Why Does My Sciatica Get Worse at Night? | Kearny Mesa, CA
One of the more frustrating things about sciatica is that you can have a decent day, get into bed expecting to finally relax, and suddenly your leg starts killing you.
Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC hears different versions of this all the time.
“I fall asleep okay, but I wake up at 2:00 in the morning with my leg burning.”
“I can't sleep on my left side anymore.”
“My back doesn't even hurt that much. It's my glute and calf.”
“If I get out of bed and walk around for five minutes, it settles down.”
Sometimes patients have already changed mattresses, bought a special pillow, tried sleeping in a recliner or started taking something before bed just to get a few hours of sleep.
So why can sciatica feel worse at night?
There isn't one answer that fits everybody.
Your sleeping position can change the position of the lower back, pelvis and legs. If a nerve root is already irritated by a disc problem or narrowing around the nerve, certain positions may bother it more than others. What you did throughout the day can play a role too.
And sometimes lying quietly in bed simply makes symptoms that were easier to ignore during the day much more noticeable.
The details of when it hurts, where it goes and what makes it settle down can tell Dr. Boelk quite a bit.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I Couldn't Sleep Well, and My Quality of Life Was Steadily Declining”
“The pain shot from my hip all the way down to my left foot and became almost unbearable.”
“There isn't enough room to fully explain the relief Dr. Boelk has brought to me and my family.
I found him after suffering from severe sciatica for more than a year. The pain shot from my hip all the way down to my left foot and became almost unbearable. I could no longer enjoy the activities I loved, including hockey, golf, and surfing.
Over the years, I had seen numerous chiropractors and experienced only temporary relief. Acupuncture helped somewhat, physical therapy was difficult to tolerate, and nothing seemed to provide lasting results. I couldn't sleep well, and my quality of life was steadily declining.
Then I met Dr. Boelk.
Through a structured treatment plan, adjustments, rehabilitation exercises, and lifestyle modifications, my life completely changed.
To this day, I tell people that Dr. Boelk saved my life.
Since my own recovery, I have referred my wife, daughter, mother, father, numerous friends, and many clients to his office. Every one of them has thanked me for the recommendation. Most recently, a firefighter friend of mine who was suffering from severe sciatica began treatment and is now making tremendous progress.
If you are considering surgery, I strongly encourage you to have Dr. Boelk evaluate your condition first.
What I respect most is his honesty. If he believes you are not a candidate or that another option would be better, he will tell you.
I trust him with my life and with my back.”
— Jayson Yavorsky, San Diego, CA
When someone hasn't slept normally for weeks or months, it starts affecting a lot more than the leg.
They're tired at work. They're irritable. They stop exercising because they're exhausted. Some become nervous about going to bed because they already know what's coming.
That's why Dr. Boelk asks about sleep when he's evaluating someone with sciatica.
It's not a side issue.
What Position Are You In When the Leg Starts Hurting?
This is usually more helpful than simply saying, “My sciatica is worse at night.”
Dr. Boelk wants the patient to think about what actually happens.
Maybe you're comfortable when you first lie down, but after 20 minutes on your back the calf starts aching.
Maybe lying on the painful side is impossible.
Maybe the opposite side is worse.
Maybe you can sleep comfortably as long as the knees are bent, but straightening the affected leg brings on burning or tingling.
Some patients are okay once they're asleep but get a sharp shot down the leg when they roll over.
Those aren't meaningless details.
If changing the position of the lower back, pelvis or leg consistently changes the symptoms, Dr. Boelk wants to know about it.
If Sciatica Is Keeping You Up at Night, Come In and Talk With Dr. Boelk
If you're in Kearny Mesa or the surrounding San Diego area and nighttime sciatica has reached the point where you're losing sleep, you can start with a No-Charge, No-Obligation Consultation with Dr. Boelk.
This isn't an appointment where you've already agreed to spinal decompression.
Dr. Boelk first needs to decide whether he thinks you're a candidate at all.
He'll want to know:
-
When the sciatica started.
-
Where the pain travels.
-
What happens when you lie down.
-
Which sleeping positions bother you.
-
Whether getting up and walking changes the pain.
-
What sitting, standing and walking do to your symptoms during the day.
-
Whether you have burning, tingling, numbness or weakness.
-
What you've already tried and whether any of it helped.
-
What your MRI shows, if you have one.
If you have an MRI, bring the actual images and report so Dr. Boelk can review them.
If you don't have an MRI, that's okay too.
There is no charge for the consultation and no obligation to begin treatment.
Dr. Boelk performs these consultations himself while also treating his existing patients, so the office can only set aside a limited number during the clinic schedule.
