Please note that pain is personal

in that two people can have the exact same damage

and yet, not get the same relief or results

from the same efforts.

My opinions in these reviews are just that, opinions based upon my actual results or lack thereof. 

My opinions are always fair, honest and accurate; points which you should be able to ascertain based upon the reviews themselves. 

When it comes to pain management, whether it be western medicine, alternative medicine or self-help healing modalities, it is very important that you do what your God given-instincts guide you to do. 

Never let anyone else talk you into or out of trying

anything reasonable in the name of pain relief

so that you may live your best life!

The Sleep Number Bed

The Sleep Number Bed is a popular, albeit very expensive bed; unless of course, one gets the 25 years out of it for which it is under warranty.

Then in reality, it isn't any more costly than a quality $1,000 bed guaranteed to last 8 years.

It is touted in its commercials as great for people with spinal pain, by people with spinal pain.  I wonder every time if they have extensive and/or severe spinal damage as I and millions of others do? 

They don't get specific about what their spinal diagnoses are so I take their testimonials with a huge grain of salt since someone with sore back muscles is not comparable in any way, shape or form to someone with spinal cord and multiple herniated discs like myself.

I do believe that there are indeed many people with various, perhaps lesser types of pain who enjoy their sleep number bed.

I however, was not one of them and wish to present the reasons why for other chronic spinal pain sufferers to consider so that they may make the best decision for their respective pain needs since it is such a critically important purchase.

For almost four years, the receipt says that I slept on a "Sleep Number 5000 King Set, Dual, Ptop, Wireless" model whose total cost was $2,879.96. About 10% of that cost was the very basic cheap looking black (plastic?) frame and delivery/set up fee.

Bed skirts can fix that though if you have someone willing to handle that for you since lifting a mattress and bending over is non-optional for those with serious chronic low back pain.

Given that it is advertised as a bed which helps relieve spinal pain, I had my doctor write the appropriate note on his letterhead which stated my related ICD-9 codes and recommended the bed, and gave it to the store.

This allowed us to forego having to pay state sales tax on this item.  A few years later I bought a bed wedge system to try and better accommodate my spine while lying in bed; my neurosurgeon's office faxed a note to waive that sales tax.

Since a disabling injury often disables a person's finances too, these savings are smart and can really add up so please make the minimal effort to request the appropriate note from your doctor as is applicable/lawful.

Being king size, it had the two separate twin size bases that support the mattress.  My first complaint would be that if I rolled toward the center to cuddle, the divisive center of the twin base was not only noticeable, but so uncomfortable that we actually stopped being able to cuddle, which is not good for a relationship.

I tried lying on each side as well as my back to get comfortable, but it just wasn't possible due to the intrusively noticeable split of the twin bases.

Now, in my case, I happen to have severe and extensive cervical (neck) spinal damage with moderate lumbar (low back) damage; thus, initially I presumed me to be the problem.

However, he too found that center divide uncomfortable and he doesn't have spinal damage. For the first several months of sleeping on the bed, I was still awaiting my spinal surgery; and hoped post surgery, my lack of fondness for it, would become a non-issue. It didn't.

However, I have slept on a non-sleep number bed for the last two years and have found that I can indeed, depending on pain levels and locations, lie on my side. Thus, it clearly was the king style design of this Sleep Number bed which was the issue.

My next issue with the Sleep Number bed is the fact that although I found and consistently used my appropriate sleep number, the bed would at times, lose its pressure and the number would shift in the night unbeknownst to me. This happens consistently when there are weather changes such as a warm day and cold night.  It's just a giant over-priced air mattress after all...

This resulted in me waking up in pain from a mattress setting that was not good for me. Even he would get back pain and soreness when his sleep number shifted. When you are a chronic pain sufferer this is an unacceptable situation.

Anyone who lives with life altering chronic pain will tell you that managing your pain successfully does not stem from just one or two things, but rather a combination of many permanent life style changes; including having a bed that accommodates one's spine per their specific needs.

Especially when a chronic pain person who is house bound by pain will spend many more hours per day on average in bed, than a person in good health. (8 hours = 1/3 of your life or "25 years" as one recent radio ad for beds said. Pain issues increase that.)

It did not happen regularly enough for me to be concerned that it was actually defective. Personally, I believe it to be an inherent design flaw that is affected by a large change in room temperature. You know how there are weather days, particularly during seasonal changes that you can run the heat in the morning and the A/C later on, or vice versa?

I believe that these extreme temperate changes are responsible for the Sleep Number changing during the night.

Also, I always made sure that the remote was set on the nightstand each night after we both confirmed our respective settings; so to those of you who thought to wonder, fairly, if one of us rolled over on it and changed the setting, that was not the case.

Relatedly, it was very common, regardless of weather/seasons for my sleep number to change by 5 degrees from what we put it on at night to what it would be the next day. Now, this minor change did not put me in further pain but larger changes sure did. On principle, to me, it just doesn't seem like it should've been a prevalent issue.

To give credit where it is due, I will say that when we moved, this bed was extremely easy to handle (per him) in that the black plastic support base which holds it is really lightweight and is both easy to take apart as well as put back together. Which, given how stressful moving is, is a nice bonus even if you don't have chronic pain issues!

In conclusion, I wouldn't purchase this bed again. Ultimately, my advice in all matters is to trust your instincts. If you believe it is a good fit for your needs, go for it.

Pain is as unique as each person who has it, so my lack of liking this bed is more for your consideration, than a recommendation. The only source to know if a bed suits you, is your body. Just make sure that before you buy any bed, that you learn about its return policy so that if it isn't a good choice for you, you aren't out all of that money.

Also, to be fair to the Sleep Number company, I did not contact them with my complaints to see if there were any resolutions because as I said, I believe them to have been inherent design flaws and I didn't feel the need to waste my time or energy as a result.

Chronic pain vastly decreases your energy to handle things that you want and need to do, let alone things like this that you believe simply are what they are and have no resolution. However, it has been five and a half years since we bought their bed.

Thus, if I am not the first to have had these complaints and they have been able to successfully remedy any of these issues since the 2008 aforementioned model, I would love to hear from them.

While on the subject of beds, I would also like to note that the year before we bought the Sleep Number, we slept on a king size Tempur-Pedic for several days and I absolutely loved it! 

Conversely, he did not like it despite the fact that it did not have any of these Sleep Number issues. Additionally, almost six years later, he is still satisfied, overall, with the Sleep Number.

And mind you, though I didn't have as much spinal damage when we slept on the Tempur-Pedic as I would come to have, I still had plenty of life interfering spinal pain by then.

Thus, I am greatly looking forward at some point to getting one. Once I do, I will provide a fair and honest review of it as well. In the meantime, if you can't afford to get a new bed, there are low cost ways to improve the one that you have. Look into buying a mattress topper to potentially increase your comfort as will new pillows. 

If you have low back pain, putting pillows under your knees will help alleviate it when lying down.

If you sleep on your side, place a pillow between your knees to also help relieve spinal pain and pressure.

If you have suggestions for maximizing bed comfort, please email me and I will share the best ones.