The Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid is a budget-friendly (relative to our other selects), back-supporting number. Our testers scored it at 4.5 out of 5 for its value, citing it as a high-quality mattress that should “last a good bit.”
Our reviewers say this mattress feels soft to the touch on top—but don’t let that first impression fool you into thinking it’s a sinker. The firm lower layers encourage spine alignment—and help prevent soreness—for back sleepers.
Our testers also say the Brooklyn Bedding Signature Hybrid is a match for couples, thanks to its great edge support, high responsiveness, and low motion transfer.
Product specifications
Material: Hybrid | Firmness: Medium-firm (a 6.5 out of 10) | Trial period: 120 nights | Warranty: 10-year warrant | Shipping: Free shipping
How to choose a mattress for back pain
By honing in on one key feature, you can kiss decision fatigue goodbye: According to doctors and research, the top quality to consider when you’re buying a mattress for back pain is firmness. “A good, solid sleeping surface with good support in the appropriate pressure points can alleviate pressure on bones, joints, and muscles,” says Dr. Jain.
A mattress should provide enough support that you don’t sink into the bed, but it shouldn’t be so hard that you feel discomfort, says Dr. Zhou. “The right mattress should make you feel like you’re floating on air,” he says.
Very generally speaking, this usually means a medium-firm mattress for side sleepers and a firmer mattress for stomach and back sleepers, Gerard Girasole, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, tells SELF. (If your mattress feels too firm, you can try adding one of these best-selling mattress toppers for extra comfort.)
The best types of mattresses for back pain
Innerspring, memory foam, and hybrid mattresses can all set you up for super spinal alignment and therefore less back pain. It’s just about choosing the material that feels right to you, says Dr. Jain. “There aren’t any specific mattress materials that are better suited for back pain versus not,” he says. “However, each person is different, and people should take the time to try out different surfaces to find what works for them.” Here’s a breakdown of common mattress types.
Innerspring
An innerspring, or coil, mattress is built for overall firmness and support, which may “help with back pain on occasion,” says Dr. Jain. But, he adds, this type of bed often lacks the cushion that a foam or hybrid mattress can provide; without that extra give, you could start to feel pressure in your joints. Also, he adds, you might find that your coil mattress starts to feel less comfortable over time: “When springs wear out, they can lead to asymmetric loading of the spine and cause increased back pain,” he says.
Foam
Foam mattresses tend to feel softer than spring mattresses—you can sink right into some of them. With regard to back pain, foam mattresses are better at evenly dispersing your body weight than spring beds, which can help relieve pressure in your joints and other hot spots like your lumbar spine. Depending on the context of your back pain, this cushioning and contouring may help you (or at least not further hurt you).
Hybrid
Mattresses made of springs have certain benefits, as do those constructed from foam, and in a “best of both worlds” spirit, many mattress brands have combined them. Hybrid mattresses—which have some foam layers and some with coils—are often medium-firm, which research has shown to be a great firmness level for people who deal with back pain.
How we tested these mattresses with back pain in mind
Our team of reviewers consulted medical experts to learn what’s most important for picking the best mattress for back pain and used this intel while putting the beds through a series of tests. Here are the key factors they looked for.
Firmness
Back pain is often caused by an out-of-whack spine, says Dr. Zhou. Staving off achy mornings, therefore, can come down to finding a mattress that’s firm enough to support your vertebrae overnight, but not so firm that it bumps the links of your spine out of alignment. Research says that a medium-firm mattress (about a 6.5 out of 10) checks these boxes.
Materials
We aren’t afraid to take a peek under the hood. Yep, we cut into each mattress to see what is actually inside, allowing us to get up close and personal with the pocket coils and gel foams that make up each layer.