Best Mattresses for Spinal Stenosis (2025)

The Helix Midnight Luxe is a luxury hybrid designed to offer a medium-firm feel for side sleepers. In our testing, we found that it succeeds—while also providing an uber-comfortable blend of softness and support that should have sleepers with spinal stenosis sleeping peacefully and hopefully pain-free. This mattress earned a 4.2/5 for pressure relief in both the side- and back-sleeping positions, alongside high scores in edge support (4.8/5) and cooling (4.5/5). 

Dr. Hannah Habeeb praised the supportive nature of this bed right off the bat. “The lumbar spine and pelvis feel neutral,” she said while lying on the mattress. “I feel like I want to make snow angels on top of it because it is so silky and comfortable.” She recommended it to folks with back pain, neck pain, and even sciatic pain, all of which can stem from spinal stenosis. 

Our testers cosigned her sentiment based on our pressure relief tests. Heavyweight tester Caine Wilkes was especially impressed by how the bed felt on his side. “I can feel this mattress contouring me,” he said. “The plush top feels really nice and comfortable while the bottom layers are more supportive.” At 6/10 on our firmness scale, this bed is just a smidge softer than true medium-firm, but the coils should help this versatile firmness level support multiple body types in many positions.

I tested out this bed for myself and first noticed its strong edge support. On the long edges of the bed, I was able to sit and lie down without feeling as though I might slip off. However, the head and foot of the bed don’t appear to have this same reinforcement, so expect more sinkage there. I still think that this edge support speaks to the bed’s durability, and I doubt it’ll start prematurely sagging anytime soon.

The bed’s hybrid nature also provided a mix of response and motion isolation, two performance categories that are usually at odds with each other. The dense pillow top caused some minor pushback when I tried to switch positions on the bed’s surface, but it came in handy during our couples test. I was barely able to feel my fellow tester moving around on the other side of the bed, and only when she got out of bed did I notice some jostling. The bed scored ⅘ in both these categories, a sign they should work for combination sleepers who share the bed.

With how well it performed in our tests, the main issue you might encounter with this bed is its price. As a luxury mattress, it’ll cost a bit more than other online beds. A queen size will run you nearly $1,800, which isn’t affordable for everyone. If you’re looking to save, you might like the original Helix Midnight, which has a similar feel and a less-lofty profile at a lower price.

For more about how this bed performed, read our full Helix Midnight Luxe review.

Memory foam is known for its slow-moving and contouring feel that provides significant pressure relief as it molds to your body. For spinal stenosis, you’ll want a memory foam mattress that offers this benefit plus plenty of support—like the Nectar Classic mattress.

This memory foam mattress has a slightly firmer feel that will keep the spine aligned, complemented by a gentle cushioning from the softer top layers. The bed also scored high in motion isolation (4.7/5) and cooling (5/5), which should appeal to couples and hot sleepers with spinal stenosis.

When Dr. Hannah Habeeb tried out this mattress, she found its balanced feel conducive to pain relief. “I think this bed would help sleepers with back pain find support and contouring to place the spine in a neutral position,” she said. This mattress came in at a 7/10 on our firmness scale, which Dr. Habeeb considered most apropos for back sleepers. “If you sleep on your stomach, the way your back arches on this bed could cause pinching nerves,” she said. “But on your back, it could help relieve pain.”

The Nectar scored a bit low in our pressure relief tests, but this was mostly caused by our lightweight tester finding the bed too soft. Our heavyweight and average-weight testers, Matt Schickling and Sosha Lewis, both found the mattress comfortable on their backs. “This is really supportive, and I do feel pressure relief in my lower back (which has been bothering me),” Matt said. Sosha added, ”My back is straight, and my hips feel balanced with my upper back.”

The Nectar’s doughy feel on top comes in handy when offering pressure relief in the lumbar area, but it also yielded great results for our couples test. When I had a fellow tester join me on top of this bed, their movements barely jostled me. As a notoriously light sleeper, if I was already asleep, I probably wouldn’t have been awakened at all. 

