Hip pain at night lying on side – Hip Pain Relief Sleeping Strategy 1
If you are a side sleeper, try sleeping with a pillow between your knees and ankles.
When you lie with your top leg resting down on your bottom leg, this can create more of an angle of the top thigh dropping across your body. This may have an impact on pain coming from your hip joint, for example, in conditions such as FAI syndrome, hip dysplasia, and hip OA.
If you are a side sleeper, try sleeping with a pillow between your knees and ankles.
When you lie with your top leg resting down on your bottom leg, this can create more of an angle of the top thigh dropping across your body. This may have an impact on pain coming from your hip joint, for example, in conditions such as FAI syndrome, hip dysplasia, and hip OA.
This position may also have an impact on the soft tissue structures (muscles, tendons, and bursa) around the hip and pelvis, such as in conditions like gluteal tendinopathy, or greater trochanteric pain syndrome.
Nerve related conditions may also become aggravated, such as with hip-related sciatica.
Having the top and bottom legs slightly separated may help position the top leg in a way that takes stress and strain away from these soft tissues, reducing overall pain.
Try sleeping with a pillow between your knees and ankles. Experiment with different pillow thicknesses …..it is far easier to just deal with only one pillow in the night that is the correct size, rather than two pillows!!!
Hip pain at night lying on back- Hip Pain Relief Sleeping Strategy 2
If you sleep on your back, try sleeping with a pillow under your knees. This can relax tension through the lower back and buttock area as well as in the front of the hip. This in turn can help reduce pain related to the front and back of the hip and pelvis, for example in conditions related to the hip joint, the labrum, soft tissue structures (such as the hip flexors) and nerve structures (referred from either the low back or from local nerves involved around the hip or pelvis).
Hip Pain Relief Sleeping Strategy 3 – use a mattress topper
Use a mattress topper – if you struggle to lie on your side because the hip you are lying on becomes sore from the pressure of lying on it, then something softer over the mattress may be of benefit. In conditions such as gluteal tendinopathy or greater trochanteric pain syndrome, the ideal is to avoid side lying. If this is not possible, then a mattress topper may help reduce the pain from compression on the lower hip. You could try to sleep on a thick soft duvet you have at home first to see if there is any benefit before heading out and spending money on a more expensive mattress topper.