Just bought a Ridge Runner.... did I make a mistake (lower back issue)

[Owly*]

I think I sleep like you do - can't stand a flat bed with pressure on my butt and my heels. The People's Bridge Hammock fixes that for me. It's a DIY option only, though, but more people are starting to make them.

A link to The People's Bridge Hammock would be appreciated......... We're talking about the same thing...........The other factor is GERD (reflux), which formerly was one of the factors that made upper body elevated important. Not something anybody "treated". I managed to apparently "beat it" with a couple of strategies (long ago), upper body elevated being an important approach, and it became a habit. Probably the thing that drove me to recliner sleeping. I'm not "young" anymore.

[cougarmeat]

Should you look for other solutions if the RR doesn't work for you, I notice an indication, "... pad in the hammock ..." rather than "with the hammock" - which causes me to think you have the pad in the body of the hammock. Know that you can get a gathered end or bridge that is double layer - it has a sleeve the pad can slip in and in the sleeve, it is more behaved - doesn't move around as much; stays put.

For the knees, many use a camp pillow. There are various ways of positioning it under the knees, or knee, to change various pressures - or just for variety.

Don't be too strongly influenced by the term "flat lay" - that doesn't mean board flat. It means it feels flat. If you look at photos of people in their hammock, there is absolutely NOT a straight line running across the bottom of the hammock.

[Red5Hammock]

I'm a big fan of spreader bar hammocks, more due to my height probably than anything.
Spent 100's of nights in the REI quarter dome air....still my go-to for spreader bar hammocks.
Bought a RidgeRunner last fall, and IMHO, not super for me.
The one thing I noticed that affected my sleep, is the RR is pretty narrow and tight...kind of lacks the "U" shaped tube the REI has, and I kept waking up.
The only mitigation for this is I put a sleeping pad in the hammock and started to sleep better

Offering this up as it might be the undetected cause of your discomfort.