Are you spending the night tossing and turning on an uncomfortable mattress? Do you miss out on sleep desperately trying to not trigger your sciatica? Sciatica pain occurs most intensely when pressure is applied along the sciatic nerve. To make matters worse, the sciatic nerve is thick and long. It is about as thick as your finger and runs from your hips to the soles of your feet.
Read on to learn how sleeping on a pressure-relieving mattress can help you rest without aggravating your back pain. Plus, we also cover 3 extra tips for getting better sleep with lower back pain. Find the best mattress for lower back pain here. Or read more about mattresses for upper back pain here.
A quick note: At Slumberland Furniture, our team of dedicated sleep experts helps customers get a better night's sleep. We help find the right sleep solutions for each person. Find the closest Slumberland location nearest you for a personalized sleep solution.
Getting Better Sleep with Lower Back Pain
If you suffer from sciatica, getting a good night's sleep can be a challenge. The right mattress can make all the difference. Focus on how the mattress feels when you test it. Look for a mattress that offers a balance of support and comfort.
A medium-firm mattress can provide the necessary support for your spine while letting you sink in and feel comfortable. Memory foam can also be a good option. It conforms to the shape of your body, reducing pressure on your sciatic nerve. You want your spine aligned and lumbar support, but personal preference is important too.
Consider a mattress with adjustable firmness. This lets you customize your sleeping surface and experience. With the right mattress, you can finally get restful, pain-free sleep to manage your sciatica symptoms.
The Hunt for the Best Mattress for Sciatica and Lower Back Pain
There isn’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution for every customer who comes through the door. But when someone has sciatica pain at night or just lower back pain in general, we like to have them try the Tempur-Pedic TEMPURPro Adapt series. Why?
The TEMPUR-Pro Adapt series has four different mattresses in the lineup:
These include three all-foam mattresses and a hybrid mattress which has a coil support system in addition to its foam layers. The top layer in each model is a comfort layer made of highly adaptable TEMPUR® material. Beneath that layer is a pressure relief support layer. It helps promote healthy spinal alignment while taking pressure off your lower back.
Latex mattresses are available as alternatives for individuals seeking a different sleep experience. These mattresses have a responsive and supportive surface, conform to your body's contours, and provide a gentle bounce. They are durable and naturally breathable. Latex mattresses allow for better temperature regulation throughout the night.
The medium hybrid has the same top comfort and support layers. Beneath the foam layers is an individually pocketed coil system. The coils give the mattress a more traditional bounce and help relieve pressure from your back.
Using coils in a mattress has some trade-offs. Specifically, it increases motion transfer – you may feel your partner move through the night. However, Tempur-Pedic hybrids use individually pocketed coils to eliminate that risk. Plus, TEMPUR foam is already known for increasing motion isolation. The foam is dense enough that it absorbs the pressure it receives instead.
Like most mattress brands, Tempur-Pedic makes their mattresses in different firmness levels. But, Tempur-Pedic mattresses are also rated by the adaptability of the foam. Adaptability means the more advanced the TEMPUR-material within the mattress, the more the foam will shape to your body. The more your mattress shapes to you, the more pressure relief you'll feel.
For example, a customer may try a Tempur-Pedic ProAdapt mattress and decide they need a more adaptive feel. In that case, they’ll respond better to the TEMPUR-LuxeAdapt, which is 30% more conforming.
There are other factors to consider when searching for the right mattress. Do you also needs a mattress that disperses body heat to help you sleep cool? If so, we recommend the Tempur-Pedic Breeze line. It can reduce your body temperature by up to 8 degrees.
What Makes Tempur-Pedic Mattresses So Good for Sciatica?
Tempur-Pedic uses a proprietary material called TEMPUR-material. Think of this as advanced memory foam. Let’s explain what we mean by advanced memory foam.
Imagine that you pushed your hand into a memory foam mattress. The mattress will conform to your hand’s shape. When you pull your hand away, your hand’s outline will remain for a few seconds before the mattress “bounces” back to its former shape. That’s the “memory” of memory foam working. The foam is adapted to your shape and your body weight (how much pressure you pushed into the mattress).
TEMPUR-material is highly advanced because it adapts to your weight, shape, and your body temperature. (That’s where the “Tempur” of Tempur-Pedic comes from.) This benefits you because TEMPUR-material is highly adaptable on a more molecular level. As you lay on a Tempur-Pedic mattress, it starts contouring to your body more completely than a traditional memory foam. The result is exceptional comfort and support where you need it most.
Why? Because the TEMPUR-material is absorbing the pressure you're pushing into the bed.
Another way to think of this is astronauts in a space shuttle. Tempur-Pedic has an out-of-this-world origin story. Its original advanced foam was made to work as the seat padding on space shuttles. The idea was that as an astronaut was hurtled through Earth's atmosphere, TEMPUR-material would absorb the G-forces on their body.
Similarly, your sciatica nerve is less likely to flare up when you’re lying on a Tempur-Pedic. The TEMPUR-material adapts perfectly to your weight and shape. It alleviates the pressure you’d normally feel when lying on more traditional innerspring mattresses or memory foam.
With Tempur-Pedic, both pressure and time are on your side. The longer you have a Tempur-Pedic, the more your mattress adapts to your needs.
Elevate Your Sleeping Experience with an Adjustable Base
A good mattress works by taking pressure off your body and providing you with back support.
But even the best mattress needs help fighting gravity.
That’s why we recommend you pair your Tempur-Pedic mattress with a lifestyle adjustable base.
A lifestyle adjustable base has many benefits (such as reducing snoring, helping with acid reflux, letting you relax comfortably in bed, and even making it easier to work from bed). For sleepers with sciatica nerve issues, the adjustable base works best when put into the zero-gravity position.
