9 Tips for Sleeping Better with Arthritis

Heat therapy is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but that doesn’t take away from its usefulness. Applying heat to ease joint pain will allow your blood vessels to get bigger, which means more blood and oxygen can be delivered to those tissues. As a result, your circulation is better and those stiff muscles and joints relax a lot more. A few ways to use heat therapy include:

• A heating pad: either with an electric heating pad or a moist heating pad, place the warm compress on the areas in pain for 15 to 20 minutes before bed.
• Soaking in the bathtub: soothe your mind and joints by relaxing in a tub of warm water with epsom salts for the ultimate soak.
• A steamy shower: if baths aren’t your thing, you can also take a long, warm shower before bed.
• Paraffin wax: use paraffin wax to apply moist head to your hands or feet to alleviate pain and stiffness. Just talk to your doctor and physiotherapist before you try it yourself.

When you live with arthritis pain, the mattress you have can tremendously impact your condition and quality of life overall. Sleep and rest is critical for your health and wellbeing. And because your body is more sensitive, you need a sleep surface that supports it in all the right ways and relieves pressure on your shoulders, neck, hips, thighs, lower back and more. A mattress should enhance your spinal alignment, offer necessary comfort and provide a solid foundation (the bottom layer should be made of high-density foam or strong coils). We offer our roundup of the best mattresses for adjustable beds, targeting those with arthritis pain.

It’s worth considering an adjustable bed, which is known for relieving symptoms of joint pain and arthritis. Adjustable beds are ideal for arthritis pain sufferers for the following reasons:

• Allows for easier sleep position changes
• Increases and stimulates circulation and blood flow to affected areas
• Distributes weight evenly across pressure points
• Has a massage function that can help to reduce pain and soreness

Besides a mattress, pillows are instrumental in sleeping better with arthritis pain. Buy yourself plenty of pillows so you can use them all in a variety of ways. If you have shoulder arthritis, you can place a wedge pillow behind your shoulders. If you have hip or knee pain and like to sleep on your side, it may help to place a pillow between your knees to take pressure off your joints. Then you can also place a small pillow under your neck to align your spine.

There’s tons of ways to use pillows strategically; consult your chiropractor or physiotherapist to confirm which ways will work best for your condition.

Keep the bedroom as a place for sleep, rest and intimacy and turn it into a calm oasis. Steer clear of stimulating activities such as watching TV, working from a laptop or scrolling social media on your phone aimlessly. To make your bedroom conducive for sleep, keep it cool (the National Sleep Foundation recommends around 65 degrees), keep it dark, and keep it peaceful (either with earplugs or a fan for white noise). If you’re feeling extra fancy, you could always try aromatherapy by using calming essential oils such as lavender or chamomile to really put you in the right state of mind for sleep.

We hear you—exercise is probably the last thing you want to do during a painful flare up. Or you’re worried about increasing the pain and stiffness you already have. Rest assured that regular physical activity can increase sleep quality and decrease pain perception for people with arthritis, according to this study.

Don’t necessarily go exercising too close to bedtime but be active during the day. You’ll be strengthening your muscles and maintaining range of motion in your joints. Not to mention, exercise also eases stress and tension overall, making it easier to sleep at night. Some good exercise activities for people with arthritis include:

• Swimming
• Water aerobics
• Moderate walking (outside or on the treadmill)
• Golf
• Cycling
• Cross-country skiing
• Pilates and yoga

Take naps at your discretion. Listen to your body and if it needs further rest or needs to catch up on sleep, you can take short daytime naps. For some, this could also derail sleeping at night, so do whatever works for you. But sometimes a power nap is just what you need to recharge and make up sleep debt from consistent nights of restless sleep.

It might be your current medication schedule that just isn’t aligning with the time you go to bed. Talk with your doctor about arranging your medication schedule so it can provide relief before you hit the sheets and close your eyes. Or perhaps your medication is the reason behind your struggle to fall asleep and you’d be better taking it in the morning. Alternatively, discuss the effectiveness of taking melatonin supplements or nighttime pain relievers with your doctor to evaluate if they would help or hinder your sleep.

This is something anybody could benefit from to enhance sleep quality. But especially when you struggle with arthritis, you want to keep your circadian rhythm on the right track and sometimes even allow for more time to rest and sleep. Stick to a schedule and treat your bedtime like an appointment. Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day so your body knows when it needs to be awake and sleep.