Sleeping on your side? The doctor told why it can harm the hip joint

Hip pain after sleep is a common complaint with which patients come to orthopedists. Often, the reason lies not in the disease, but in the usual posture during rest: some body positions create an excessive load on the joint, provoke pelvic distortion and muscle tension. Russian surgeon-traumatologist Ivan Eremin told what sleeping position is especially harmful to the hip joint and how to reduce discomfort, writes sb.by.

As noted by Ivan Eremin, if in the morning you feel pain or limited mobility in the hip (and during the day the discomfort goes away), if you are used to sleeping on your side or have already noticed sensitivity in the hip joint - the correct posture is especially important for you.

- The most common posture - on the side - in itself is not considered harmful, but it has a serious nuance. When you lie on your side, the upper leg, under the influence of its own weight, slides forward and down, crossing the middle line of the body, and with it the hip turns. As a result, the hip joint remains in a twisted and reduced position throughout the night. For a healthy joint, this may not be critical, but for an already sensitive or having minor problems, it is a real night stress. It is he who leads to morning pain and stiffness, Ivan Eremin explained.

At the same time, the doctor warned that the situation becomes even worse if you sleep on the side where the joint is already bothering: then the entire body weight presses directly on the problem area and on the tissue on the side of the thigh. This is a very common cause of pain, which makes itself felt either at night or immediately after waking up.

Ivan Eremin spoke about simple rules that will help reduce the load:

- If one hip joint hurts, try not to sleep on this side - give it at least a night respite. Also use a pillow between your knees. This is the most affordable and effective solution. An ordinary small pillow or even a folded blanket is suitable - the main thing is that it prevents the upper leg from falling forward and down. So the hip and pelvis remain in a neutral, flat position, and the joint - in the natural axis without twisting. Many people notice that after a few nights of this habit, morning discomfort decreases noticeably.

Ivan Eremin noted that the optimal posture for the hip joint is considered a sleep on the back:

- In this position, the joint is evenly and symmetrically located, and the body weight is distributed evenly. Even better, if you put a small pillow under the knee - this additionally helps to maintain the correct position of the pelvis and reduces tension.

What to avoid:

Sleep on your stomach. In this position, the lower back is strongly bent, and the hips and pelvis are in a twisted position - this creates an extra load on the joints and on the back. Too strong twist in the position of "embryo". Press the knees to the chest can be, but do not do it excessively: extreme twisting also loads the hip joints. Too soft or hard mattress. If the pelvis fails, it sways throughout the night, and no correct posture will compensate for this problem. The ideal support is a mattress of medium stiffness: it holds the spine and pelvis evenly, not allowing them to fall or hang on weight. If your mattress is old and a hole has already formed in it, it should be replaced: otherwise even the ideal posture will not save you from distortion.

Why is the pain most often in the morning and by lunch passes, explained Ivan Eremin:

- The fact is that during the night in a twisted position, the tissues around the joint slightly stagnate, the muscles “drip”, hence the discomfort. When you get up and start moving, blood circulation improves, tissues “wake up” and stiffness goes away. Therefore, if the pain bothers in the morning, and in the afternoon it becomes easier, it is likely that the cause is just a night posture. And that's good news, by the way: adjusting night comfort is much easier than dealing with a neglected problem.

It is important to understand: the correct posture and pillow between the knees is not a treatment for osteoarthritis and is not a substitute for medical care. This is prevention and a way to remove excess night stress, which increases morning stiffness. If hip pain worries regularly, the problem is definitely not in the pillow - you need to deal with the condition of the joint itself. This requires a visit to a doctor.

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