We’ve had a queen-sized, waveless waterbed with two bladders for maybe 10 years now. Lately, my wife doesn’t feel as comfortable in it as she once did and claims to wake up achy. She added a little more water to her side of the bed, but it has not helped.
Since a waveless bladder contains fibers to restrict wavelike motion, could the fibers be offering less support after 10 years? Or, is her body changing? Or both? (I’d ask our waterbed dealer, but you’d know what they’d say! )
Also, as for my side of the bed: My side of the bed has a newer bladder after the original one failed a few years ago. So, I cannot make a fair comparison.
I would really really doubt the water bed is the problem, its more likely your wife is simply no longer comfortable sleeping on one. (I went through this a couple years ago, had to give up the water bed due to back/sleeping problems)
the baffles in a water be mattress dont offer support, they just damped wave motion through the mattress.
have you been treating it every 6 months or so? Even if you havn’t I would also doubt if the bed is the problem, water in plastic should not change much.
Purely anecdotal evidence here, but I recall some years ago dismantling an old waterbed that had been filled and slept on for some years without changing the water or doing any conditioning, and in the area where the person slept, the plastic (rubber? whatever that stuff it’s made out of is) had hardened and discolored significantly. This wasn’t a newfangled waveless bladder, just a typical waterbed bladder. Based on this, I would guess it’s possible for something to have hardened in there over time and a new bladder may alleviate the problem.
Of course, I also want to point out that I had to give up a waterbed years ago when I suddenly started having muscle aches in the morning. I just got older is all, and wasn’t able to tolerate the bed anymore.
Been there, done that. After many trials, tribulations, and NSAID expenses, as the last resort before I took a blow torch to the entire damn set up and started sleeping on the floor, I got one of those el cheapo faux featherbed mattress pad/cover/whatever you call the fluffy thing between the sheet and the plastic topper thingies.
I had to quit sleeping on a waterbed as a grew older. I believe it was because of the lack of pressure points on a waterbed. I would sometimes wake up in the morning in exactly the same position I was in when I fell asleep. I was sleeping great, but in my fifties I found my muscles were stiff from lying in the same position all night. On a conventional mattress I would have to roll over every once in a while, and that kept me from locking up.
Aaahhh, elemental bedding. In my teens I had a water bed. In my late 20s I got an air mattress (Select Comfort). In the next 50 years or so, I imagine that I will be taking a dirt nap.
I had the same bed. When the bladders started failing it was a chore. Take the bed apart then muscle a big bladder out. Then fill it and haul it back. A no fun job. But for me, once it broke ,the others started to break. I bought replacements several times until the work of upkeep became too demanding. I now have a foam bed.
I used to have a water bed. I found that over the years the bladder would stretch out in the area where our butts laid. This would be real obvious when we took all the bedding off for laundry. After about 5 years or so, we would have to replace the bladder.
YMMV
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After many trials, tribulations, and NSAID expenses, as the last resort before I took a blow torch to the entire damn set up and started sleeping on the floor, I got one of those el cheapo faux featherbed mattress pad/cover/whatever you call the fluffy thing between the sheet and the plastic topper thingies.