How To Get Rid Of Leg Pain At Night
How can I stop leg pain at night? – Sleep is restorative, so it’s important that you get enough of it, And that starts with getting rid of disruptions. There’s little you can do to block out the lights and sounds of a Des Moines night, but leg pain is one disruption you can control. There are several things you can do to ease the nightly aches from varicose veins to catch some Zs:
Elevate your feet. Put a pillow or folded blanket underneath your mattress. Nothing bulky, just enough to raise the foot-end of your bed three or four inches. This helps relieve the pressure on the veins in your legs and lets gravity pick up the slack in getting blood back to your heart. Ease into the evening. Many people are active up until the moment they jump in bed. Start winding down earlier in the evening. Put your legs up and relax so that your veins can calm down before you call it a night. A little leg massage can also help the circulation in your legs and prevent pain later on. Do some yoga. Exercise is not encouraged too close to bedtime because it will keep you up — even though it’s the best thing for your veins, But gentle stretching and yoga can help you relax and improve blood flow. Drink plenty of water. Hydration is key to healthy circulation. But don’t drink it all right before you lie down — that will lead to other sleep disruptions. Just make sure you’re properly hydrated all throughout the day.
Easing the pain may be enough to solve your sleep issues. But if your problems persist, there are many other options that can get to the root of the problem. Varicose veins are often permanent, making the leg pain when you’re sleeping permanent as well. Varicose vein removal ranges from treatments using heat energy to minimally invasive surgery.
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What causes leg pain at night?
Most of the time, there’s no known cause for night leg cramps. In general, they’re likely the result of tired muscles and nerve problems. The risk of having night leg cramps increases with age. Pregnant people also are more likely to have night leg cramps.
Kidney failure, diabetic nerve damage and problems with blood flow are known to cause night leg cramps. But if you have one of these conditions, you probably already know. And you likely have symptoms other than just night leg cramps. People who take medicines that increase urine output might be more likely to have night leg cramps.
But it’s not known if there’s a direct link. Restless legs syndrome is sometimes confused with night leg cramps. But the conditions are different. The most common symptom of restless legs syndrome is the need to move the legs when falling asleep. Restless legs syndrome is usually not painful, and the symptoms last longer than do night leg cramps.
- Acute kidney failure
- Addison’s disease (adrenal insufficiency)
- Alcohol use disorder
- Anemia — a condition in which the body doesn’t get oxygen due to a lack of healthy red blood cells.
- Chronic kidney disease
- Cirrhosis (scarring of the liver)
- Dehydration (which is when the body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to work properly)
- Dialysis
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
- Hypoglycemia
- Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
- Lack of physical activity
- Medicines, such as those used to treat blood pressure problems and high cholesterol, and birth control pills
- Muscle fatigue
- Parkinson’s disease
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Pregnancy
- Spinal stenosis
- Type 1 diabetes
- Type 2 diabetes
Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.
Why is leg pain so painful?
Leg pain is a symptom with many possible causes. Most leg pain results from wear and tear or overuse. It also can result from injuries or health conditions in joints, bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves or other soft tissues. Some types of leg pain can be traced to problems in your lower spine.
- Gout
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis)
- Osteoarthritis
- Pseudogout
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Reactive arthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
Blood flow problems
- Claudication
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT)
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
- Thrombophlebitis
- Varicose veins
Bone conditions
- Ankylosing spondylitis
- Bone cancer
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease
- Osteochondritis dissecans
- Paget’s disease of bone
Infection
- Cellulitis
- Infection
- Osteomyelitis
- Septic arthritis
Injury
- Achilles tendinitis
- Achilles tendon rupture
- ACL injury
- Broken leg
- Bursitis
- Chronic exertional compartment syndrome
- Growth plate fractures
- Hamstring injury
- Knee bursitis
- Muscle strains
- Patellar tendinitis
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome
- Shin splints
- Sprains
- Stress fractures
- Tendinitis
- Torn meniscus
Nerve problems
- Herniated disk
- Meralgia paresthetica
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Sciatica
- Spinal stenosis
Muscle conditions
- Dermatomyositis
- Medicines, especially the cholesterol medicines known as statins
- Myositis
- Polymyositis
Other problems
- Baker cyst
- Growing pains
- Muscle cramp
- Night leg cramps
- Restless legs syndrome
- Low levels of certain vitamins, such as vitamin D
- Too much or too little of electrolytes, such as calcium or potassium
Causes shown here are commonly associated with this symptom. Work with your doctor or other health care professional for an accurate diagnosis.
Why is my leg pain worse in bed?
Leg pain while lying on the side – Lying on the side can cause or exacerbate leg pain in a couple ways:
Putting direct pressure on a nerve root by lying on the leg affected by sciatic pain. Lying with the hips tilted too far to one side, which causes the spine to curve, pinching the nerve roots and causing leg pain. For example, lying on the unaffected leg can cause the affected hip to curve too far up toward the ceiling, pinching a nerve root and causing pain in the affected leg.
If you tend to sleep on your side, it is usually recommended to lie on the unaffected leg. However, this advice doesn’t work for everyone, and you may find that the reverse is more comfortable. To prevent leg pain when sleeping on your side, try placing a pillow between your legs and keeping your hips in alignment with your spine, rather than curved to the side.
How can I stop night pain?
Have a Bedtime Routine – Try to have a nightly plan that relaxes and soothes you before bed. Turn off your phone, television, and computer at least an hour before bed, so as to not let the lights disrupt your sleep routine. Instead, read a book, journal, listen to calming music, practice restorative yoga, or do a meditation exercise.
Is pain at night a red flag?
Night Pain or Pain at Rest – Experiencing back pain at night or at rest can be—but isn’t necessarily—a sign of a serious condition such as an infection or cancer. This is particularly true if your night or resting back pain occurs alongside another symptom.
Is it good to sleep when in pain?
Sleep problems and chronic pain go hand in hand. – Does pain make sleep worse or does poor sleep make the pain feel worse? The answer is both! You need sleep to heal but pain prevents you from getting it. A good night’s sleep can improve your quality of life and ability to tolerate pain.
The subjective intensity of pain decreases when you sleep well. The opposite is true for bad sleep. Poor sleep quality is correlated with more severe pain and an increase in fatigue. Ironically, many of the common medications for severe and chronic pain can have the side effect of making sleep problems worse.
Opioid drugs prescribed to treat severe pain can suppress rapid eye movement (REM) sleep — the stage of sleep where you dream. They can also make you more sensitive to the pain they are meant to treat, a condition known as hyperalgesia.
