anyone with OA in hip use a bodypillow to sleep?

tillypink
tillypink Member Posts: 212
edited 23. May 2011, 15:56 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi all had the worst nights sleep yet again last night :green , I've got horns on today I swear..lol.

Usually take Oromorph at nights and was working but the last few weeks my sleep pattern is more down that up with 3hrs sleep at night!

Somepeople say to use a Body pillow just to keep the leg and hip rested, but I tried a normal feather pillow few wks back and just ended on the floor!

Any suggestions please is welcome :P

Comments

  • border
    border Member Posts: 94
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    No but I have contemplated it. I had no success with pillows as I kept moving around the bed and wonder whether this would also happen with a body pillow.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have a towel-wrapped memory foam pillow under me bonce and another memory pillow between the legs. The pillows moving is not an issue as I do not move etc without waking up first and sitting up to maneouvre, and as I wake about every 90 minutes with a pred melt I get plenty of oppportunities to turn over. :smile: I am fortunate, however, in that so far my hips are un-affected - the pillow is a boon for sore knees and ankles, and I have found it best to lie in the recovery position with the leg pillow next to me supporting the bent leg. For me feather pillows are rubbish - they squash too much and support very little. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • chris7
    chris7 Bots Posts: 2,696
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Tillypink

    Oh I am with you on this one. :sad: I guess the bodypillow would stay in place better than pillows? I am kinda lucky once I do get to sleep which can take some doing! :roll: I can stay there forever. Since I have the luxury of a bed to myself the only thing that works for me is to adopt recovery position as DD says and stuff large amounts of the duvet between my usually screaming knees!! You have my sympathy and I do hope you have a better night tonight.
    take care
    Chris
  • minky67
    minky67 Member Posts: 2,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi, I know how you feel & you really do need to find the most comfy way to sleep.
    i have a body pillow & it stays pretty much in place unless i get up in the night or throw it outta bed :shock: I lay in the recovery position & as DD i have to sit up to turn over..I can also fold the top of the body pillow & that helps prop my arm up as my elbows having been playing hell just lately & this helps a bit.
    I also have a memory foam topper & i find that helps take the pressure off my joints.
    when we were on holiday last yr i didnt take it & slept on a orthopedic mattress, that was hell on my hip & thats how i know the topper helps.I was in agony all week.
    I hope you find something that helps & you get some decent sleep too.
    take care,debs
  • speedalong
    speedalong Member Posts: 3,315
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Tilly,

    a bodypillow was a godsend to me when my hip was really playing up.

    If you buy one - make sure it is a good quality one. I ended up buying two - the first one was a waste of money - too thin and flattened too easily and where it was folded in the bag - was big dip crease. The second one I bought from *care and it was great. It did take up a lot of room in the bed, but it did stay in place and supported my whole leg so much better than the knee pillow I had used previously. Only other downside was that I was so comfy I didn't toss and turn so woke up stiffer in the morning.

    Speedy
    I have had OA since mid twenties. It affects my hips and knees. I had a THR on the left aged 30 and now have a resurface-replacement on the right - done May 2010.
  • tillypink
    tillypink Member Posts: 212
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    thanks everyone for the advice, sounds so simple that we should be able to sleep, but its getting to me now, 2 -3hrs a night i'm evil then when I wake up with not much sleep and in pain more :cry: !

    Thanks deb too bout the topper, never thought that would help but gonna go looking now for the pillow and topper.

    Many thanks again all, hope ur painfreeish today

    x

    Lisa
  • wendgro
    wendgro Member Posts: 296
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry to be a bit thick but what is a body pillow??? an ordinary pillow a V pillow a bolster ??
  • tillypink
    tillypink Member Posts: 212
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    its a long pillow about 5ft or u can get them 3ft or 6ft long, they help u to postion yourself so u can get a better nights sleep or meant to be..lol.
  • tjt6768
    tjt6768 Member Posts: 12,170
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Am I being dumb too? Not heard of a body pillow.. I've had bolsters for years now.. Five foot, but always gone for a decent quality feather one, nice and plump. They are a Godsend for me,i take mine everywhere.... I also have to sleep in the recovery position, bolster doesn't move unless I move it as it's rather big.. I have to swap sides every so often as I have trouble with both knees, lower spine & left hip likes to join in too. We also have a memory foam mattress topper, another thing i can't sleep without, when it's feasible we take that with us when we go away too.. LOL
    I have two semi circular memory foam pillows, the kind that you usually buy for travelling with, they're great for me.

