How to Sleep with Sciatica – Best Sciatica Sleeping Positions

If you have chronic lower back pain or sciatica, you must often wonder, how to sleep with sciatica? What is the best position to sleep with sciatica? Is there any sciatica sleep position that you should avoid?

Well, sleeping with sciatica is not easy. You will either wake up due to pain or will not fall asleep in the first place

Did you know, around 55% of people with sciatica/chronic lower back pain find it hard to sleep? That’s true!

Finding the best way to sleep with sciatica is a daunting experience. Hence, sciatica can terribly affect sleep quality.

However, when there is a will, there is a way! Right? All you have to do is to learn how to sleep with sciatica. Things will become easier thereafter.

Let’s learn how to sleep with sciatic pain!

How to Sleep with Sciatica

Sciatica can disturb your sleeping pattern, in fact, make it worse. However, you need to know the importance of a good night’s sleep and how to sleep with sciatica back pain.

A disturbed sleeping pattern not only affects the sleep quality but also plays a toll on your mental and physical health. Most importantly, getting no nighttime sleep will halt you from performing daily chores efficiently.

However, knowing how to sleep with sciatica can prove beneficial and help improve your back pain within a blink of an eye – literally.

The two things that you need to pay attention to when sleeping with sciatica, are:

• The sleeping surface
• And sleeping position

best way to sleep with sciatica

But how would you know which sciatica sleeping position is best for you?

Well, the position that reduces sciatica pain is the one that’ll work for you. If you feel discomfort in any of the sleep positions, try a different one.

In fact, you may also try sciatica massage before bed and other therapies to relieve sciatica pain.

Note: If it’s been more than a week with a disturbed sleeping routine, visit your doctor and take sleeping advice. Your doctor will then help you find the best sleep position for sciatica.

So you must have figured out the significance of learning how to sleep with sciatica by now. Let’s now learn how to prevent sciatica pain while sleeping.

Sleeping with Sciatica – Tips and Tricks

Sciatica and sleeping have a deep connection. After all-day work, your back muscles are exhausted at night. This is why sciatica in many people aggravates at night, especially when going to bed.

Moreover, sciatica also flare-ups in the morning because of all the twisting and bending while sleeping. So you see how a bad sleeping position can affect your sciatica, which ultimately leads to an even worse sleeping pattern.

It’s one vicious cycle!

So to give your spine some rest, you need to know how to sleep with sciatica. And apart from the sciatica sleep position that we’ll discuss later, there are a few things you must consider when sleeping with sciatica.

These are some useful tips for sleeping with sciatica. These tricks will not cure sciatica but will definitely help you in sleeping comfortably and waking up without any additional pain.

• Say no to a soft mattress
• Choose a medium to firm mattress
• Use plywood with a mattress
• Use pillows for a neutral posture
• Make a habit of bedtime yoga, meditation, exercises, or stretches.
• Set a time for a morning walk
• Follow the same sleeping pattern
• Avoid bending spine when sleeping
• You might as well wear a back brace or pain-relieving patch to bed.
• Pay special attention to the type of sleeping surface and sleeping position.

Note: Icing the injured side before bedtime has been proven effective in many cases. You may take suggestions from your doctor and use the ice pack accordingly.

Now that you know how to sleep with sciatica pain, let’s discuss the best positions to sleep with sciatica.

Best Position to Sleep with Sciatica

So, what is the best sleeping position for sciatica? Well, here is your answer!

Finding the best position to sleep with sciatica is an experiment in itself. However, determining how to sleep with sciatica and knowing about different sciatica sleep positions can help reduce the stress from the irritated nerve.

Sciatica sleeping positions vary among sciatica patients. What you consider as the best way to sleep with sciatica for you might not work for some other sciatica patient.

Let’s have a look at some of the best ways to sleep with sciatica.

On the Uninjured Side

Most patients consider sleeping on the side as the best sleeping position for sciatica. But again, not all patients feel the same way!

