Sleeping With Pain: 5 natural Ways To Get To Sleep

Article Last Updated: December 1, 2024

Sleep is the Holy Grail to a happy, healthy life.

When you don’t get enough of it due to nightly pains, your days will be sluggish, and your focus at work or play will gradually wane.

Poor sleep has also been linked to health problems top among them low immunity and a heightened risk of diabetes and hypertension.

If you have been tossing and turning at night due to injury or pain, below are natural ways you can sleep better.

5 natural Ways To Get To Sleep

1. Adjust your pillow to reduce pain

There are many pillow strategies that you can adapt to cater for your pain at night.

When you have back pain, for instance, you need to avoid sleeping on your stomach.

You can sleep with back pain by prepping a pillow under your knees to raise the degree of comfort.

For a neck injury, you can sleep through the night using the pillow and rolled up towel technique.

Take the big beach towel and roll it up so that it can fit at the base of your pillow.

This towel roll gives your neck and lower back additional support, and keeps your spine correctly aligned.

With this technique, you can lie on your back or on your side, whatever posture makes you comfortable.

Another way to prep up your pillows for a pain-free night is lining up a row of pillows to hug.

It helps with shoulder pain- you can still get to sleep on your side without putting pressure on your shoulders.

Speak to your doctor for further advice.

2. Retrain your brain

Studies show that if you are convinced that your pain will keep you awake at night and interfere with your sleep, that’s what often ends up happening.

You can change that with a positive re-imagination of your thoughts. With a positive mindset, you can sleep through the night without minding the pain.

Worry is the biggest challenge.

Even after the pain is gone, a situation like this can develop into insomnia, affecting all your future nights.

Meditation can help to take your mind off the pain and relax your body for sleep.

Self-talk is another method that sleep experts recommend.

Change how you think about your pain and yourself by telling yourself for instance, that you can get through it.

You can also listen to music as a soft distraction.

3. Hot compress massage

If you have an injury, it would help to adopt a bedtime routine that helps to relax you into sleep.

Getting a hot compress massage before bed, for instance, is not only relaxing but can help to numb the pain so you can sleep fast.

Heat helps to relieve tension in the muscles.

Hot compress is an excellent way to ease stress and mask the pain by relaxing the body.

The warmth induces comfort and a soothing effect on the aching area.

4. Progressive muscle relaxation technique

In different kinds of injury situations, sleep experts also recommend the continuous muscle relaxation technique.

This technique helps to relieve tension in the muscles ultimately leading to a relaxed mind.

Start by breathing in slowly and tensing the muscles of your feet and toes for about 5 seconds. Exhale and relax these muscles again.

Do the same with your lower leg muscles, thighs, abdomen and lower back.

The technique trains your body to learn what a relaxed state is, and that gives your mind a goal to work towards when you are sleeping.

5. Deep slow breathing

If you are still finding it hard to sleep with pain, do nothing but focus on your breathing.

Take deep breaths, counting from one to five and then exhale counting to five again. This breathing technique will calm and center you, making the pain seem like a distant part of you.

Close your mouth and breathe through the nose to a mental count of five.

Hold your breath for a count of five and then exhale through the mouth to a count of 5. Repeat the cycle until you slowly start to drift off.

Always remember: Regardless of the level of pain on your body, if you can make your sleeping environment comfortable, all will go well.

Your ability to sleep is pegged on room temperature, for instance, type of mattress, pillow texture, and many other factors.

A comfy bedroom environment is enough to help your body forget the pain.

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