A Knee Pillow Provides Me With Pain Relief While Sleeping

Over the years, the position in which I’m most comfortable sleeping at night has changed. For most of my life, I could only sleep on my stomach. After I was diagnosed and my pain level became more manageable, I slept primarily on my back. Recently, for whatever reason, I seem to be most comfortable sleeping on my left side. Well, mostly comfortable.

I can never sleep on my right side. The amount of damage an old injury did to my right shoulder means I can’t tolerate that kind of pressure for more than a few minutes before I’m in significant pain. My left side, though, seems to be quite comfortable.

I’ve been having issues with pain in my hip and lower back after getting stuck in the mud and pulling my inguinal ligament several weeks ago. I noticed those areas were particularly sore when I woke up in the morning, but I didn’t put together that my sleeping position could be contributing to my discomfort.

While scrolling online, I saw something that mentioned that side sleepers sometimes have back pain related to their sleep position. I don’t usually take much notice of sensationalized web links, but that caught my attention, and I thought, “Hey, I wonder …” A little bit of research quickly showed that this is a legitimate problem.

Before purchasing a specific pillow, I just grabbed an extra one in my apartment and tried using that between my knees when I slept that night. I thought it would be awkward and cumbersome, but I was surprised that it was actually quite comfortable.

What amazed me the most, though, was that when I woke up the next morning, my back and hip were far less stiff than they have been recently. The other thing I hadn’t realized is that I’d been waking up and turning over a lot in my sleep. It had been pretty restless. That night, I slept through the night so soundly and deeply that I felt better than I had in weeks. I knew then that a knee pillow made sense.

A quick Amazon search showed a staggering number of options, but it didn’t take me too long to stumble upon one that had great reviews, a washable cover, and a $12.99 price tag. Win!

It came last week and after a few days of sleeping with it, I can definitely say I’m a fan. Anything that is inexpensive and easy to use, and helps with my pain management is a win in my book.

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