Foam mattresses tend to hold onto heat, but I was really surprised by this bed’s performance in our temperature regulation test. The Nectar features a cooling cover, which sometimes goes unnoticed on other beds, but not here. I recorded the surface temperature both before and after taking a seven-minute nap on the bed, and it only rose about 3.9 degrees, just over half of what we usually see (7.1 degrees). It wasn’t cool-to-the-touch when I felt its surface or lay there, but I think hot sleepers unwilling to part with memory foam should be more than satisfied. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised by the Nectar’s subpar edge support, as this is a common negative for foam beds. After sitting down on the edge, those doughy foam top layers collapsed beneath my weight. It was a bit better when lying down; the most dramatic slippage occurred near my shoulder and elbow when I lay on my side. If you want rock-solid edges, I’d recommend something like the Helix Dusk Luxe.

For more information about this bed, read our full Nectar Classic Memory Foam mattress review.

Innerspring mattresses aren’t usually recommended for spinal stenosis because most lack the necessary comfort layers to relieve pressure and pain from symptoms. The Saatva Classic is different; this luxury mattress does indeed feature two coil units, but it’s also topped with a thick, cushioning pillow top that will help melt away discomfort.

This is the bed I sleep on every night, and I can’t say enough good things about it. It comes in multiple firmness levels, but the Luxury Firm model should provide the right balance of support and comfort. It earned perfect scores for edge support and response, as well as a favorable 4.5/5 rating for overall pressure relief.

While I think the Saatva has a slightly firmer feel (a 7/10 on our firmness scale, to be precise), Dr. Hannah Habeeb found the pillow top to be softer than expected. “I’m still finding enough support to keep my spine mostly aligned,” she added. “I think it could help depending on your body type.”

Like I mentioned, I sleep on this bed every night, and I cycle through each and every position without incident. I’ve even gone to bed with back or shoulder pain and woken up without it, but I’ll hold off on calling it a miracle cure. My fellow testers did enjoy the bed on their back and side during pressure relief testing, though. “I actually physically felt the pressure relief on my lower back, which is rare,” said heavyweight tester Matt Schickling when he lay on his side. On his back, he added, “I immediately felt the alignment, like a stretch when you haven’t stretched in a while.”

My favorite thing about the Saatva Classic is how easy it is to move around on its surface. As a combination sleeper, I love how seamless it is to roll over from your back to your stomach. If you like a bed that launches you across its surface, you’re set.

The edges of the Saatva Classic are also some of the best I’ve encountered on a mattress. They barely dip when you sit or lie down at the very edge. I’m able to sleep with one leg off the bed if I so desire, and stretch over to plug in my phone before bed. If you’re an older adult or someone with mobility concerns, the Saatva should help you spring out of bed each morning with ease.

I could sing the praises of the Saatva Classic even longer, but all good things do come to an end. My sole gripe with this mattress is its lackluster motion isolation. I’m an incredibly light sleeper, so much so that my partner breathing wrong will wake me, and the Saatva doesn’t help. Its bouncy nature means that every twitch is amplified across the surface, leaving me feeling like a boat in a storm. Fellow light sleepers who share the bed, I recommend the Nolah Evolution if this is a dealbreaker for you.

Read more in our full Saatva Classic mattress review.

If you’re purchasing a new bed that will work better for spinal stenosis symptoms, why not go the extra mile and upgrade to something more lavish? The Nolah Evolution is a lofty, luxury hybrid with a sumptuously soft pillow top and sturdy coils for durable, robust support. The Luxury Firm version should offer a pleasant medium-firm sleep experience with just the right balance for sleepers with spinal stenosis. It also scored high in motion isolation (5/5), edge support (4.6/5), and pressure relief (4.5/5).

“This bed offers a lot of support yet is still very contouring, so I think people with back pain could find relief,” said Dr. Hannah Habeeb after trying out the Nolah Evolution. “It’s supportive enough to prevent the back from falling into a position that would compress the nerves.” This means that the mattress should not only work to stabilize your spine, but perhaps keep pressure off the spinal cord, or any other areas that may be affected by spinal stenosis, such as the sciatic nerve.

We rated the Luxury Firm Nolah Evolution at a 6.5/10 on our firmness scale, a further sign of its suitability for spinal stenosis. Our testers especially enjoyed the bed on their back, gleaning the most pressure relief and support from this position. “I feel almost perfectly supported on my back,” said heavyweight tester Matt Schickling. “It’s really contouring in my lower back where I do have slight pain going on today, and it feels like it’s lessening that pain.”

Aside from folks with back pain, couples should be extremely comfortable on the Nolah Evolution—and not just because of its contouring. My colleague Cait Giddings hopped into this mattress alongside tester Sosha Lewis to mimic sharing the bed. “At no point did her movements significantly affect my side of the bed or my comfort level,” Cait said. “My side of the mattress remained static, regardless of what was happening on the other side.”

