Back pain is something that we can all relate to – we’ve all had those painful aches in our lower back after a long car ride, or tightness in our necks and shoulders after hunching over a desk all day. But sometimes, back pain gets out of hand. When you’re dealing with chronic back pain, post-surgery back pain, or joint pain, you need a better solution than a few Tylenol.
Enter the adjustable bed for back pain. It’s an excellent solution… if you know how to select the right bed!
In this list (and guide) we’re going to help you find the best adjustable bed for back pain, so you can drift off to sleep comfortably while relieving back pain overnight.
Best Adjustable Bed for Back Pain: Quick Summary
Best Overall – TEMPUR-Ergo Power Base, for zero gravity preset, a range of useful features, and the quality and reliability you expect from a brand like TEMPUR.
Best Cheap – Classic Brands Adjustable Hybrid Mattress and Bed Frame, for an excellent deal on a base and mattress combo, with the standard adjustability features you need to ease back pain.
Best for Relaxation – Amerisleep Adjustable Bed+, for rolling wave full-body massage, wall-hugging movement, and a quiet bed base that’s designed with your comfort in mind.
Best for Luxury Features – Sleep Number 360 c2 Smart Bed, for a range of additional features that you won’t find on many adjustable beds, like auto-adjusted firmness and foot warmers!
Why Adjustable Beds are Great for Back Pain?
Adjustable beds that work by tilting the incline by 30 or 40 degrees can be excellent for back pain. By creating this incline, you shift your body weight to take the pressure off your back, thus relieving pain.
But adjustable beds won’t be suitable for everyone and there are some important things you should consider before you buy one (an adjustable bed is no small investment, after all).
Pros
- Excellent for supporting your back after surgery.
- Relieves joint pressure across your back by minimizing spine compression (which can help neck, shoulder, and arthritis pain in general too).
- Amazing for sciatica, as sleeping at an angle or with your legs slightly raised releases pressure on the sciatica nerve.
- Lower back pain problems in particular are relieved by adjustable beds.
- By reducing pressure on your spine and keeping your back flat, adjustable beds could improve your posture overall too.
Cons
- For post-surgery back pain, an adjustable bed might be too expensive as a temporary pain reliever.
- It’s only suitable for back sleepers – side and stomach sleepers with chronic back pain may find it uncomfortable.
- With very high angles (so you’re almost sitting up rather than lying down) you could, potentially, increase your risk of a blood clot.
For more info about buying an adjustable bed to solve your back pain, read our buyer’s guide below the product reviews.
10 Best Adjustable Beds for Back Pain We Recommend
Selecting the best adjustable beds for back pain isn’t just about heading to Amazon and sorting search results by ‘best-selling’. To create this definitive list, we put in the time to do research – and even tested some of the beds ourselves when we had the chance.
All 10 adjustable beds for back pain on our list are verified by real customers with genuine back pain. The quality, reliability, and effectiveness of all these beds have been tested over time – and they all passed with flying colors.
1. TEMPUR-Ergo Power Base (Best Overall Adjustable Bed)
The TEMPUR-Ergo is a power base designed to work with a flexible mattress (it’s best if you get a matching TEMPUR mattress) to provide a “seamless sleep experience”.
Although it’s available in all sizes, it won’t be available for every budget – it’s quite pricey, as you’d expect from a leading brand like TEMPUR.
- Sizes: Twin Long, Full, Queen, King, CA King, Split Queen, Split King, Split CA King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Base only
- Adjustability: Foot and head areas, plus overall bed height
- Price Range: $$$
- Warranty: 25-year limited warranty
Nonetheless, it has some excellent features and the overall quality and reliability of this bed base make it easily the best overall on the market today.
TEMPUR-Ergo features zero gravity, which adjusts the foot and head areas of the bed to a predefined angle to give you a weightless feel and relieve pressure off your back. We love that you don’t need to spend ages playing around with the remote to get the right angle!
Underbed lighting, 2 zone massage, USB ports, QueitMode, and a wireless remote are also included.
Best Feature: zero gravity plus head and foot lifts allow complete adjustability to ease the pressure off your back – it gives you a weightless feel.
