Best Mattresses for Arthritis (2025)

The Nectar Luxe mattress is an excellent choice if you’re looking for a premium, cushiony, and supportive mattress for arthritis. It provides a balanced but luxurious feel from its all-foam construction, but still avoids many of the common pitfalls that come with foam: the Luxe is surprisingly responsive (earning a 4/5 in this category) and keeps cool (scoring 4.5/5), which should appeal to both combination and hot sleepers with arthritis. 

Dr. Hannah Habeeb thought this mattress was great for folks with arthritis because of its orthopedic feel. “The Nectar Luxe is cushioning, comfortable, and pillowy,” she explained. “There’s no pressure buildup in the bony parts of your body, so it should bring these sleepers relief.” 

Our testers rated the Nectar Luxe at a 6.5/10 on our firmness scale, a true medium-firm feel that should appeal to a wide range of sleepers. Average-weight tester Sosha Lewis preferred the mattress on her back. “It’s filling in my lower back, and I’m getting enough contouring from the surface,” she said. “My lower half is sinking in a little, but I feel like my spine is straight.”

Heavyweight tester Matt Schickling liked the mattress on his side, noting it had a “cradling feel.” He added, “I do still feel support, which I don’t always feel on memory foam mattresses. I think this feels pretty good, as a side sleeper myself.” He did feel some slight pressure buildup in his hip, but not enough to cause concern. 

With the Nectar Luxe’s deep-cushioning feel and its all-foam construction, we’d expect it to hold onto heat and cause issues for hot sleepers. However, the mattress earned its highest performance rating in the cooling department. As our in-house tester put it: “This mattress felt incredibly cool for the entire time I was on it.” She ran her hands over the mattress to find areas that might heat up, but even underneath her back, things were icy cool.

Cushy beds also don’t always do well in our response tests, but the Nectar Luxe impressed our in-house tester. “You do sink into this mattress, but it’s not so deep that it makes any change difficult,” she explained. “I’d say minimal effort is needed for switches between all positions.” This spells good news for combination sleepers and folks with arthritis who find themselves repositioning throughout the night to get comfortable.

Foam beds are usually masters of motion isolation, meaning you should be able to sleep without feeling your partner moving beside you. But we found that this wasn’t the case on the Nectar Luxe. With another person in the bed, our in-house tester could feel “every movement” they made. “I could see myself being really annoyed if I were in this bed with a partner, and they roll over when I’m falling asleep. It’s just enough movement to be annoying in those moments,” she added.

If you’re looking for top-notch motion isolation from your mattress, check out the Nolah Evolution. Otherwise, you can read more about this bed in our full Nectar Luxe mattress review. 

Over half of adults over 65 also experience arthritis or joint pain, which can make sleeping comfortably a challenge. With the Saatva Classic, all your woes will melt away. This luxury innerspring mattress offers robust support from its two coil units, complemented by its plush pillow top that’ll contour to the sensitive parts of your body. Older adults should also appreciate the bed’s rock-solid edge support, for which the mattress earned a perfect score. 

Dr. Habeeb called the Saatva mattress “very orthopedic.” She described it as “comfortable, plush, and cushioning,” explaining that “it cushions along the whole body while distributing that weight evenly.” She added, “All body types should benefit from this mattress if they have arthritis.”

The Saatva Classic comes in multiple firmness options, but we opted for the Luxury Firm model. This is the very bed I have in my bedroom. I rated it slightly firmer at 7.5/10 on our firmness scale, but that doesn’t mean the mattress doesn’t relieve pressure.

In our studio, it was a hit with our pressure relief testers—especially heavyweight tester Matt Schickling, who liked the mattress on both his back and side. “I feel really good on my side,” he said. “I actually physically felt the pressure relief on my lower back, which is rare.” On his back, he described the alignment he achieved “like a stretch when you haven’t stretched in a while.”

My favorite feature on the Saatva Classic should also appeal to folks with arthritis with mobility concerns: the bed’s rock-solid edge support, for which it earned a 5/5 rating. You can fully sit on the edge of this bed without it collapsing beneath your weight, or sleep with a leg slung over the side if you so desire. It makes getting in and out of bed a breeze. 

