The sciatic nerve is one of the largest nerves in your body. It runs down your spinal cord, through your hips and down into both legs. Irritation of the sciatic nerve is the root cause of sciatica, which manifests as pain or numbness in the lower back, hips or legs. If you’re facing this issue, it’s likely caused by some kind of irregularity with your spine.
An old mattress, or a mattress that doesn’t work for you, isn’t generally a reason a person develops sciatica, but it can happen. A mattress can exacerbate the pain and prevent you from getting good sleep, and without good sleep, it will be more difficult to treat your sciatica, as well as negatively affecting your life in general.
Make sure you consult your doctor before making any big changes, as they might have more specific lifestyle recommendations for you to help with your sciatica.
Video: Best mattress for sciatica
Watch CNET sleep expert Owen Poole review the best mattresses for sciatica.
What is the best overall mattress for sciatica?
After testing hundreds of beds, we chose the Saatva Rx as the best overall mattress for sciatica. This mattress is specifically designed to help alleviate aches and pains associated with sciatica and other back issues. Its Therapeutic Support Core and Lumbar Zone provide enhanced support for your lower back and hips and pressure relief for your shoulders, promoting spinal alignment. Its accommodating medium firmness profile should also work for any sleeping position and body type.
Best mattresses for sciatica of 2024
Mattress price scale:
$ = Budget: $799 and below
$$ = Average: $800 to $1,699
$$$ = Premium: $1,700 and up
These reflect MSRP or list prices. Sales might make a mattress less expensive, but are always changing.
Type Hybrid mattressFirmness MediumTrial 365 nightsWarranty Lifetime warrantyPrice $$$
Why we chose the Saatva Rx mattress: Saatva is a popular brand known for its luxury mattresses, which frequently make our best lists. Thanks to its unique construction, the Saatva Rx is intended to help alleviate the pain and discomfort associated with sciatica and other back or joint issues and conditions.
Landing around a medium or a 5 out of 10 on our firmness scale, this bed can accommodate all sleeping positions and body types. Its plush yet supportive profile provides pressure relief for the shoulders and hips while helping to keep the spine in neutral alignment.
The Saatva Rx has seven layers distinct layers of premium materials. Inside its stable foundation is an 8-inch thick coil unit of durable recycled steel that also provides extra edge support. Its Therapeutic Support Core is topped with two inches of body-contouring foam, and on top of that is a layer of micro-coils encased with a high-density foam comfort layer. These elements, combined with the Lumbar Zone, provide support and durability where needed most.
Pros:
- Zoned support design to help those with chronic pain
- Hypoallergenic organic cotton cover
- Accommodating firmness profile
- Free white glove delivery and setup
Cons:
- Expensive
- Only one firmness option
Read more about this bed in our Saatva Rx mattress review.
Saatva Rx Mattress
Type Hyper-Elastic Polymer HybridFirmness 7 or Medium firmTrial 100 nightsWarranty 10 yearsPrice $$$
Why we chose the Purple Restore mattress: All of the mattresses from Purple have a special top layer you can’t find with any other brand. It’s called the “GelFlex” grid and is made of hyper-elastic polymer material. This material provides a uniquely responsive and squishy sensation. It moves with you and conforms to your body’s shape nicely while providing lots of pressure-relif and support, which should hopefully alleviate that sciatic nerve pain.
With that said, some sleepers may think the bed’s one-of-a-kind feel is somewhat strange, so make sure you make full use of the 100-night trial period provided by Purple.
The Purple Restore also comes in two different firmness options. The firm model is around a medium-firm, meaning it’s ideal for back and stomach sleepers, and the soft model will be a more accommodating medium and ideal for side sleepers.
The Purple Restore is the base model in the Purple “Premium Collection,” and the Restore Plus and Restore Premier are quite similar with some key differences that you can check out here.
Pros
- Unique material not found anywhere else
- Excellent temperature regulation
- Supportive and pressure-relieving
Cons
- High price
- Unique feel isn’t universally comfortable
Purple Restore Mattress
Type Pillow-top hybridFirmness 7 or medium-firmTrial 120 nightsWarranty LifetimePrice $$$
Why we chose the Nolah Evolution Comfort Plus mattress: This is a luxurious pillow-top mattress that is extra supportive because it’s designed for heavier body types, but you don’t necessarily need to be a heavy person to be interested in the Nolah Evolution Comfort Plus mattress.