    Best of luck, hope some comfort comes your way soon.

    e050.gifMe-Tony
    n035.gifRa-1996 -2013 RIP...
    k040.gif
    Cleo - 1996 to 2011. RIP
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I'm reading this with interest.....its something I've always thought of but when I tried pillows they shifted round the bed, were uncomfortable, and sometimes ended on the floor....so I never got round to buying one....but I'm rading these posts with interest.....should have remembered about you speedy.....forgot you used one.

    Love
    Hileena
  • minky67
    minky67 Member Posts: 2,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Lisa & Hileena, Shop around as the memory foam toppers vary in price.

    Also if your a bit short of cash you can make a body pillow from 2 or 3 pillows & i had to make a double pillow case for mine as it didnt come with one. I just cut the end off one pillow case & sewed it to the other. You could do this & put the pillows of your choice in the double pillow case.

    Good luck & hope you find some decent sleep soon.
    debs
  • socoolnanny
    socoolnanny Member Posts: 11
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi, I'm with Tony, I also sleep in recovery position on right, only way I am comfortable. I use a body pillow, fantastic!!! I actually bought a maternity memory foam body pillow from T J Hughes for my daughter and have now borrowed it. Have terrible restless legs on top of everything else and this does help. Debra.
  • tillypink
    tillypink Member Posts: 212
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thanks for all your replies :smile: , just a quick update, have't bought a Body pillow yet as have't been able to get out and drive with my hip aching etc. But was talking to my mother-inlaw and she had a Memory foam topper that she said I could lend to try before buying my own, as it was on her spare bed.

    My partner put it on the bed after she finished work last night was a bit dubious if I'd be able to sleep last night and if it was gonna be comfortable...., and " oh my god" its lush!!! :lol: !! I had a lovely sleep, don't know if it was cause I was over tired or its the Memory foam topper,but I went to sleep and was out for the count, even so I've had a little cat nap this afternoon on it!

    So gonna see how I go for a couple of days and see if I like it!

    And my partner got a day off tomorow so she's off to get me a body pillow from argos for £19.99, meant to be for orthopedic people so fingers crossed 8) !

    Hope ur all having a nice chilled and relaxed weekend 8)

    Lisa x
  • tjt6768
    tjt6768 Member Posts: 12,170
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Those mattress toppers are lovely eh?

    Don't know what I'd do without mine.. Or my bolster..

    Hope that you manage to get one of each sorted hun.. Best wishes, hope you're both very comfortable..
    :grin:
    e050.gifMe-Tony
    n035.gifRa-1996 -2013 RIP...
    k040.gif
    Cleo - 1996 to 2011. RIP
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi
    I'm still thinking about the body pillow....havent got round to getting out to look yet. I sleep in the recovery position only in my left side and its my right leg that has had the THR so shouldn't really sleep like that
    Love
    Hileena
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hileena111 wrote:
    I sleep in the recovery position only in my left side and its my right leg that has had the THR so shouldn't really sleep like that

    You're right, Hileena, you shouldn't! However, depending on how long since your THR you can probably get away with it - as you clearly are doing. It's only to stop the hip dislocating. If you're some months post op & the muscles are strong again why worry?
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi,
    It was feb a year ago {15 months ago} and I didnt think a thing about it at this stage. Until I went for acupuncture.....and lay like that while he was putting the needles in my back......I got well and truely told off.....I said but its over a year now....he said it doesnt matter....you take care of it for the rest of its life.
    I dont know about the muscles being strong???? I'm worse and can walk less since the THR :???:

    Love
    Hileena
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Ah. In which case, maybe the acupuncturist is right. I know I can still get a bit of hip pain occasionally from both of my pretty ancient ones if I sleep funny on them. I'm fairly sure I couldn't get away with sleeping in the recovery position for a full night.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • hileena111
    hileena111 Member Posts: 7,099
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thats probably right...OK we dont have to be quite as careful as we were for 6 weeks :lol: Thank goodness.
    He is quite strict ......he's about late 30s at a guess and he popped his head into the waiting room a few appts ago.....looked at me and said...get yourself in there and pointed to the physio dept.
    I thought what have I done :oops: I got in and he said..."What a rubbish position you were sitting in.......those are good chairs and you were still sitting in a rubbish position....you only have 1 back and I'm trying to help you :oops:
    That was me told off LOL
    Love
    Hileena