Cait was also impressed by the bed’s edge support. Sitting down, she did notice a bit of sinkage, but it was nothing to write home about. “When lying at the far reaches of the bed, I felt beyond secure,” she said. “Whether I lay on my side, back, or stomach, the mattress remained solid and steady, with no sinking or sagging to suggest its structured support would flag along the edges.” This is also a sign of the bed’s durability, as it’s less likely to sag prematurely with repeated use. 

The Nolah Evolution earned high scores across the board, but did falter in our customer service evaluation. This was the fault of how the mattress arrived in our studio. Nolah mattresses are compressed into a box for easy in-home setup, but the box that came to us looked like it had seen better days. For a luxury mattress, it’s a bit of a letdown, but aside from the beat-up box, the setup process wasn’t too difficult. Just be sure you have an extra set of hands.

If you want a more luxurious experience, Saatva offers free white glove delivery with all its mattresses, including the Saatva Classic. Otherwise, read more about this bed in our full Nolah Evolution mattress review.

Hybrid mattresses are some of the most prolific on the mattress market, and for good reason. These beds combine the bouncy support of an innerspring bed with the cushioning comfort of foam mattresses, yielding the perfect mixture of supportive softness for spinal stenosis. One such mattress, the Bear Star Hybrid, earned a hearty endorsement for relieving back pain and providing lumbar support from physical therapist Dr. Hannah Habeeb. 

I found the Bear Star Hybrid to be just a touch softer than your typical medium-firm beds, but still thought it offered robust support. I gave it a series of 4/5 scores, as well as a 4.2/5 rating for edge support.

I rated the Bear Star Hybrid at 6/10 on our firmness scale and found it had plenty of pressure relief, but this wasn’t the case for all our testers. Our lightweight tester still found the bed too firm, and her ratings ultimately brought down the overall pressure relief score. 

However, our heavyweight tester Matt Schickling liked the mattress on his side. “I don’t really feel pressure anywhere,” he said, “aside from a slight pressure below my hip.” But he still rated pressure relief in this position at 4/5. I believe most average-weight and heavyweight sleepers should be comfortable on this bed.

Dr. Hannah Habeeb did think that the mattress had a more supportive feel, so she recommended it for back pain over hip and shoulder pain. “It supports the back really well and the spinal alignment is great,” she said. “There’s just enough cushioning at the lower back to support the lumbar region without sinking in too far.”

Where I didn’t encounter any mixed opinions was the Bear Star Hybrid’s edge support. I felt this mattress performed well in these tests. The only time I noticed sinkage was when I was sitting on the edge of the bed. The further I scooted toward the edge, the more precarious it got, but never to the point where I felt like I’d fall off. Lying down, I had no complaints, so I rated edge support at 4.2/5 overall.

This hybrid offers a nice blend of response and motion isolation that further contributes to its balanced feel. When you move around on the surface of the bed to switch positions, you can feel the deep contours of the pillow top, but the springs beneath make it easier than an all-foam bed. These contours came in handy when my fellow tester hopped into bed alongside me. I could feel him moving around, but I wasn’t rocking with him, so I would still call the motion isolation on this bed above-average. I think this performance makes the bed a great pick for sexually active couples who need that ease of movement but also lack of disturbance during the night.

I think the main sleeper type who should stay away from this bed are lightweight side sleepers. These folks just won’t sink into this bed like they would a contouring memory foam one. If you’re looking for more of that feel, you might like the Helix Midnight Luxe.

To find out more about this bed, read our full Bear Star Hybrid review.

As we’ve tried to drive home, medium-firm mattresses are some of the best out there when we’re talking about balance and spinal alignment. The WinkBed comes in at 6.5/10 on our firmness scale, a true medium-firm hybrid. It has a lofty Euro-style pillow top on its surface, which is balanced by plenty of lift from its sturdy coil unit. These coils give the bed an edge for support and durability, evidenced by the high score we gave it for edge support (4.4/5).

Dr. Hannah Habeeb recommended this bed for back and neck pain above all others pain concerns she evaluated it for. “It makes you feel very neutral and supports the spine while still providing some slight cushioning,” she said. “I think people with back pain can enjoy the support system that keeps the spine very straight.”