The Saatva Classic also earned a perfect score for its responsiveness. The Classic has two coil units, which makes for double the bounce. I’m a combination sleeper who craves  seamless movement, and I can practically launch myself across the surface of the Saatva as needed. If you need to reposition often to find comfort with your arthritis symptoms, you’ll never feel like you’re stuck in the Saatva’s pillow top. 

Unfortunately, one area where the Saatva Classic needs improvement is motion transfer. Its super bouncy profile means that every movement is amplified rather than stifled. As a notoriously light sleeper, I struggle to let anyone share my bed for sleepovers. I’d recommend folks with the same problem check out a mattress like the Nolah Evolution, which performed much better in motion isolation. 

Find out more in our full Saatva Classic mattress review. 

Sleeping on your side can put stress on your hips and shoulders, which can also be common sources of arthritic pain. If you’re looking for a mattress that will effectively cushion these areas, check out the Helix Midnight Luxe. This luxury hybrid was specifically designed with side sleepers in mind; its thick and cushy pillow top earned a 4.2/5 for overall pressure relief. It’s a fan-favorite at Mattress Clarity for pain relief and high-end comfort.

The Helix Midnight Luxe is a top pick of Dr. Habeeb’s, especially when it comes to pain relief. “It contours to your joints, and there is no pressure around any parts of the body prone to arthritis,” she said. “People with arthritic pain, joint pain, back pain, and other chronic pain should find support and relief on this mattress.”

This plush feel is perfect for side sleepers, as we discovered in our pressure relief tests. “I feel pretty aligned overall and well supported,” said heavyweight tester Caine Wilkes. He added, “I usually sleep on my side, and I’d recommend this bed for side sleepers in my weight category.”

I also tested the Helix Midnight Luxe and found it had a medium feel, coming in at 6/10 on our firmness scale. While I was comfortable on my side, I found that this mattress also worked really well for back sleepers. That contouring fills in the gap at your lower back, which is good news if you have any pain there. Combination side and back sleepers should be set on this mattress.

Even with its soft pillow top, I was still impressed by the Midnight Luxe’s edge support, giving it a 4.8/5 in this area. I could sit and lie down on the edges of the mattress without too much sinkage beneath my weight. This bodes well for older adults or those with mobility concerns looking for an easy transfer to their feet. I will note that the head and foot of the mattress don’t seem to possess the same reinforcement, so steer clear of those if you want to sit and tie your shoe, for example. 

Hot sleepers should also be set on the Midnight Luxe. As I lay on the surface of the mattress for a quick nap, I could feel its cooling cover beneath me, especially where the pillow top contoured to my neck. With these results, I gave the Midnight Luxe a 4.5/5 for temperature regulation. Even though you sink a bit into this bed, it won’t hold onto heat, which is a plus for folks with arthritis who benefit from plenty of cradling.

The Midnight Luxe may not be for everyone, though. For example, I like a super-bouncy mattress, and while the Helix Midnight Luxe has coils, the overall feel of the mattress is more doughy. For me, this was a strike against it in the responsiveness category. While I don’t think the average sleeper will feel “stuck” in its surface, fellow rowdy combination sleepers may want to opt for a bed with mega-bounce, like the DreamCloud.

For more, read our dedicated Helix Midnight Luxe review.

Maybe you need a mattress with more support, or you just love a firmer feel. With arthritis, you have to be careful with firm mattresses, as some might not provide the pressure relief you need. This isn’t the case with the DreamCloud hybrid. Though this bed has a firmer profile that’ll have you feeling like you’re “on top” of it, rather than sinking deep into it, our team was impressed by its ability to relieve pressure. It earned a 4.2/5 in our pressure relief tests, alongside high marks for edge support (4.4/5) and response (5/5).

The DreamCloud came in at a 7.5/10 on our firmness scale, which is a bit firmer than average. Dr. Habeeb thought that the lifted feel of this bed was nicely balanced by the bed’s pressure-relieving ability. “It contours the joints super well, so I think people with arthritis can be really happy on this bed,” she said. “It provides a nice combination of cushioning and support.”