2. Classic Brands Adjustable Hybrid Mattress and Bed Frame (Best Price)
The Classic Brands Adjustable Hybrid Mattress and Bed Frame are great if you need an affordable option very quickly.
- Sizes: Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Split King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Both
- Adjustability: Foot (50°) and head areas (65°)
- Price Range: $
- Warranty: 10-year warranty
This combo includes the 14-inch CertiPUR-US certified memory foam and innerspring mattress, designed to evenly distribute your weight (so it’s not all on your back) and minimize motion transfer. The top of the mattress contains cooling gel… but honestly, it’s not as effective as Classic brands claim.
The bed frame is programable, so you can select the right position for sleeping and quickly move the bed using the wireless remote. It also has head and foot massage zones and USB ports so you can charge your electronics from the bed.
When you’re looking at the price of an adjustable bed, consider what it includes. This option from Classic Brands features both a bed base and a mattress in one – and it’s still cheaper altogether than many bed-base-only options on our list.
Best Feature: the low price! It includes a compatible mattress and bed base in one, saving money on delivery costs too.
3. Amerisleep Adjustable Bed+(Best for Relaxation)
The Amerisleep Adjustable Bed+ has some unique features which make it one of the best adjustable beds for relaxation as well as sleeping.
- Sizes: Twin XL, Full, Queen, Split King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Base only
- Adjustability: Foot and head areas
- Price Range: $$
- Warranty: 25-year warranty
If you plan to spend a lot of time in bed during the day as well as the night, you will enjoy features like the Wallhugger, which shifts the entire mattress back as it raises the head portion, to keep your bed aligned with the headboard. This is great if you plan to watch TV from bed during post-surgery recovery!
We were also impressed with the full body rolling wave massage, which wouldn’t be a good idea for post-surgery care, but for general back pain it will massage out the kinks.
Other features on the Amerisleep Adjustable Bed+ are standard – USB ports for charging devices, and a wireless remote with manual and pre-programmed settings for elevation angles. Overall, it is amazingly comfortable!
Best Feature: the full-body massage and total adjustability for both ends of the mattress make it excellent for relaxing as well as sleeping.
4. Sleep Number 360 c2 Smart Bed (Best for Luxury Features)
The tagline “Comfortable. Adjustable. Affordable.” is only partially accurate. There’s no denying that it’s comfortable and adjustable.
- Sizes: Twin, Twin Long, Full, Queen, King, Split King, FlexTop King, CA King, FlexTop CA King
- Mattress/Bed Frame: Packages for both, or base only
- Adjustability: Foot and head areas
- Price Range: $$
- Warranty: 15-year warranty (100-night trial)
It’s not the most expensive bed either, although it’s certainly not the cheapest. But what sets the Sleep Number 360 c2 Smart Bed apart is the range of luxury features.
If you’re the kind of person who buys all the upgrades for the entire of your car, you’ll love this mattress.
With Sleep Number, you choose the firmness and comfort according to your ‘number’ when you buy the bed or mattress. But the Smart Bed automatically adjusts firmness during the night based on your movements, then offers a SleepIQ Score in the morning to analyze your sleep quality.
Overall, this is an excellent adjustable bed for anyone with back pain AND a desire for luxury.
Best Feature: adjustability for height and firmness, plus zero gravity, are included as standard… but you can get unique features like under-bed lighting and built-in foot warmers too!
5. LUCID L300 Bed Base
The LUCID L300 bed base is the “#1 Adjustable Base on the Internet” according to LUCID! Available to buy on Amazon, it has thousands of reviews from customers and is designed to be extremely easy to set up.
- Sizes: Twin XL, Full, Queen
- Mattress/Bed Base: Packages for both, or base only
- Adjustability: Foot (45°) and head areas (60°)
- Price Range: $
- Warranty: 10-year warranty
The LUCID Pit Stop Team can get it assembled in less than 30 seconds, but for the average Joe, it’s still only a 5-minute job.
It doesn’t have any massaging features or under-bed lights, but it does have a good range of elevation angles for the foot and head areas of the bed. The remote has a single programable memory button, so you can quickly put the bed back to the position that feels best.
