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

Sciatica is characterized by excruciating shooting pains in your lower back, buttocks, or thigh. You’re most likely to develop sciatica in your fourth decade or beyond, as it tends to be a pain condition that starts with wear-and-tear on your vertebral discs, nerves, and supportive tissues. 

Sciatica is more than just lower back pain. If you suffer from this condition, your sciatic nerve — the largest nerve in your body — is irritated or impinged, creating pain that radiates into your buttocks and leg. 

The classic symptom of sciatica is shooting pain that makes it difficult to stand or walk. About 40% of women and men in the United States develop a case of sciatica at least once in their lifetime. 

If you have sciatica, you might also find it difficult to sleep. Ironically, sleep is necessary for your body to repair damage, including damage to or around your sciatic nerve, so losing those winks does more than make you sleepy when you should be alert. It helps perpetuate your pain.

Our expert osteopath, Dr. John East, wants you to sleep well and get relief from your pain, too. He treats sciatica and other lower back pain and pain conditions at Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine in Addison, Texas.

How can you get nighttime (and daytime) relief from sciatica? Read on for some expert advice.

Stay active during the day

Sciatica pain may make you want to dive under the covers during the day to make up for your lack of nighttime sleep, but inactivity can ultimately worsen your pain. If you can’t control the pain with over-the-counter medications, you can get some relief by taking a load off your feet for a day or two. But don’t stay immobile for too long.

Movement nourishes the tissues around your sciatic nerve, which helps it heal. If you stay active, your symptoms will resolve sooner.

That doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym and bench press 300 pounds. Light aerobic activity, such as brisk walking, is fine. Also, be sure to take frequent breaks from sitting or standing; varying your movement is key.

If even walking feels like too much, consider swimming or cycling. Both of these activities take pressure off your legs while still allowing healthy movement.

Stretch and strengthen

When you’re in pain, your muscles tend to tighten up to prevent movement and further injury. However, you’re more likely to remain in pain if your muscles stay tight. 

Your hamstrings are most likely to clench up in response to shooting pains in your leg. So, do some hamstring stretches before you get out of bed in the morning, intermittently throughout the day, and before you go to sleep at night. 

It's also important to strengthen your core muscles, because they keep your back and legs stable and straight. Planks aren’t fun, but they build strength in your core. Yoga, tai chi, and Pilates are also good ways to build core strength.

Go hot or cold

Both ice packs and heating pads can help reduce sciatica pain. Wrapped ice packs can numb pain during the day and relieve swelling.

Use a heat pad or a heat treatment closer to bedtime. This can soothe and nourish damaged tissues, plus help you relax for sleep. You might also choose to soak in a tub with Epsom salts to relax your muscles and prepare your body for deep rest.

Learn how to move

One of the risk factors for sciatica is a job or avocation that requires you to lift heavy objects — even if it’s the barbells at the gym. Poor lifting technique, such as relying on your back muscles or twisting while lifting, can irritate your sciatic nerve.

If you have sciatica, consider working with a physical therapist. Not only can they help you develop a safe stretching and strengthening regimen, but they can also evaluate how you perform daily tasks. They may show you how to modify everyday movements, like walking, so you can do them more safely and with less strain. 

Take NSAIDs

For whatever reason, you may wish to avoid over-the-counter medications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). However, NSAIDs not only alleviate pain, but they also reduce swollen tissues around the sciatic nerve roots, allowing them to heal.

Don’t worry about becoming dependent on NSAIDs or (as long as you take them properly) any long-term effects. Sciatica usually resolves on its own, even without treatment, so you don’t have to take NSAIDs for an extended period.

Get help

If NSAIDs, stretching, and strengthening don’t help your pain, or if you develop other symptoms such as bladder issues, let us know. You might benefit from muscle relaxants, corticosteroids, or topical pain relief. We might also recommend therapies, such as:

• Massage
• Acupuncture
• Spinal manipulation
• Medical cannabis
• Ketamine infusions

Sleep well, soundly, and sciatica-pain free, by calling our office for help today at 972-380-0000 or requesting an appointment online.