This sentiment was echoed by testers in our pressure relief tests. Heavyweight sleeper Matt Schickling loved the mattress on his side. “A lot of hybrids that are too foamy end up losing the support factor, and you sink too much, but this has a good balance of comfort and support,” he said. 

Lightweight tester Riley Otis agreed, but she also enjoyed sleeping on her back. “I’m feeling a lot of cushioning from the quilted cover, and it’s filling in the space of my lower back. I think if you are a lightweight combination sleeper, this would be a really good option for you,” she explained.

The firmer feel of the DreamCloud gave it a leg up in our edge support evaluation. Our in-house tester was very impressed with the “amazing edge support” she experienced both while sitting and lying down at the perimeter. “It really helps lift you out of the bed,” she added, recommending it for folks with mobility concerns. “I even tried changing positions to see if I would slide off, but the edge did a great job of remaining intact and never collapsed.”

Our testers all commented on the on-top feel of the DreamCloud, which was further evident in its responsiveness. “I never felt like I was stuck in the mattress,” our in-house tester said as she moved around on the surface of the bed. “The bed has great bounce and responsiveness, so it’s very easy to change positions.”

This bouncy nature, unfortunately, doesn’t lead to the best sleep environment for couples. “I could feel my partner changing positions beside me,” our in-house tester said when she tried out the mattress with someone else in it. “But I don’t think the motion was enough to cause a normal sleeper to wake up if they were already asleep,” she added. Still, light sleepers may want to tread lightly. They might like the Titan Plus Luxe, also on this list, but it scores a bit higher in this category.

Find out more in our full DreamCloud mattress review.

Hybrid mattresses combine the best of both worlds: sumptuous cushioning and lifted support. This makes them great picks for those with arthritis seeking that balance and a comfortable night’s sleep. The Leesa Sapira Chill Hybrid is one such bed, scoring an impressive 4.5/5 for overall pressure relief, thanks to its cushy, medium-feel pillow top. It also lives up to its name, performing admirably in our cooling tests (scoring 4/5), plus admirable showings in edge support (4.3/5) and responsiveness (4/5).

Dr. Habeeb was most impressed with the Leesa Sapira Chill’s contouring ability. “The way it distributes weight is really nice, to the point where you almost feel weightless,” she said. “I think it would do a really good job at relieving pain in the hips and shoulders.” That’s good news if you’re dealing with hip or shoulder pain from arthritis. 

The Leesa Sapira Chill Hybrid is available in multiple firmness options, but we chose to test the mid-range Medium-Firm model. It actually came in a touch softer than your typical medium-firm at 6/10 on our scale, which makes sense with Dr. Habeeb’s assessment. 

Our testers found that this medium feel worked great for back and side sleeping. Matt was especially pleased with his alignment in both, calling it “spinalicious.” He added, “On my side, I feel pressure relief in my shoulder, which is usually a pain point for me—I don’t usually feel a lot of pain relief there.” 

It would be a disservice to the Sapira Chill Hybrid, not to mention its cooling capability. My colleague Melanie Kassel performed the temperature regulation test for this mattress by lying on the mattress for about seven minutes to get a feel for how much heat it held onto. “This bed feels cool to the touch,” she said. “It never heated up as I was lying on top of it.” Hot sleepers with arthritis should enjoy the bed’s cooling cover as they sink into its pressure-relieving surface.

Melanie also felt “securely held by the bed” as she sat and lay down at the perimeter. “Switching positions had no effect on the sturdiness of the edge support,” she said. “If my eyes were closed, it might even be hard to tell whether or not I was on the edge of the bed.” She further recommended the mattress for older adults and those with mobility concerns, but noted its lofty height (14 inches) may pose an issue for these folks when getting in and out of bed.

Another issue sleepers might encounter is the Leesa’s lackluster motion isolation. Melanie tried out this mattress with another tester and wasn’t wowed. “I felt the most movement when the other tester switched positions next to me—my own body moved side to side a bit when that happened,” she explained. 

Looking for disturbance-free sleep? Check out the Nolah Evolution. Or read more about this mattress in our Leesa Sapira Chill Hybrid review.

