What is the best kind of bed for sufferers of lower back pain? The bed that makes them feel better. That's what researchers found when they attempted to answer the question, "Does a hard bed or soft bed relieve back pain?"

They delivered one of three types of beds to study participants -- a water bed, a memory foam mattress, or a hard futon. Many of the study participants dropped out early on in the process, but among those who stayed, there was no clear answer on which type of bed worked.

Doctors recommend that back pain sufferers use trial and error to find the bed that relieves their pain, because patients respond differently to a variety of sleeping surfaces.