Treatments and Remedies For Knee Pain At Night
How Do I Get Rid of Nighttime Knee Pain
How Do I Get Rid of Knee Pain At Night?
Why is my knee pain worse at night?
Part of the reason is because now you’ve settled down and you’re thinking about more. (Not the answer you wanted to hear?) And part of the reason is because of the cycle of hormones that circulate through your body and change amounts during the day and night. One hormone in particular is cortisol and if you aren’t getting enough sleep then cortisol levels aren’t well regulated and this contributes to pain.
So how do I get rid of knee pain at night?
A few things that are helpful to get rid of knee pain at night
Pain medication
Joint/muscle rubs
Massage the area
Heat or a hot bath
Lavender
Sleep with your knee supported
Pain medication to help sleep with knee pain
I don’t advocate for a ton of medication use because there are other ways to get consistent relief, but sometimes medications are needed. And at bedtime is one of those times.
If you aren’t able to get a good night’s sleep because of pain it’s going to put you in a terrible cycle, so if you need some medication to get rid of your pain before you go to bed do it.
Take the medication 30 minutes before you go to bed. This allows the medication to start working and gives you some time to get ready for bed.
Joint and muscle rubs for knee pain
I find that using creams, like Deep Blue, are particularly effective to help decrease soreness and some pain before bed.
I’ve tried Asprecreme and Biofreeze and I personally don’t find those quite as effective.
And I find creams like Deep Blue are more effective when you rub them into the muscles, as opposed to just rubbing them over the joints.
Massage for knee pain
This one combines the muscle rubs with it, massage your muscles and your knee, front and back of the thigh, with the Deep Blue to calm down the pain before bed.
Heat or a hot bath before bed for knee pain
I find using a heating pad can help with pain in the knee before bed. Even better is an epsom salt bath for 20 minutes before bed. The Magnesium in the epsom salts helps decrease muscle spasm and has an overall calming effect.
Lavender for knee pain
This one can be combined with the hot bath before bed. I like lavender because it has a calming effect and when combined with the epsom salt bath it gives the feeling of relaxation and calms the muscles before bed, helping you have a better night’s sleep.
Sleeping with your knee supported
Sometimes your knee needs a little bit of a hug to help it feel comfortable to get to sleep. I don’t advocate for having a pillow directly under the knee during sleep because this contributes to the knee actually being in a stuck position… forever. So I recommend having a pillow under the whole leg, from thigh to ankle. Take a pillow (or 2) long ways and have your leg supported on it that way.
Ok so that’s it. To get better sleep with knee pain I recommend pain medication, joint/muscle rubs like Deep Blue, massage the area, use a Heating or a hot epsom salt bath, add some lavender to the bath, and sleep with your knee (really the whole leg) supported so your knee feels like it’s getting a cozy hug.
If you’re looking for knee pain relief check out this free guide I created just for you
