Is Sciatica Pain Keeping You Up At Night? Here’s How To Find Relief

Back pain rarely takes a rest when you do, which means you’re not only limping along through your daily tasks but also not getting anywhere near the amount of sleep you need to function. 

That’s where Dr. Raul Lopez and our West Texas Pain Institute team come in. 

We offer a variety of sciatica treatments and management strategies that can help you find relief from your pain all day and all night. 

A refresher course on sciatica

It’s always best to know thy enemy, so let’s dive into what’s going on behind the scenes of your pain. 

Your sciatic nerve is the largest in your body. It stems from your spinal cord and runs through your hips and buttocks, where it branches off and extends down the back of each leg. 

Sciatica occurs when the sciatic nerve becomes impinged or irritated. This usually happens as the result of:

• Herniated discs
• Spinal stenosis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Arthritis
• Bone spurs
• Misalignment
• Injury or fracture

Even the throes of pregnancy can affect your nerves and trigger sciatica. Sciatica doesn’t typically behave like back pain — there are specific warning signs, including a tingling sensation, numbness, and pain that travels down the buttocks and back of the legs. 

If you’re having trouble sleeping because of sciatica, consider the following. 

Getting sleep with sciatica

Adjusting your sleeping position is the best way to relieve sciatica pain at night. Side sleeping is the optimal position for sciatica pain because it reduces the stress on your nerves. 

Slide a pillow between your knees to maintain proper alignment and curl up gently into the fetal position (if it feels good). If you’re pregnant and struggling with sciatica, side sleeping is really your only option, especially after you’ve reached the second trimester. 

Some have found success lying on their backs with a pillow propping their knees up or with a rolled-up towel under their backs. 

Others have resorted to sleeping on the floor on a thin mat because soft surfaces tend to allow your spine to bend out of alignment. 

You might also consider:

• Investing in a firmer mattress
• Putting plywood under your mattress
• Using a body pillow for more support
• Stretching or doing yoga before bed
• Taking a warm bath before bed

There are cases of mild sciatica that resolve on their own with careful self-management. But at the end of the day, all the hacks and sleeping positions might not be enough to help you find relief. That’s when you call our experts.

When to call the doctor

If you’ve been in pain longer than a week and/or you’re one of those unlucky folks whose pain gets worse when lying down, it’s time to see us for an evaluation. 

Dr. Lopez and our staff of specialists have years of experience diagnosing and treating sciatica and can match you with the best treatment available. 

Depending on your needs, we may recommend:

• Regenerative medicine (platelet-rich plasma or stem cell therapy)
• Epidural injections
• Radiofrequency ablation
• Spinal cord stimulation

We also encourage you to focus on your posture during the day, get exercise to strengthen the soft tissue around your sciatic nerve, and use those healthy sleep habits we outlined above. Your lifestyle choices, plus our advanced treatments, often equal a sciatica-free life. 

Don’t let sciatica steal another night from you. Schedule a consultation with our expert online or over the phone at our El Paso, Texas, office today.