LUCID also points out that you can push together two Twin XL bed bases and mattresses to create a Split King mattress size. They recommend you buy a LUCID 10 or 12-inch mattress to go with the bed base.
Best Feature: for this low price, you get a good base and mattress set that can be assembled in 5 minutes.
6. Saatva Solaire Adjustable Mattress
This adjustable mattress, when paired with the Saatva Lineal Adjustable Base, offers excellent support, firmness, and adjustability.
- Sizes: Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, CA King, Split King, Split CA King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Mattress only (bases available)
- Adjustability: Foot and head areas
- Price Range: $$$
- Warranty: 25-year warranty (180-night trial)
Reinforced air chambers within the mattress are used to switch between 50 firmness settings, so you’re bound to find one that’s perfect for you.
Consumer Reports have compared this mattress to Sleep Number adjustable beds (before the 360 c2 Smart Bed model) and found that for support, it is superior. This makes it a brilliant choice for those with back pain who need a slightly firmer mattress that can keep their spine aligned correctly.
But the Saatva Solaire isn’t without drawbacks. First, it’s quite expensive. And second, as Consumer Reports point out, the remote is attached to the mattress. While that prevents you from losing the remote, it does give the overall mattress more of a hospital bed, outdated look.
If you’ve tried Saatva beds before and you know they’re comfortable for you, then this could be an excellent option.
Best Feature: Saatva provides a free white glove delivery service, so you don’t need to make your back pain worse by setting up a new bed. They’ll even remove your old mattress on the way out.
7. TEMPUR-Ease Power Base
This is the cheapest option available from TEMPUR and yet it’s still one of the best on the market right now. Sometimes simplicity is best.
- Sizes: Twin Long, Full, Queen, King, CA King, Split King, Split CA King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Base only
- Adjustability: Foot and head areas
- Price Range: $$
- Warranty: 25-year limited warranty
If you just need a reliable adjustable bed that moves the head and foot areas – without any of the extra features – then this is the bed for you.
You get just three features with this bed. Head and foot area adjustability, zero gravity setting, and a wireless remote. And that’s it. So, there’s no need to fuss around with lighting, USB ports, foot warmers, or any other extravagant features that you don’t need.
Therefore, this is a superb adjustable bed for the unfussy. Your elderly grandparents who can’t handle complex tech will enjoy it too.
Just bear in mind that although this is the basic model from TEMPUR, it still carries a hefty price tag. But at least you still get the TEMPUR 25-year warranty as standard, plus their free white glove delivery service.
Best Feature: all the quality and reliability of a TEMPUR bed base and mattress, but without all the extra bells and whistles. This keeps the cost down without compromising the ability to relieve your back pain.
8. Classic Brands Upholstered Adjustable Bed Base
The Classic Brands Adjustable Bed Base is a simple design with many of the standard features you’re probably getting tired of reading about! Yes, the USB ports, wireless remote, zero gravity, and adjustable features are all included.
- Sizes: Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Split King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Base only
- Adjustability: Foot (50°) and head areas (65°)
- Price Range: $
- Warranty: 3-year warranty
Many are attracted to this bed base for the price. At the time of writing, it’s under $500 which is a real bargain. But don’t forget that for a lower price you should expect lower quality. “Upholstered” in the product title is a little misleading – the bed base is just the usual frame but covered in a nicer material.
There are quite a few problems that customers face with this bed frame – the metal legs bending, the motor breaking down quickly, the wireless remote not working from the start… but if you take the time to contact Classic Brands and use your 3-year warranty, you should be able to get this sorted.
Best Feature: This model is quite easy to assemble, is delivered by Amazon, and arrives quickly at a low price. An excellent budget option.
9. Sven & Son Adjustable Bed Base
Sven & Son might not be the most well-known brand, but they’ve certainly put in the quality and range of features to make up for it.
- Sizes: Twin XL, Split King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Both
- Adjustability: Foot (45°) and head areas (75°)
- Price Range: $$
- Warranty: 5-year non-prorated warranty
Their adjustable bed base (available with or without Sven & Son compatible mattresses) has one of the widest head degree variations to sit you up and down.
