Nobody enjoys sleeping with pain, it can cause discomfort and lead to a poor night’s rest. Sleeping with sciatica can make falling and staying asleep difficult. Sciatic pain is a result of pinching, irritation, or inflammation of a lower back nerve. It’s also very common, 40% of people will experience sciatica in their lifetime - you’re more susceptible to it as you age.
If you have sciatica you might experience:
- A feeling of pins and needles in the toes, feet, or legs
- One or both of your legs turning numb
- One or both of your legs or feet having muscle weakness
- A sharp, burning, or shooting pain that travels from the lower back to the foot
All these symptoms can lead to uncomfortable and poor nights of sleep. However, there are ways you can make the most of your situation. Keep reading to learn how you can sleep with sciatica comfortably.
How to sleep with sciatica
Before figuring out the best way for you to sleep with sciatica, you should find out why you have it to begin with. This might help with getting to the root of the problem. Speaking with a doctor or a physical therapist might be your best course of action. The cause of your sciatica might affect which sleep positions are best for you.
Once you have an idea of why you’re experiencing sciatica, it’s best to experiment with different sleeping positions. To begin with, try laying on your back and keeping your back straight. To do this make sure your hips, head, and shoulders are in a straight line - keep a pillow under your head and neck. Place a small pillow under your knees to bring your spine in a nice straight neutral position.
Once you’ve done this, you can do your best to observe what feels good and what doesn’t. From there you can make changes in your sleeping position to create more comfortability.
Bend forward
A position like this could help open up restricted areas in the spine. A few ways you could go about curving your spine while sleeping might involve sleeping in a lazy boy or an adjustable bed. You could even sleep in a fetal position on your side with your knees curled up close to your chest.
Sleeping on your side
Sleeping on your side might help ease the pain of your sciatic nerve. Depending on where you experience it, if you do feel it on one side of your body - sleeping on the opposite side could help. You can even put a pillow behind your back to prevent yourself from rolling over onto your back.
Stomach sleeping
Sleeping on your stomach forces you to arch your back and keep your head turned to one side. This position might be most suitable for people who find relief when they arch their back.
There isn’t necessarily a best sleeping position for sciatica because of how unique each case may be. What might work for one person, won’t for another, and vice versa. If you deal with sciatica it’s best to first figure out what’s causing it to begin with. Then, from there, experiment with different sleeping positions to see what’s most comfortable for you.
If you’re not in pain and yet you’re still struggling to sleep due to stress or other concerns, BetterSleep can help you with different activities that’ll help you relax and put you to sleep. Try BetterSleep for free today!