Call 619-298-0800 and ask for the next available No-Charge Consultation.
Sometimes the Bed Gets Blamed for Something That Started Hours Earlier
A patient may feel pretty good when they wake up.
Then they sit at a desk most of the day.
They drive home.
Maybe they go to the gym or spend an hour working around the house.
They don't feel terrible, so they assume everything is fine.
Then they get into bed and the leg starts throbbing.
Was it the mattress?
Maybe the sleeping position contributed, but Dr. Boelk also wants to know what happened during the other 16 hours of the day.
An already irritated nerve can become more symptomatic as the day goes on. The position that finally makes you notice it isn't necessarily the only thing that caused it.
This is one reason changing mattresses doesn't always solve the problem.
If your mattress is 15 years old and has a giant depression in the middle, replacing it may make you more comfortable.
But Dr. Boelk wouldn't tell a patient with an irritated lumbar nerve root that buying a particular mattress is going to fix the underlying problem.
What Should You Try Tonight?
Dr. Boelk generally prefers simple changes over turning the bed into a complicated arrangement of wedges and pillows.
If lying completely flat on your back bothers the leg, try supporting the knees so they're slightly bent.
If you sleep on your side, putting a pillow between the knees may be more comfortable.
If one side consistently aggravates the symptoms, don't force yourself to sleep on that side because someone told you it's the “correct” position.
Pay attention to what your symptoms do.
If a position reduces the leg symptoms, that's useful.
If a position causes pain, burning or tingling to travel farther down the leg, change it.
The goal is to find a reasonably comfortable position that lets you sleep.
If none of them do anymore, that's a different problem.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “For the First Time in 10 Years, I Am Completely Pain-Free”
“My sciatca is gone, and I no longer have back pain.”
“For the first time in 10 years, I am completely pain-free. My sciatca is gone, and I no longer have back pain.
Before finding Dr. Boelk, I tried chiropractic care, acupuncture, pain medications, and several other therapies that simply didn't work. I was one step away from back surgery when I discovered spinal decompression treatment at The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego.
The results have been incredible. Every visit was comfortable, relaxing, and completely pain-free. Dr. Boelk and Patty always took the time to explain everything and made me feel genuinely cared for throughout the process.
They are warm, welcoming, and truly dedicated to helping their patients.
Thank you, Dr. Boelk and Patty!”
— Toni H., San Diego, CA
Toni had dealt with sciatica for a long time before coming to the office.
Not everyone has to wait until the problem has been there for years.
If something has changed enough that you're no longer sleeping normally, that's a reasonable time to find out what you're dealing with.
“My Back Doesn't Hurt. Why Is My Leg Killing Me at Night?”
This throws people off.
They assume that if a lumbar disc is involved, the lower back should be the most painful area.
It doesn't have to be.
A disc problem can irritate a nerve root in the lower back and produce symptoms farther down the nerve pathway.
One patient feels it mainly in the glute.
Another has pain down the back of the thigh.
Another feels burning in the calf.
Someone else says their foot is tingling in bed even though their back feels fine.
That doesn't prove a disc is responsible. There are other causes of leg symptoms, and that's exactly why Dr. Boelk doesn't make the diagnosis from one symptom.
But having no back pain does not automatically rule out the lumbar spine either.
What If Getting Out of Bed Makes It Better?
Tell Dr. Boelk.
If your leg starts hurting after you've been lying down and you can calm it by standing or walking for a few minutes, that's part of the history.
The opposite matters too.
Some people feel much better lying down and develop leg pain mainly when they're standing or walking.
Those patterns can point Dr. Boelk in different directions.
“Sciatica” is a useful description of a group of symptoms, but it isn't the entire diagnosis.
Two people can both have pain down the leg and have very different reasons for it.
When Night Pain Shouldn't Just Be Written Off as Sciatica
Most patients Dr. Boelk sees with nighttime sciatica don't have an emergency.
There are still symptoms that shouldn't be ignored.
Severe, unrelenting pain that doesn't change with position deserves further evaluation, particularly when it's associated with unexplained fever, significant unexplained weight loss, a history of cancer, significant recent trauma or other concerning medical symptoms.
Neurological changes matter too.
If one leg is becoming weaker, you're having difficulty lifting the front of the foot, or the foot begins slapping the ground when you walk, mention it.
Rapidly progressing weakness, new bowel or bladder dysfunction, difficulty urinating, or numbness around the groin or saddle area requires prompt medical evaluation rather than waiting for a routine spinal decompression consultation.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Dr. Boelk Has Been a Lifesaver”
“I suffered from constant low back pain and sciatica for more than eight months.”