The zero-gravity position is when you sleep with your legs elevated above your hips and your head elevated just a little above your heart. It's the shape your body naturally forms when it's weightless.
Sleeping in a zero-gravity position is great for sciatica because it takes almost all the pressure off your lower back.
A Tempur-Pedic adjustable bed remote comes with a custom preset zero-gravity button. Once you get in bed, you can hit the Zero-Gravity button and the adjustable bed moves into the correct position.
Of course, you can adjust the exact position of your lifestyle base as needed. Simply hold the up or down buttons and then let go when you’ve found the most comfortable position for you.
Now that we’ve discussed the ideal type of mattress for sciatica and spinal alignment (and how an adjustable base can significantly reduce the pressure you feel in your lower back), let’s look at some other things you can do to reduce your sciatica at night.
3 Tips for Sleeping with Sciatica or Lower Back Pain
A quick disclaimer: Sciatica is a medical condition. If you think you're experiencing sciatic pain, we recommend you seek out the medical advice of a licensed healthcare provider. Below we list three helpful tips that may help you sleep better at night but they are not a replacement for a doctor's visit.
1. Take A Warm Bath Before Going to Bed
Tightness in the lower back can exacerbate your sciatica pain. A warm bath can relax the muscles around your sciatic nerve roots.
Similarly, you can also stretch before bed to relax any tense muscles. To prepare for a good night’s sleep, spend some time before bed doing stretching exercises designed to help with sciatica.
Neither taking a warm bath nor stretching before bed will be enough of a solution to help keep your sciatica from flaring up for a consistent 8-9 hours.
For more permanent solutions for treating your sciatica symptoms, change your sleep position and elevate your legs.
2. Elevate Your Legs While You Sleep
As mentioned above, elevating your legs helps relieve pressure from your lower back. You can feel this immediately if you get into bed and put two or three pillows beneath your knees.
There are specially-made wedge pillows that are sturdier and more rigid. If you’re using softer down pillows, you may not get enough height to really benefit your lower back. Plus, it’s easy for you to kick your pillows off your bed in the middle of the night.
An easy way to sleep with your knees elevated is to put your mattress on a lifestyle adjustable base. These mechanical bases can lift your legs, back, and head. By using an adjustable base to raise your legs, you alleviate pressure on your lower back.
3. Change Your Sleep Position
Sleep positions are hard to change. What works and doesn't work will depend significantly on your mattress. For example, if you're on a firm mattress, sleeping on your side may not be a great option for you. A firmer mattress is more likely to trigger pressure points in your shoulders and hips.
All other things being equal, back sleeping is the best sleeping position for relieving sciatica pain. Side sleeping can put more pressure on your lower back/lumbar region, as well as your thighs and knees.
Most people identify as side sleepers. They may fall asleep on their back but turn to their side throughout the night, which can cause a sciatica flare-up.
If you’re trying to sleep on your back, you can do a few things to help you adjust:
- Sleep on a thin pillow. If you’re used to side sleeping, chances are you’re on a thicker pillow with more cushioning. This worked for you when you were on your side because you had a gap to fill between your head and the mattress. But on your back, that gap is nearly non-existent, and that thick pillow will make you uncomfortable.
- Elevate your legs. Elevating your legs is highly beneficial for your sciatica. It also helps you stay on your back throughout the night.
- Change your mattress. If your mattress is too soft, your hips may sink in too much when you’re on your back, causing you to switch to your side. If you’re looking for a general mattress firmness recommendation for back sleepers, we recommend a medium to medium firm mattress.
If you’re a dedicated side sleeper – or if back sleeping makes your chronic back pain worse – there are a few things you can do to sleep better on your side. There is no one specific mattress for side sleepers. Instead, sleep with a body pillow and make sure your head pillow is thick enough to fill the gap between your head and your mattress.
A body pillow is good for side sleeping because you can wrap your legs around the pillow. This keeps your knees and legs relatively straight.
Stomach sleepers - a word of caution. Stomach sleeping is universally considered one of the worst sleeping positions. It's even worse for those suffering from sciatic nerve pain. When you sleep on your stomach, you’re positioning your body against the natural curvature of your spine. Plus, because most beds are not made for stomach sleepers, your hips are going to sink in, which puts added pressure on your back.
If, for a medical or other significant reason, you must sleep on your stomach, we recommend you narrow your search to firmer mattresses. With a firmer mattress, your hips won’t sink in as much. Firm mattresses greatly how much pressure you're putting on your back by sleeping on your stomach.
Going Forward: Don’t Let Sciatica Ruin Your Night
Sciatica flares up when pressure is applied to your sciatic nerve. This is why sciatica can become a major issue when you’re trying to sleep.
The best way to treat sciatica is to reduce the pressure your body feels through the night. You can do this by raising up your legs (with an adjustable base or wedge pillows) and by changing your sleeping position.
Of course, what you sleep on every night is just as important. If you’re on a mattress that doesn’t offer pressure relief, then you’re increasing your risk of aggravating your sciatica.
That’s why our team of sleep experts enjoys showing their customers the Tempur-Pedic mattresses.
These are supportive, quality mattresses that adapt to your weight, shape, and body temperature. They can better conform to your body and take the pressure off your hips, legs, and lower back. That makes for a more peaceful (and less painful!) night’s sleep.
Ready to improve your sleep? When you buy a mattress through Slumberland, you get a 365-night Comfort Guarantee and a 10-year warranty backed by Tempur-Pedic.
Interested in learning more about Tempur-Pedic in person? Visit one of our many Slumberland locations.
