How To Sleep With Back Pain Or Sciatica

When it comes to having pain wake you at night, whether back pain or sciatica, it is not only a horrible experience but it also sets you back to a degree as well. Sleeping is when our body is in the best “position” to heal and regenerate, it’s when our body is in recovery mode and if we’re working to heal up an active injury sleep matters. So if you’re waking multiple times in the night, not only is this a pain, literally, but it is also interfering with your ability to get into a deep sleep state and allow your body to focus on what it needs to do!

The problem is that when we wake at night we immediately want to do things to help the pain, and during the day search for ways to sleep to help our back pain at night, this is only part of the problem!

The best sleeping position for lower back pain

Firstly, yes, there are positions that we can adopt using pillows to place the spine in the best possible position. No the foetal position is not good for the same reasons the child’s pose is not good. Utilising pillows can help us support a neutral position for the spine. Lying on your side offers the best way to do this, we can support the top part of the spine and head to hold it square. The lumbar spine and pelvis can be supported and held square too with the aid of a smaller or older pillow, or even a rolled up towel to prevent bending of the spine to the side because of the pelvis to waist difference. Finally the pillow between the legs and knees can help reduce the tension that is placed on the glutes when the knees are together. All in all this offers the most efficient way to sleep with the least strain focused on the lower back.

What to do in the middle of the night when you’re in pain

The primary reason that you have the pain in the night is because of the build up of inflammation in those confined spaces, the best bet you’ve got here is to get out of bed, carefully, walk around a little to get some pressure changes happening in the lower back. You could even make your way to the kitchen slowly, pop a little ice pack on the spine for a few minutes whilst walking around the kitchen, then make your way back to bed. This will have the effect of taking down the inflammation and pressure that’s built up in your lower back thats brought back on the symptoms of sciatica or back pain.

For some of you it’s only at a level sufficient to be perceived when you roll over – giving that sharp pain as the spine twists and the hols change shape and size. This often will settle once you’ve got comfortable again a little more readily than if you’ve been woken whilst still because of the build up of pain.

Back pain or sciatica relief starts before you go to bed

Ultimately, the pain at night is a cue that you’re doing things wrong in the day or before you go to bed, we talk about the pre bed routine in the video above in detail, but if you’re spending 2-3 hours sat down before you go to bed, the process of things building up started long before you went to bed. Making modifications in this regard can make a big difference.

Then we have the day itself, if we’re still in the early days of recovery, perhaps you’ve only just started some proper strengthening rehab, then your back is still vulnerable, so be careful during the day and start to make changes with regards to the way you use your body on a daily basis. As your back injury at the source of your sciatica or back pain gathers healing momentum you will notice that the pain at night starts to subside too!

Stopping back pain or sciatica at night time

Finally, if you’re serious about fixing this, know that it takes time. As frustrating as that sentence might be to hear, especially if you’re reading or watching this video at 4am in pain! Get started working on a rehabilitation program that is building strength and support for your spine. Practices that will compound over time, making you safer during the day, less likely to aggravate the lower back. As a result you’ll have an easier time sleeping as the acts of daily living will not be as strenuous on your lower back because you have more muscle support and awareness.

Over time this positive effect compounds to fix the problem!