“Dr. Boelk has been a lifesaver.
I suffered from constant low back pain and sciatica for more than eight months. Pain medications didn't help, and I was headed toward multiple injections in hopes of finding relief.
After beginning treatment with Dr. Boelk, everything changed.
Today, my pain is completely gone.
As a firefighter who depends on his body every day to help others, being pain-free has made a tremendous difference in both my career and quality of life.
The results I experienced were absolutely worth it, and I highly recommend looking into what Dr. Boelk and his team can do for you.”
— Joshua T., San Diego, CA
For Joshua, getting better mattered because his body is part of his job.
For somebody else, the immediate goal may simply be getting six or seven uninterrupted hours of sleep again.
Both matter.
Could a Disc Problem Be Causing Your Nighttime Sciatica?
Yes.
Lumbar disc bulges and herniations can irritate or compress nerve roots that travel into the leg.
But Dr. Boelk doesn't assume that's the answer just because your leg hurts.
He looks at how the problem started, where the symptoms travel, what positions affect them, whether there's numbness or weakness and what the examination shows.
If you've already had an MRI, he prefers to look at the actual images rather than relying only on the written report.
A report may describe several abnormal findings.
Dr. Boelk wants to know which, if any, actually make sense with the symptoms you're describing.
That's an important difference.
An abnormal MRI doesn't automatically tell you what's hurting.
Does Nighttime Sciatica Mean You Need Spinal Decompression?
No.
Dr. Boelk evaluates patients with disc bulges, disc herniations, degenerative disc disease, disc-related sciatica, foraminal narrowing and selected cases of spinal stenosis.
The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego uses the DRX9000 exclusively for Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression.
But not everyone with sciatica is a candidate.
Dr. Boelk considers the history, examination, neurological findings, imaging when available, spinal stability, bone health, previous surgery and medical history before recommending treatment.
There are also conditions that may make decompression inappropriate, including significant osteoporosis, an unhealed fracture, unstable spondylolisthesis, abdominal aortic aneurysm, pregnancy for lumbar decompression, certain malignancies and other medical or structural problems.
Previous spinal surgery has to be reviewed carefully, particularly if there is fusion or metal hardware at the level that would need treatment.
★ Sometimes Dr. Boelk Says No
“I'm glad I took the time to meet with him.”
“Very nice Dr. and Honest ! I would definitely recommend anyone who hasn't had metal put in there back in a surgery to go to him and give his program a shot. I believe it would definitely help. Just not in my personal case. As I have a lot of hardware in my back. But I'm glad I took the time to meet with him. It was very informative all around.”
— Toni W., Lake Elsinore, CA
Toni came in, met with Dr. Boelk and wasn't accepted for treatment.
That's why the consultation happens before a treatment recommendation.
If Dr. Boelk doesn't believe you're an appropriate candidate, he'll tell you.
Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC
Dr. Boelk has worked with disc injuries, sciatica and Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression for more than 22 years and has performed more than 100,000 spinal decompression treatments.
-
Doctor of Chiropractic
-
Certified Spinal Decompression Doctor
-
Certified Pain-Free Performance Specialist (PPSC)
-
Founder, Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Training Academy
-
Trains other doctors in spinal decompression protocols and techniques
-
Founding Member, American Spinal Decompression Society
-
Member, International Disc Education Association
-
California X-Ray Radiation Supervisor & Operator
He also has personal experience with significant spinal injuries, including an L5 compression fracture at 16 and later disc injuries and sciatica.
So when a patient says, “I just want to sleep normally again,” Dr. Boelk understands that isn't a small goal.
If You're Dreading Going to Bed Because of Sciatica
You may not need another pillow.
You may not need another mattress.
And you shouldn't have to keep getting up at 2:00 in the morning and walking around the house without knowing why lying down bothers your leg so much.
The first step isn't committing to treatment.
It's finding out what may be causing the problem.
If you're in Kearny Mesa or elsewhere in San Diego, you can schedule a No-Charge Consultation with Dr. Boelk.
Bring your MRI images and report if you have them. If you don't, you can still come in.
There is no charge and no obligation.
Dr. Boelk personally performs these consultations while treating his existing patients, so the office can only set aside a limited number during the clinic schedule.
Call 619-298-0800
Ask for the next available No-Charge Consultation with Dr. Cassidy James Boelk, DC.
The Spinal Decompression & Chiropractic Center of San Diego
5095 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 300
San Diego, CA 92123
619-298-0800
SanDiegoBackCare.com
Live 24/7 Answering Service • Hablamos Español