Finding a mattress that can address both joint pain and lower back pain may sound difficult, but the Nolah Evolution has earned high praise for both from Dr. Hannah Habeeb, making it a great pick for lower back arthritis. On top of its support, this medium-firm hybrid has a cushy feel that stunned us in our pressure relief tests, earning a 4.5/5 overall score for this category. This slow-moving feel is also a plus for couples, as the Nolah Evolution earned its highest rating for motion isolation, a perfect 5/5.

Dr. Habeeb called the Nolah Evolution “soft yet supportive in the right areas,” recommending it for arthritis because of its body-contouring. The same combination was why Dr. Habeeb also thought it could work well for back pain. “All around, I would consider it an orthopedic bed,” she finished her evaluation.

The Nolah Evolution comes in a number of firmness models, but we chose the Luxury Firm to review. It came in at a true medium-firm feel, 6.5/10 on our scale. This makes it a versatile mattress that should fit a number of sleeping positions—something we witnessed in our pressure relief tests.

“I feel very cradled by this mattress,” said heavyweight tester Matt Schickling as he rested on his side. “It’s super plush and contouring due to the pillow top, but still supportive at the same time.” Our lightweight tester most preferred the mattress on her back: “I feel like my spine is aligned and there’s full pressure relief across my body, which is what I look for in the back-sleeping position.”

Aside from its cushioning feel, the main draw of the Nolah Evolution is its excellent motion isolation. My colleague Cait Giddings tried out this mattress with another tester and could barely feel them getting in and out of bed. “My side of the mattress remained static, regardless of what was happening on the other side,” she added. Light sleepers who share the bed should be set on the Evolution.

Sharing the bed can also mean limited space, but the Nolah Evolution thankfully has excellent edge support so that you can make full use of its surface area. Cait only noticed a bit of sinkage when she sat fully on the edge of the mattress. “When lying at the far reaches of the bed, I felt beyond secure,” she said. “At no point did the bed dip down even slightly, no matter how close I inched to its edge.”

The Nolah Evolution earned at least a 4/5 or above in all our performance categories, so it’s difficult to find something to complain about. However, we encountered some issues with shipping and unboxing this mattress. The Evolution is a bed-in-a-box, so it did arrive at our studio compressed in one, albeit in rough shape. This made the unboxing process a bit more tedious and a lot less glamorous, especially considering the Evolution is a luxury mattress.

If you dislike the idea of setting up a bed yourself, check out the Saatva Classic, which comes with free white glove delivery for all mattresses. This delivery option doesn’t kick in until you’ve spent $1450 with Nolah. Or you can read more about this bed in our Nolah Evolution review.

Folks with arthritis and fibromyalgia experience widespread joint and muscle pain that can make it difficult to sleep peacefully. The Bear Elite Hybrid is featured among our best mattresses for fibromyalgia and is also highly recommended by Dr. Habeeb for arthritis pain. 

It’s a hybrid mattress with a luxurious medium feel, featuring a soft pillow top for extra cushion around sensitive areas of the body. The mattress earned a 4/5 for pressure relief. It also received a perfect score for responsiveness, meaning it should be easy to reposition on the mattress to find a comfortable position. 

Dr. Habeeb thought this mattress did “a good job of hugging your joints,” a sign it would work well for arthritis. “I feel like this bed will support your joints, cushion them, and distribute pressure well. I especially like this for sleepers with hip or shoulder arthritis.” This also gave the mattress an orthopedic feel, which should benefit sleepers with fibromyalgia, too. 

The Bear Elite comes in three firmnesses (soft, medium, and firm), so you can tailor the mattress to your needs. We found the Medium model lived up to its name as we rated it at 6/10 on our firmness scale. Our testers found that the softer-feeling pillow top provided a lot of pressure relief in both the side- and back-sleeping positions.

This sentiment was particularly echoed by our heavyweight tester Matt Schickling. “On my side, my hips feel like they’re being contoured nicely and like they’re aligned with my neck,” he said. But he preferred resting on his back: “I’m not feeling any pressure, which is comfortable. If you’re a heavy back sleeper, I’d say this is a good pick.” 

