Bed design and its effect on chronic low back pain — A limited controlled trial

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Abstract
The effect of 4 different types of beds on chronic low back pain patients'' symptoms and signs was examined. The beds employed were an orthopedic hard bed with 720 reinforced coils and a built-in bed board, a softer 500 coil bed, a standard 10 in. thick waterbed and a hybrid bed of foam and water. The majority of patients preferred the hard bed and felt that their back pain improved to a greater extent after 2 wk on the hard bed as compared to the other beds. The next largest group of patients to show improvement used the waterbed. Limitations in performing the straight leg raising test coincided with the subjective complaints. Significantly improved straight leg raising was observed after use of the hard bed or waterbed in 25% of the patients using those beds. No other objective signs were altered. The 500 coil bed and the hybrid bed were of no benefit to any patient in this study group. Hard beds should be the 1st choice of patients with chronic low back pain. If relief is not obtained for these chronic pain patients, a trial on a waterbed may prove beneficial.