u/swolebird

Shoulder slot in topper

I've had some shoulder issues over the year so I wanted to make a bed that I could roll on my side and have a gap for my shoulders to sink into, to relieve some pressure on them (I'm a side sleeper.)

I got a 3" ($300) medium-firmness latex foam topper on Amazon. Cut the topper at 17" to act as the pillow section. Then cut about 8-10" of the topper from the main portion to make the shoulder slot (the width of the scrap is visible in the last pic).

Used a stretchy sheet over the mattress and the main portion of the topper. The problem with this is that even with the stretchy fitted sheets, they were getting stretched pretty tight between the pillow portion and the main portion, creating more pressure on my shoulder than I wanted.

So I had the idea to get a 60" long body-pillow pillowcase ($20) and stick the pillow portion in it. This worked really well to create let the fitted sheet sink down against the mattress instead of tenting up. It creates a really well defined slot for my shoulder.

And the interesting/lucky/coincidental thing is that, without a regular pillow, my head sits exactly horizontal. There's a pic where I'm karate-chopping my hand between the middle of my eyebrows and tip of my nose to show the alignment of my head, and my hand is perfectly horizontal.

I will say its really weird to not have a regular pillow after all the years of having one. Even on my back I don't feel like I need one.

The mattress is a Dreamcloud Hybrid Mattress ($700 back in March 2025). Pretty good, soft while still being supportive. I like it but really wanted to try this shoulder-slot-topper. I did the shoulder slot a while back but with a memory foam topper and I think it was too squishy to support my lat and neck, so my shoulder ended up with too much pressure on it.

The latex seems to be a good bit more supportive. It almost feels too active while sleeping. I'm contemplating putting a 1" memory foam topper on top of it to deaden it a bit. But its a pretty minor issue.

PS. I know there used to be the Cuddle Mattress company, but their products were a bit out of my price range, and apparently they're out of business now.

I've had some shoulder issues over the year so I wanted to make a bed that I could roll on my side and have a gap for my shoulders to sink into, to relieve some pressure on them (I'm a side sleeper.)

I got a 3" ($300) medium-firmness latex foam topper on Amazon. Cut the topper at 17" to act as the pillow section. Then cut about 8-10" of the topper from the main portion to make the shoulder slot (the width of the scrap is visible in the last pic).

Used a stretchy sheet over the mattress and the main portion of the topper. The problem with this is that even with the stretchy fitted sheets, they were getting stretched pretty tight between the pillow portion and the main portion, creating more pressure on my shoulder than I wanted.

So I had the idea to get a 60" long body-pillow pillowcase ($20) and stick the pillow portion in it. This worked really well to create let the fitted sheet sink down against the mattress instead of tenting up. It creates a really well defined slot for my shoulder.

And the interesting/lucky/coincidental thing is that, without a regular pillow, my head sits exactly horizontal. There's a pic where I'm karate-chopping my hand between the middle of my eyebrows and tip of my nose to show the alignment of my head, and my hand is perfectly horizontal.

The mattress is a Dreamcloud Hybrid Mattress ($700 back in March 2025). Pretty good, soft while still being supportive. I like it but really wanted to try this shoulder-slot-topper. I did the shoulder slot a while back but with a memory foam topper and I think it was too squishy to support my lat and neck, so my shoulder ended up with too much pressure on it.

The latex seems to be a good bit more supportive. It almost feels too active while sleeping. I'm contemplating putting a 1" memory foam topper on top of it to deaden it a bit. But its a pretty minor issue.

PS. I know there used to be the Cuddle Mattress company, but their products were a bit out of my price range, and apparently they're out of business now.

Should be pretty cool looking at the rink Friday night.