The coils are configured in a zoned support design, which will be firmer under your hips and lower back, and the coils are also reinforced along the edges and will improve the overall edge support.
I have a hard time imagining anyone finding the pillow top of the Nolah Evolution Comfort Plus uncomfortable, and its combination of plushness and support should maintain spinal alignment and remove pressure from your lower back.
This mattress has a firm overall profile, which is largely because it’s designed to support heavier body types. In our testing, we found it to be a medium-firm for the average-sized person, but if you are heavier, it will likely be closer to a medium.
There is also the Nolah Evolution Hybrid 15-inch mattress, which has some slight construction differences and comes in three different firmness options.
Pros
- Extra supportive for heavier people
- Comfortable pillow top design
- Zoned support coils
Cons
- Somewhat expensive before discounts
- Can be too firm for some side sleepers
Nolah Evolution Comfort+
Type Memory foam mattressFirmness Medium-firmTrial 365 nightsWarranty Forever warranty Price $
Why we chose the Nectar mattress: The Nectar mattress features a thick layer of memory foam as its primary comfort layer that gives it a traditional, dense memory foam feel. It has a body-conforming quality that can relieve pressure on joints like your hips, shoulders and even your lower back.
It has a medium-firm profile that makes it ideal for back, stomach and combo sleepers, but I think a good number of side sleepers will be able to get by on it, and Nectar does have softer options available with the Nectar Premier and Premier Copper.
All Nectar mattresses also come in hybrid versions for added long-term durability and support. Plus, Nectar is an affordable mattress brand and a great memory foam option for someone who doesn’t have the budget for a Tempur-Pedic.
Pros
- Classic memory foam feel
- Budget-friendly
- Hybrid option
Cons
- Can be too firm for some side sleepers
Nectar Memory Foam
Type Latex foam hybridFirmness 7 or medium-firmTrial 120 nightsWarranty 10-year limited warrantyPrice $$$
Why we chose the Plank Firm Natural mattress: This mattress has a flippable design, which means both sides of the bed are designed to be slept on. This is atypical for most modern mattresses.
Both sides of the Plank Firm Natural are pretty firm. However, the firm side is a medium-firm, and the extra firm side is closer to a true firm. That said, this bed is geared more toward back and stomach sleepers, but you have two chances of finding the right firmness level for you.
The main comfort layers of the Plank Firm Natural are made of latex foam, which has a very specific feel. I like to describe it as almost the opposite of memory foam because you don’t get that sink-in, body-conforming feel.
To me, the coils plus the latex foam on the Plank Firm Natural give the mattress a buoyant, responsive feel that many should find comfortable. It’s especially suitable for back sleepers.
Pros
- Flippable design
- Natural materials
- Latex feel
Cons
- Not appropriate for side sleepers
- Not the best motion isolation
Plank Firm Natural Mattress
Type Poly foam hybrid mattressFirmness 5 or mediumTrial 100 nightsWarranty 10-year limited warrantyPrice Scale $$$
Why we chose the Leesa Legend mattress: This bed has a medium to medium-soft firmness profile that is ideal for many side sleepers looking for a lot of pressure relief.
The Leesa Legend also has a unique zoned support design that’s achieved by using a combination of foam and micro-coils. In the center third of the mattress, a firmer foam layer with micro-coils on the outer sections. This design provides enhanced support under your trunk and hips to promote spinal alignment.
It has an accommodating, soft hybrid feel that I think most people will find comfortable. It should provide enough pressure relief to help alleviate pain from sciatica. Plus, I have found that beds like this, which have micro-coils, are excellent at absorbing cross-mattress motion, making them great for couples.
Pros
- Accommodating feel
- Nice firmness profile for side sleepers
- Excellent motion isolation for a coil mattress
Cons
Leesa Legend
What to consider when buying a mattress for sciatica
Buying a mattress to help with sciatica can obviously be a challenge. Finding a bed that can help alleviate the pain, or at least not make the pain worse, will depend a lot on your specific sleeping preferences and body type. The overarching idea, though, is to try and find a bed that will put minimal pressure on your lower back while still being supportive.