If you switch between sleeping on your back and side (or stomach, for that matter), it should be surprisingly easy to do on the Bear Elite. Though my colleague Cait Giddings noticed the cushiony feel of the pillow top, she didn’t think she sank very far into it. “The bouncy core of the mattress made it a breeze to launch myself in and out of bed or roll around. Toggling through different sleep positions felt very easy.”

You’ll also have all the Elite’s surface area to work with, thanks to its strong edge support. “I felt like I could lie on the absolute farthest reaches of the bed without sliding or rolling out,” Cait explained. She also thought that it made getting in and out of bed easier. “I think seniors would appreciate how easy it is to rise up out of this bed—or even just sit on its edge to muster up the energy to start the day.”

The Bear Elite largely performed well across the board, but it hit a snag in the cooling department. Cait used a thermal gun to measure the surface temperature of the mattress before and after she lay on it for seven minutes. She recorded a whopping 12.6-degree increase, more than twice what we see on average. But after her experience on the mattress, she was surprised. “I didn’t feel the mattress heat up at all while I was lying there, so I wouldn’t describe it as ‘sleeping hot,’ despite what the results say,” she explained.

If you don’t want to take the chance with cooling, check out the Helix Midnight Luxe or Leesa Sapira Chill Hybrid. Otherwise, check out our full Bear Elite Hybrid mattress review.

Sleepers over 230 pounds may have been let down by typical mattresses when it comes to support, but the Titan Plus Luxe is built differently, literally. This bed was designed with plus-size sleepers in mind, but it isn’t so firm that it’s uncomfortable for sleepers with arthritis. This bed has a medium-firm feel that will have sleepers feeling lifted on the surface with just enough contouring to keep sensitive joints comfortable and cradled. 

Our lightweight, average-weight, and heavyweight testers all found comfort on this mattress, so couples of different sizes should be able to sleep soundly too—especially considering its 4.3/5 motion isolation rating.

Dr. Habeeb commented that the Titan Plus Luxe’s “plush and comforting” feel should provide plenty of relief for sleepers with arthritis. “Your body conforms to this mattress when you lie on it,” she said. “And the mattress nicely contours to your body, further giving it an orthopedic feel.”

The Titan Plus Luxe has a true medium-feel at 6.5/10 on our scale, but you’ll likely feel more “on top” of this mattress rather than sink deeply into it. While it may still feel a bit too firm for some lightweight sleepers, especially those who sleep on their sides, it may be a great pick for petite stomach sleepers. Of course, it also should be a great match for heavyweight sleepers, the intended audience.

Our heavyweight tester for this mattress, Matt Schickling, most enjoyed the mattress resting on his back. “I feel nice support and contouring, and my hips are aligned,” he said. “I feel pressure relief in my lower back, and I don’t feel any added pressure anywhere.”

My colleague Cait Giddings noticed that moving around on this mattress was straightforward, thanks to its “firm and fairly bouncy surface.” She explained, “It makes it so that you can build momentum when moving around on the surface, making it easier to switch positions.” She did note that there is some plushness from the foamy top, but not enough to totally deter her from recommending it to combination sleepers or sexually active couples.

This plushness came in handy when testing the bed’s motion absorption. Cait expected a poor showing from the bounce she had noted earlier, but she wasn’t too disturbed by her fellow tester’s movements alongside her. “I could tell she was in bed moving around, but it wasn’t enough to bother me on my side of the bed,” she said. “If this were a real sleep situation, I’m 100-percent certain I could sleep through this.”

Unfortunately, the cushiness didn’t help when it came time to perform the edge support test. “The bed sank a bit when I perched on its edge, more so than many other beds I’ve tested,” Cait said. “I don’t think seniors would have any issue getting in and out of this bed based on its edge support, but people, especially those who weigh more than 230 pounds, who like to sit on the side of the bed might be disappointed by how easily its structure crumbles.”

For a mattress with more robust edge support, check out the Bear Elite Hybrid. Or you can read more in our dedicated Titan Plus Luxe review.