so we only picked beds that scored at least a 4 out of 5 in this category. The Puffy scored the highest on comfort with a 4.5.

But as we’ve said, support is also an important trait for addressing scoliosis. As an added bonus, all of these mattresses scored at least a 4 out of 5 on support, with the Casper Wave Hybrid scoring the highest at 4.5.

Jump back to our mattress picks or click here to learn more about our methodology.

Final Thoughts

Well folks, that does it for this guide to the best mattress for scoliosis! When looking for one of your own, remember to keep a tight focus on pressure relief, support, and mobility. That way, you’ll be able to land on a bed that’ll keep you dreaming all night long.