The coils of this bed really give it a lifted, on top feel rather than having you sink into the bed, as Dr. Habeeb alluded to. This makes it the perfect profile for back sleepers, which our testers learned when they evaluated the bed’s pressure relief. “If I owned this bed I would become a back sleeper,” said average-weight tester Sosha Lewis. “It contours well around my lower back, which is a problem area for me.” She liked it on her side, too, but added it may be too firm for some sleepers in this position.

My colleague Melanie Kassel evaluated the WinkBed in its other performance categories and was most impressed with the bed’s edge support. She did initially find sitting at the edge a bit slippery, but faulted the silky pajamas she was wearing that day for photo ops. Lying down on the edge cemented her belief that the perimeter was rock-solid. “It had really stellar edge support in all three sleeping positions,” she said. “If my eyes had been closed, I would not have been able to tell you I was near the edge.”

Melanie also thought the bed did a great job of keeping cool, despite its pillowy surface. She used a thermal gun to measure the surface temperature of the bed before and after resting on it for about seven minutes. The results showed a 6.7-degree increase, a sign of good cooling. 

“I could see the thermal imaging gun keep decreasing as we aimed it at the bed during the second reading,” Melanie added. “It continued to feel nice and cool during my testing, which impressed me because the base feels so dense and solid under the nice plush pillow top.” It earned a respectable 4/5 score for temperature regulation.

Still, the plush pillow top wasn’t immune from scrutiny after the bed’s cooling performance. Melanie encountered the most trouble with it when she tried to move around on the bed’s surface. “I thought the WinkBed would be bouncier, given its status as a high-quality hybrid,” she said. “The pillow top doesn’t trap me or leave me sunken into the surface, but it’s a lot less responsive than I expected.” Combination sleepers may prefer a bed that scored higher in this area, like the Saatva Classic.

For more about this bed, read our full WinkBed mattress review.

A firmer mattress can be more comfortable for spinal stenosis if you’re not getting the right amount of support from your current mattress. These beds typically work best for sleepers over 230 pounds, those who rest on their stomachs, or folks who just like to feel “on top” of their bed rather than swaddled in it. But for spinal stenosis, it’s important that these firm mattresses still offer a modicum of pressure relief for pain concerns.

Thankfully, the Helix Dusk Luxe is one such bed. This bed is advertised as having a medium feel that will work for stomach and back sleepers, but our testers found it a touch firmer (7.5/10 on our firmness scale)—though by no means uncomfortably so. The bed scored high across the board, including perfect 5/5 scores for cooling and response, all markers of a well-rounded mattress.

Dr. Habeeb called the Helix Dusk Luxe “a great mattress for someone with back pain.” She said, “It keeps your body very neutral but is also so cushiony and comfortable but you’re not sinking in too much to where the spine gets misaligned.” 

She added that folks who have sciatic pain from their spinal stenosis might also get some relief. “With the spine remaining neutral, I don’t think this bed will lead to any nerve irritation,” she said. “In fact, I think it could help with that sort of pain”

The firmer feel of the Helix Dusk Luxe is balanced out by its slightly contouring pillow top. This allows the mattress to fill in the lower back when back sleeping, the position our testers favored on this bed. “I love this on my back,” said average-weight tester Sosha Lewis, “and I don’t feel my body dipping anywhere or more than another area.” Lightweight tester Riley Otis echoed Sosha’s sentiments: “I am finding good spinal alignment and some nice comforting relief around my shoulders and lumbar area.”

The mattress’s supportive coils also contributed to its bounce, which our in-house tester noticed right away when performing the response test. “This mattress is pretty bouncy, making it easy to switch positions,” she said. “It’s not conforming to my body too much, so I was able to easily move around on the mattress.” Combination sleepers and sexually active folks should appreciate the bed’s perfect score in this category. 

Hot sleepers should also benefit from the bed’s cooling capability. Our tester was able to rest comfortably without any semblance of overheating. “I thought this mattress felt cool-to-the-touch and did a good job of keeping cool throughout the test,” she said. “I almost felt a little cold laying on it.” 

Where sleepers might encounter issues with this bed is its slightly firmer feel, combined with its hybrid construction, which leads to you resting “on top” of the mattress rather than sinking into it. If you like the contouring “hug” of traditional memory foam, you might prefer an all-foam bed like the Nectar Classic. 

For more about this bed, read our full Helix Dusk Luxe mattress review.