However, this is indeed one of the best ways to sleep with sciatica, according to the experts. Sleeping on the unaffected side relieves pressure from the compressed spine making it less painful.

Here is what you need to do:

• Lie down on a firm surface facing up.
• Curve towards the intact side; left, or right.
• Place pillows between the knees.
• You may as well stack some pillows on the space between the pelvis and mattress.

Placing Pillow Between the Knees

Note: The pillows are the ultimate savior in any type of sleeping position. Invest in them wisely!

This is more or less a continuation of the sleeping position described above and indeed the best sleeping position for sciatica pain.

All you have to do is;

• Curl onto the unaffected side
• Stack two or three pillows between your knees so that hips are squared during the whole night.
• And voila! enjoy a good night’s sleep!

best sleeping position for sciatica pain

On Your Back

There is a tough competition between the two sleeping positions; on your side, or the back.

Both of these sleeping positions have been proven best for sciatica pain.

Follow these directions to make the most out of this sleeping position:

• Lie down on your back.
• Place the best cushion under your neck.
• Use some pillows under the small curve in the lower back
• You can also place some pillows under the knees. This will help elevate the knees and keep the spine, hip, and legs in a neutral position.

This sleeping position for sciatica will help your spine in two ways:

• First, it will reduce the pressure from the compressed nerve
• Second, it will alleviate the stress from the lower back, joints, and ligaments.

Fetal Position

Every time you look up the best sleep position for sciatica, you will always find a fetal position somewhere on the list.

How does fetal position help in sciatica?

Well, to put it simply, this sleeping position opens up or relaxes your vertebrae while you are in a flexed position, which then helps in reducing the back pain.

Here is what you need to do:

• First, lie on the uninjured side.
• Then curl up your knees to your chest, creating a C.
• You can place pillows between the knees or under your hips as well.

Note: Fetal position looks like a fetus sleeping in a mother’s womb. If it gets uncomfortable at any time, discontinue and try another sleeping position.

Sleeping on the Floor

Remember when we said; say no to soft mattress? Well, how about you consider sleeping on the floor?

Many patients ask, is sleeping on the floor good for sciatica?

Well, sleeping on the floor with sciatica is many people’s best choice. And it indeed has an effective outcome.

Here is what you can do to avoid more pain from sleeping with sciatica:

• Use a yoga mat or something to cover the bare floor.
• Stack up some pillows under your neck, lower spine, and knees if you want.
• You may also try a recliner if sleeping on the floor doesn’t work out well for you.

Note: It might be uncomfortable in the beginning if you usually sleep on a soft mattress but you will get used to it later on.

Sleeping with Sciatica During Pregnancy

It’s hard to find the perfect position to sleep in pregnancy. And on top of that, if you have sciatica, sleeping can get extremely uncomfortable. Besides, sciatica is very common in pregnancy.

So, how to sleep with sciatica pain during pregnancy?

Well, according to experts, the ideal way to sleep during pregnancy is to sleep on your left side. The reason being the enriched blood flow through your inferior vena cava.

However, when it comes to sleeping with sciatica during pregnancy, the best way is to sleep on your unaffected side. Be it left or right, you should sleep on the comfortable side only.

Positions to Avoid

Contrary to the best ways to sleep with sciatica, there are a few sleeping positions that you should avoid with sciatica. Such as;

• Sleeping on stomach
• Sleeping on the back without any cushions
• Also, you must avoid changing position, too much twisting, and tossing at night.
• Always keep the spine and hip neutral and stable.

Note: Try not to leave any space between your waist and the mattress. And use as many cushions to fill the space as you want.

FAQs

Conclusion

So that’s all you need to know about sleeping with sciatica pain. Indeed, lying down on your back is painful when you have sciatica.

But it’s important to know how to sleep with sciatica as sleeping can either bring improvement or make sciatica worse. You may try any of the sleeping positions from our list of the best positions to sleep with sciatica. If one sleeping position does not work for you, try another.

We understand that sleeping with sciatica is difficult. However, once you try out these positions, it will become easier for you to find out which one works best for you!

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