Firmness level
This will depend on how you like to sleep and finding a mattress to match. Side sleepers will generally want a softer mattress to provide enough pressure relief for shoulders and hips. If you have sciatica and you put lots of pressure on your hips, the pain can be made worse.
On the other hand, back and stomach sleepers generally want a firmer mattress to maintain spinal alignment and avoid the lower back and hips sinking below the legs which can also be bad for sciatica.
Firmness is always subjective based on a person’s body weight, so that is something to keep in mind when shopping for a mattress.
Zoned support
A mattress with a zoned support design can be beneficial for lots of types of back pain and for sciatica. In general, these designs provide more support underneath a person’s hips, which promotes spinal alignment. Maintaining proper spinal alignment can be a pathway to pain relief.
Trial period
For any mattress purchase meant to relieve pain like sciatica, taking full advantage of the in-home trial period provided by the brand is critical. If after the first 30 nights of the trial window, your pain levels haven’t improved, it might be worth considering returning it and trying something else.
In our experience, returning a mattress is a pretty easy process, so don’t be afraid to do it. The trial period is there for a reason.
How we tested the best mattresses for sciatica
Our team of experts has an extensive mattress testing process. You can read about it here.
For this particular list, we looked at a variety of factors and paid special attention to any advanced features that provide targeted, zoned support.
Firmness and feel
Probably the two most important things we test for are a mattress’ firmness rating and feel. The feel of a mattress depends on its construction, especially the top layers, although we don’t always agree with what the brand says their bed feels like.
Feel doesn’t really affect pain relief, so we tried to select a wide variety of feel types to have something for everyone, like dense memory foam, pillow tops and latex.
Firmness is much more important for pain relief, and again, we tried to have plenty of variety for any sleep style. Side sleepers who have sciatica and sleep on beds too firm for them can exacerbate the pain to varying degrees.
Support
A mattress that doesn’t have enough support is a common culprit for all kinds of back pain and can make your sciatica worse. Zoned support designs are a nice feature to have to help with sciatica because they have targeted firmness zones that give you more support in the area where you need it most.
Hybrid constructions are also a general recommendation for anything related to pain because they typically maintain the same level of support for a longer period of time in comparison to beds that use foam as the support layer.
Other mattresses for sciatica we’ve tested
We have to make the cutoff for these lists somewhere, but here are a few other beds we considered for this list that didn’t quite make the cut that I think are also solid options.
Layla/Layla Hybrid: Both versions of Layla have a flippable design, like the Plank Natural Firm. The soft side of both are a medium-soft, so they’ll be great options for side sleepers looking for a lot of pressure relief. The firm sides aren’t overly firm either, slightly firmer than a medium, so they will be fairly accommodating.
Saatva Classic: The Saatva Classic is one of our favorite hybrid beds. It comes in three different firmness options. It has a traditional innerspring pillow top feel that most find familiar and comfortable. It also has some additional lumbar support. It’s a solid all-around option.
Winkbed GravityLux: This is an often-forgotten mattress because of the popularity of the flagship WinkBed, but it is a unique memory foam bed. It has a zoned support layer, which is a nice feature for pain relief, has three firmness options to choose from and it has a classic body-conforming memory foam feel. The biggest negative for this mattress is its price. Most foam beds are much more affordable than the GravityLux.
A mattress that provides a nice combination of support and pressure relief for your preferred sleeping position. A mattress with a zoned support construction can help accomplish this.
A new mattress isn’t likely to cure sciatica on its own, but it can help alleviate the pain associated with sciatica and help you get more restorative sleep, which is key to overall health.
Returning a mattress is an easy process that’s usually free. Some brands like Saatva, Tempur-Pedic and Nolah will charge a small fee of $99 to return or exchange a mattress. You simply contact the company, and it will refund your money and arrange for someone in your area to pick up the mattress for you. Brands do ask people to sleep on the bed for at least 30 nights before initiating a return.
In general, we would recommend a medium-firm mattress for those with sciatica — especially if you spend most of the night sleeping on your back. If you have sciatica and sleep primarily on your side, you’d want to opt for something a little softer, like a medium or maybe medium-soft.
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