USB ports, zero gravity presets, under-bed lighting, dual massage, and a wireless backlit remote are included. The remote itself has 3 memory buttons to remember different positions, as well as zero gravity and anti-snore settings.
As for the mattress that’s included, it’s a CertiPUR-US certified hybrid foam and innerspring mattress with airflow gel memory layers and a medium plush feel.
To top it all off, Sven & Son offer free delivery and even a white glove service to bring the adjustable bed base for back pain into your home through Amazon.
Best Feature: the high 1700lb lift capacity and gel cooling mattress layers make this a great option for large and hot sleepers with back pain.
10. DynastyMattress DM9000s Adjustable Bed Base Frame
The DynastyMattress DM9000s is an adjustable bed base designed for the DynastyMattress mattresses (try saying that five times fast).
- Sizes: Twin XL, Full, Queen, King, Split King, CA King, Split CA King
- Mattress/Bed Base: Base only
- Adjustability: Foot (45°) and head areas (75°)
- Price Range: $$$
- Warranty: 10-year extended warranty
It managed to snag the last place on our list thanks to its extraordinary number of additional features. Besides the foot and head adjustability, you can also move the very top of the bed frame to tilt your head forward and provide neck support. It will hug the wall as the bed moves.
Zero gravity, under-bed lights, USB ports, etc., etc., etc., are also included. What stands out as a bit extravagant is the Bluetooth speakers and sub-woofer to play your music from bed. Literally.
Most reviewers report that in the short term, this bed base works a dream. If you need an adjustable bed base for 1 year or less, this is an awesome option, and it will certainly keep you occupied during surgery recovery with its extensive list of features.
If you want a more permanent, long-lasting adjustable bed, it may be worth selecting another model higher on this list.
Best Feature: an incredibly wide range of features that you can adjust until you find the perfect level of comfort for your back.
Adjustable Bed for Back Pain Buying Guide
Not all adjustable beds are made equal. You can look for the adjustable bed bases that specifically state they’re great for back pain… but that’s just the start.
In our guide to the Best Adjustable Beds for the Elderly, we go into great detail on how to shop for adjustable beds in general, so make sure you check that out! For specific back pain beds, there are a few extra considerations to think about:
Firmness
Having adjustable firmness in your adjustable bed can help with back pain. If you need an adjustable bed for post-surgery care, having adjustable firmness will help you change the bed to suit your comfort as you recover. It will mean you can adjust the bed to still feel comfortable even when you’re out of the recovery period.
Massage
Massaging features aren’t for all types of back pain. While they might be great for relieving back pain caused by stress or hunching over a desk all day, they might not be suitable for medical conditions. You don’t want to put unnecessary strain on your back! If you’re buying an adjustable bed for back pain caused by an underlying medical condition, you should consult your doctor before using the massage features.
Height
Getting in and out of bed with severe back pain can be a challenge, so look for adjustable beds that have overall adjustable heights. It’s quite a common feature! You may be able to lower the entire bed (or raise it) by several inches to help to get in and out of bed a little easier.
Price
We’re reportedly spending over $100 billion per year in the US as a result of surgery and care for back pain cases. It seems silly when we could just spend a few thousand on a bed to save ourselves the time, money, and pain a bad back can cause!
If you’re serious about treating your back pain with an adjustable bed, you’ll need a large budget. With that in mind, you might want to try other back pain-relieving methods first if they are available to you (e.g. yoga). And if you only need a temporary adjustable bed for post-surgery care, you should carefully weigh up the prices of the cheap adjustable beds against the quality they offer.
More FAQs
What is an adjustable bed?
An adjustable bed can change your position by elevating the leg and head areas of the bed base and mattress. The angle may be entirely adjustable, or you may need to select from pre-set positions.
Are adjustable beds good for back pain?
Yes, adjustable beds relieve pressure off your back and they also keep your spine straight, as it keeps your spine aligned instead of hunched over in sitting positions, and flat instead of curled up in sleeping positions.
How to sleep with back pain?
The best way to sleep with back pain is to keep your spine neutral and flat. You might find that placing a pillow behind your knees will keep your spine horizontal with the mattress and fully supported (you can feel your lower back pressed snug against the mattress). This is what an adjustable bed does!
Leave a Reply