Best Sleeping Position for Hip Pain

If you suffer from hip pain, it presents many challenges when it comes to sleeping. It can be challenging to find the best sleeping position for hip pain sufferers.

Many who suffer from hip pain may find themselves tossing and turning during the night due to the pain, while others will struggle to get comfortable enough to fall asleep to begin with.

Your hip pain may be the result of an existing condition or injury, which can be exacerbated by the position in which you sleep or in some cases, the way you’re sleeping could be the cause of your pain.

Whatever the cause of your hip pain, having the right mattress and finding the best, most comfortable sleeping position is essential to allow you to fall asleep and minimise irritation of your pain during the night.

When it comes to finding the best sleeping position for those with hip pain, it’s not about finding a whole new way to sleep, it’s about adjusting sleep positions to make them work for you and offer comfort relief and from the hip pain you suffer. Hopefully you can find your ideal sleeping position in our round up of the best sleeping positions for hip pain.

Option 1: Sleeping on your back

If you suffer from hip pain, try sleeping on your back. Sleeping on your back will reduce the direct pressure being applied to the hip joints. Sleeping on your back means that your body mass will be more evenly distributed across the surface of the mattress, so that joints like the hips and shoulders are not absorbing the pressure of your body weight applying additional strain to those joints as you sleep.

Placing a pillow underneath your knees can help to provide further comfort by elevating the legs slightly and relaxing tension in the lower back region, which can help to relieve hip pain.

Option 2: Side sleeping

If you’re ordinarily a side sleeper, but it’s aggravating your hip, you may have to adapt your position in order to find some relief.

Lying on your side means that your entire body weight is being support by your shoulder, hip, knee and ankle joints that have contact with the mattress. This can create a build up of pressure that can cause or exacerbate hip pain.

If you are usually a side sleeper and if you suffer from pain in just one hip, sleep on the side which isn’t causing you pain.

If you find it difficult to get to sleep in any other position, it is recommended that you sleep with a pillow placed between your knees and ankles. When you lie down on your side, your top leg rests on your bottom leg, dropping the angle of your body out of alignment with the spine, which can impact on hip pain. Placing a pillow between your knees and ankles, raises the angle of your hip, correcting your spinal alignment and also takes pressure of your knee and ankle joints, making for a more comfortable sleep.

Option 3: Front sleeping

If you sleep on your front and you suffer from hip pain, then we have some bad news for you: sleeping on your stomach is considered to be one of the worst positions to sleep in for those who suffer with hip pain.

Sleeping on your front disrupts the natural alignment of the spine, in turn putting additional pressure on your hips and back which can lead to aches and pains.

Ultimately, if you’re a front sleeper with hip pain, it’s time to change how you sleep. If you still can’t manage to find comfort in one of our other suggested sleeping positions then once again, a well placed below could come to the rescue. Placing a pillow under your abdomen will help to elevate the spine so it is closer to its neutral position which should relieve some of the pressure on your hips, but in the long term, it would be best to find an alternative sleeping position that will minimise pressure on this area.  

If you’ve found the best sleeping position for your hip pain and you’re still not seeing any change in the level of discomfort, it may be time to look at your mattress. Check out our guide to thebest mattresses for hip pain to look at mattress options that may help.