How to Get a Better Nights Sleep During a Hip Or Knee Replacement
After having either a hip or knee replaced, getting the required amount of sleep in those first two to three weeks after the surgery can be a daunting process. You will find that you slept better when you were hospitalized then when you return home and the reasons are many.
One reason was that you were better medicated. medication schedules for the most part are better regulated then when you arrive home. Many patients will either postpone taking their medication for pain or forget altogether. You are less distracted at the hospital in regards to family and friends you find you will rest better in the hospital then when you arrive home.
Now there are cases however where this is not always a fact. It will depend on your experience at the hospital some of you may feel much better in your own bed. Something however will change when you get home causing the replacement to create more discomfort and in turn reduce your sleep.
I find the patient that has had a knee replaced will suffer more then the hip replacement patient as having the knee replaced is more painful. keeping the knee comfortable during the night is something that you have to work at. The knee will wake you up at night as it starts ache and you will develop muscle spasms once it has sat still for awhile. The trick here is when you wake up to start moving the knee as soon as possible and you will find the pain will relieve itself.
Here are several things you can do to help yourself get a good nights sleep after returning home after joint replacement surgery.
1. Be sure not to complete your last set of exercises right before going to be. I suggest you do your last exercise session roughly two hours before going to bed.
2. Be sure to take your pain medication before going to sleep. I found this to be helpful in my case and it will help relax you and begin to decrease the pain at the surgical site.
3. Keep your room cool and comfortable. Have found many patients that have tried to sleep with the room temperature higher then normal due to the fact they are not active and feel cold to begin with. Having a room temperature that is higher then normal will keep you uneasy and tossing and turning as well. Use a temperature that is comfortable to you.
4. Monitor you overall workload during the day. Many people when they get home begin to get involved in to much around the home. Remember these joint replacements will not let you know you have done too much until later that night and the next day. By over doing things around the home more exercises then has been prescribed or household chore will also cost you a good nights sleep.
After getting home and re-established, you will find your sleep patterns will begin to get back to normal within two weeks. The first two weeks will be hit and miss. this is something I have found of course that will vary from patient to patient. Sleeping will be a challenge when you first arrive home so try and prepare yourself accordingly.
Incoming search terms for the article:
can you get leukemia from a knee transplant,comfortable sleeping after knee replacement,how to sleep with a hip replacement,how to sleep with hip replacementSleeping With Severe Leg Pain From Sciatica
Living with Sciatica during the day can be bad enough. The searing pain you will be experiencing down your leg is enough to drive the sanest person to distraction. However, that compares to nothing if you are one of the unfortunate ones who is suffering at night as well.
I have often had patients say to me it is as if as soon as they want to go to sleep, their sciatica chooses to wake up!
This can create a multitude of problems:
i) The lack of sleep makes you tired.
This is a problem, as it has been proven that our perception of pain is increased and our pain tolerance decreased, the more tired we are. Consequently, if you are experiencing pain which is preventing you from sleeping, it is going to make you more tired. This in turn will increase your perception of pain & decrease your pain tolerance. What is that going to do? It's going to make sleeping more difficult, which will make you more tired... and so on. I am sure you can see how a vicious cycle results which can be difficult to get out of.
ii) Night Time is prime healing time.
It is during the night, while we are at rest, that the body's fantastic healing process gets to work and aims to heal and replenish all that needs to throughout your body. Your sciatica will be at the top of the list for healing. However, if you are not sleeping at night, tossing & turning, this healing process is going to be interfered with. This creates yet another vicious cycle similar to that given above.
So what can you do?
If you are struggling to sleep of a night, let me firstly say do not replace your bed! Well, not yet anyway. More often than not, it is either the position you are sleeping in or what you were up to before going to bed which is the problem - not the bed itself. I shall discuss the latter here...
This may sound like I am stating the obvious, but it is important to avoid any particular activities you know aggravate your pain. Let's use sitting as an example. Sitting tends to be a classic aggravating factor for sciatica (although I except it will not be for everyone). Therefore, if you are like most of us and tend to spend much of your evenings sitting down, there is a fair chance you will be aggravating your sciatica during that time.
This may express itself as forcing you to fidget regularly just to get comfortable, forcing you to stand up because of the increasing pain or your pain may feel OK while you are sitting down, but you experience increased pain and discomfort when you go to stand up from the chair.
If you are familiar with any of these, then sitting down is an aggravating factor for your sciatica.
Consequently, if you are stirring your pain up just before going to bed, it should come as no surprise that the pain is keeping you awake at night. This may not express itself immediately, sometimes it can be an hour or so after getting to sleep that you pain rears its ugly head.
In such circumstances, I would ask you to firstly think about the chair you are sitting in:
Is it the best for your sciatica?
Maybe it should be a little firmer?
Or possibly you need some support for your lower back?
Just have a think as to how you can make things a little more comfortable for your sciatica. It could well be that you need to try a completely different chair for a while.
In addition to this, I would also suggest you try to avoid sitting for any longer than 15-20 minutes without standing up. This doesn't need to be an extensive break, a few steps up and down the room will be more than suffice, just give your body a chance to straighten up for a bit. If you are watching TV, when the adverts come on is a good reminder.
