Sleeping with Sciatica: Positions, Pillows and Proven Relief Strategies

Sciatica is undoubtedly one of the most painful and annoying physical injuries that negatively impacts the patient’s everyday life. The reason why pain is so intense is simple – the sciatica nerve is the longest and thickest one in our body. It goes through the hip and buttock all the way to the knee, where it splits into other nerves that go further down to the feet and toes. 

Urgent reaction is needed because the patient won’t be able to participate normally in most everyday activities. The purpose of this article is to help people handle pain more easily and find a solution to the problem. Let’s get started! 

Best Positions to Be in When Dealing with Sciatica

Sciatica won’t only be problematic while you are trying to walk. It can also be very challenging to sit or sleep until you resolve the issue. Finding the position that would reduce the pain is essential, and we will highlight the most helpful ones. They are:

• Sleeping on the opposite side: In any other position, you will more or less pressure the sciatic nerve. The only way to relieve the pressure on the nerve is to sleep on the non-injured side. 

• Place a pillow between your knees: The neutral position is also significant, and putting a pillow between your knees will ensure that you don’t rotate your legs while sleeping.

• Fetal position: Generally speaking, sleeping in the fetal position has many benefits. Those advantages are also applicable to sciatica because it opens up the space between the vertebrae and ensures a much lower level of pain. As we said for the first position, lie down on the non-injured side. 

• Put a towel under the lower back: The gap between the mattress and back will be filled this way, and it will ensure that the spine remains in the neutral position. 

• Sleep on the floor: We intentionally left this for last place on the list because few people will agree to sleep on the floor. Yet, this strategy can be pretty helpful for this type of physical injury. The only thing you will need is either a camping or yoga mat (or any other mat that is thin). Lie down in any of the abovementioned positions to experience the best benefits. 

Best Treatments for Sciatica

If you decide to take some self-care measures, please don’t do that for long if the progress has not been made. The good news is that there are various treatments that can help you either reduce the symptoms or, finally, resolve the issue. Let’s describe one by one! 

Physical therapy

The experts in this field will design a program and assist you until you fully recover. Best of all, after that, you will get an upgraded exercise program that will strengthen your body and prevent potential future injuries. You can read this article miraclerehabclinic.com/blog/physical-therapy-for-sciatica to learn more about how exactly the procedure looks and what the role of the experts is. Fortunately, there are many licensed professionals who possess the necessary knowledge and experience to offer an adequate recovery program! 

Medications 

To make things clear, medications won’t help you solve this physical issue. However, dealing with this type of pain can be extremely challenging or almost impossible without them. Despite anti-inflammatories, additional options that you have are antidepressants, corticosteroids, anti-seizure medications, and certain types of opioids. 

Surgery

Don’t worry, surgery is the last thing you will have to go through. It is recommended by the experts only when sciatica causes some severe symptoms, including loss of bladder control or bowel control. Also, it is recommended only when physical therapy does not help, but that rarely happens. The purpose of the surgery is to remove the bone spur of the portion that puts the nerve under pressure. 

Conclusion 

When you look closer, physical therapy represents the best solution for sciatica. Before you start with the treatment, don’t try out exercises on your own that you can eventually find on the internet. Professional assistance is extremely necessary. The only thing you can do is find the best position for sitting and sleeping, and try to lower the level of pain that way until the results of the treatment come.