By doing this, it will help alleviate some stress from your sciatic nerve before going to bed, which in turn will decrease the pain perceived and therefore give you a better nights sleep and your body more chance to heal itself. This in turn will begin to set up a positive cycle, where more sleep will promote better healing, which will help you sleep more... and so on.
The example I have used here of sitting, is just one of many which may be aggravating your pain. It is important you gain a good understanding of your body and are able to tell what your sciatica does and does not like with regards to its healing process.
In addition to this, I have provided a link below which will discuss the best sleeping positions for you to sleep in order to gain a good night's sleep.
Incoming search terms for the article:
sciatica healing processAvoid Snoring Surgery – a Natural Approach
I thought it was important for you to avoid snoring surgery. This can be a huge problem for you that you really don't need to go through. Surprisingly the only solution people ever hear about for this problem is surgery and I'm not really sure why that is the case. It is true that you can use this, but it is something that is only used in the most extreme cases. You probably think you have the worst problem in the world, but you really don't. There is no need to do this when there is perfectly natural approaches that you can take advantage of. That's why I'm here to tell you to avoid snoring surgery.
Essentially what causes the sounds you hear is loose tissue in your throat. Surgery is the process of removing this tissue. In some cases (very few people have this), your tissue will be way too large and make it physically impossible to stop snoring. For the vast majority of people this isn't the case. The real problem is that your jaw pushes on your throat as you sleep and it is this pressure that creates the entire problem. When you take the pressure of the throat the problem is solved.
Basically the alternative to snoring surgery is a device that helps keep the jaw off the throat. It's a chin strap that works in a completely natural and effective manner at holding the chin up. It will keep the position of the jaw in a good place, so you don't end up with a problem.
Chin Strap to Stop Snoring and Other Remedies – What to Use to Stop Snoring
Causes for Snoring
Snoring is basically the vibrations that your airways make when the movement of air is obstructed. The National Sleep Foundation, in 2005, estimated that in adults, 59% snore, that is, 6 out of any 10 people. The sounds are caused by a weakness in the throat, usually leading to a partially closed throat during sleep, as well as mispositioned jaw, fats around the airways, a possible obstruction in or around the areas of the respiratory passageway, and tissues on top of the airways touching each other. Some snorers snore because of their relaxed tongues touching the back of their mouths. The good news is that you can always get a chin strap to stop snoring. It is one of the most effective devices you can use to solve your problem.
A Chin Strap to Stop Snoring
Basically, you wrap the device around your head to a comfortable tightness and the device will definitely work on its own. Try using a chin strap to stop snoring and see how much difference it makes you and your roommate sleep better.
Go for the more sharp approach, literally. Snoring surgery is a bit common, especially for people with a combined sleep and breathing problem. The process takes a lot of endurance on your part, but is sure to be worth your while, considering the difference it would make after the operation. While it is common for people to go for surgery to stop snoring, it does cost a lot. Make sure, though, that you go to a legitimate practitioner and surgeon, and don't just go to the cheapest doctor you can find; else, you'll find yourself spending more for lawsuits in case the surgery goes awry.
In case you are not really into spending much, more good news comes in the form of natural remedies to stop snoring. These ones are simple, really, but may beat the statistics. Snoring actually causes deaths in the form of strokes and heart attacks, you see. First is for you to change your sleep position. This part is self-explanatory. Lying sideways usually helps, according to some experts. Next, lose weight. This part doesn't have to be really difficult and works in more ways than one: you not only lose that annoying obstruction in your airway, you also maintain a good health and figure.
But if you want a quicker approach from which you can get good results in months without having to spend a lot of money, a chin strap is the best option for you. Purchase a chin strap to stop snoring and see how much difference it makes you sleep and feel better.
Incoming search terms for the article:
natural remedies to stop snoringAvoid Snoring Surgery
One of the biggest misconceptions about snoring is that you have to go through with specialized snoring surgery if you want to get rid of this problem. I think this really explains why so many people don't try to fix this problem because they assume that they have to do something drastic and expensive like surgery. The fact of the matter is that it really isn't that difficult to fix. Surgery is an option, but 99% of people will never need to use it. There are very easy, cheap and reliable ways of fixing this problem that will take a little bit of your time. I'm going to show you exactly why you should be avoiding snoring surgery and getting yourself the real easy solution.
Essentially snoring is just vibrating tissue in your throat. Some people have really large pieces of loose tissue in the throat and that is what surgery is supposed to remove. I know that you probably think you have the worst snoring possible, but you really don't. Most people don't have to go to drastic lengths. Basically you probably experience pressure on the throat from your jaw when you sleep and that is the real issue that you need to address.
Since you know you don't need snoring surgery, what you can use is a jaw supporter to help pull the jaw off your throat as you sleep. When the jaw isn't resting on the throat it becomes next to impossible to produce snore sounds. The best part about such a device is that it works in a mechanical manner, so it will provide results the very first night you use it.
Categories
- Allergy
- Anemia
- Back & Neck
- Cancer
- Guest Post
- Insomnia
- Lupus
- Obesity
- Stroke & Neurological Conditions
- Surgery
- Therapeutic
- Uncategorized
Archives
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009