Sore hips keeping me up at night?

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I am perimenopausal and bit overweight and in the process of losing weight. I am a side sleeper and my hips get sore over the course of the night. I assume this is due to the pressure of my hips (the heaviest part of my body) pressing into the mattress at night. Our mattress was pretty expensive and is fairly new, we did the sleep test on it and it was comfortable initially but it is firm and there isn't as much give in it as the old mattress for my hips now. There is no chance of a new mattress any time soon

If I try and sleep on my back I snore and get awful headaches.

How can I take the pressure off my hips so the pain in them stops keeping me awake? Its usually fine for the first few hours but when I wake at 4am my hips are pretty sore and it can be hard to get back to sleep due to the discomfort.

Do those knee pillows work, would any stretches work?

We bought a firm mattress and I had exactly the same issue as you OP. I bought TWO mattress toppers and as we gradually wore the mattress in in addition, it has become the most comfortable mattress ever!

Those knee pillows were too soft for me. What helped was using a firm cushion. It kept its shape throughout the night and made a difference to hip pain.

I'm a side sleeper, I found my ideal mattress is a medium - somewhere between firm and soft, but I ended up going and lying on a lot of them in my ideal position. Cheaper solution for now is a topper, but you may need to find another mattress in the future. You can also get body pillows https://simbasleep.com/products/body-pillow

@Phunkychicken Thanks I will take a look at that topper. I wonder if going up to 100mg evorel patch would help? If I can't get it resolved I will see what the GP says at my next review.

My DH has a small amount of arthritis in his hip. He has had quite a lot of pain at night . What helps is 1. ibuprofen- take it every night as it is anti inflammatory and a pain killers. Paracetamol too. 2. physio - specifically bum strengthening exercises. 3. losing weight - I honestly think this has made the most difference,

Ooh also Glucosamine- was recommended by the arthritis doctor

@Ovasaurus I think you could be right about that, I was advised to do that because its low impact due to migraines but I perhaps need to switch it up and I do need to start doing strengthening and flexibility exercises. I will look into all you mentioned. Did you find a form of low impact cardio that worked for you without causing the pain?

@Candlesandmatches I have some glucosamine but haven't been taking it, will start up again. I will also try a low dose of ibuprofen to see if it helps me sleep better.

@Isobel201 A body pillow might help, when DH is not in the bed I usually scrunch up the quilt and use the other half to support me but Obviously it wouldn't be fair to leave Dh in the cold all night

Anti inflammatory gel and mattress topper... good quality really helps my hips at night.If really bad I have naproxen .

I'm an hourglass too & putting a small bolster (eg folded hand towel) under the bottom of my rib cage raises the middle of my spine so less spine curve which means hips are level - fixes the hip pain for me.

@Arglefraster Thank you I will try this!

I had this, along with extreme fatigue. Turns out I was folic acid and b12 deficient. A course of folic acid and b12 injections and it all pretty much went away.

Is your hip physically sore to touch? I thought my pain was the osteoarthritis I know I have in my hip. Turns out it is bursitis.
Physio has given me exercises and I take ibuprofen and paracetamol before bed.

That sounds very like bursitis. I'm constantly lying on one hip, then the other, then back again, hoping I can find that sweet spot where I can be comfortable. I cannot sleep on my back so it's a nightmare.

Mine also doesn't generally hurt in the daytime. It seems to know when I want to sleep!

The physio suggested a resistance band around the thighs just above the knees and opening and closing my knees with my feet together. You do it either lying down with your knees bent and feet placed or on your side with your legs absolutely parallel to each other.

@Wacqui Thats been a few people saying bursitis, I was thinking no because it isn't sore otherwise but perhaps it is a night time thing. I will try the exercise you mention and look into bursitis.

It sounds like this www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/muscle-bone-and-joints/leg-and-foot-problems-and-conditions/greater-trochanteric-pain-syndrome/
Totally treatable.

I should have mentioned, it's about six inches you want the gap to be. Or more if you feel able.

I'm no medic, but I absolutely recognise all of your symptoms. I don't know what it is about the night but the hip pain commeth!

Physio and pilates.

I find if I don't do regular hip flexer exercises my hips are awful at night.

I have zapain for pain and amytryptiline (sp) for joint pain and help sleeping. I sleep on my back as I need a cpap machine.

I have that blue pillow and they’re useless for me.

Yes I have one too and I find it actually makes it worse.

They're nice little pillows to have around though.

My menopausal hip pain went away completely when I stopped eating processed carbs. Was very unexpected - the aim was to lose some weight which I did, but the pain stopped almost straight away and before I’d manage to lose any weight

I had this when I was pregnant. I found those long pillows that give full body support, really helps alot. After the baby I started sleeping on my tummy and that's seems better for my hips.

I had this when I was peri menopausal. The following helped:
1- Glucosamine, high strength. If it doesn’t work within two months then but don’t bother with anymore.
2 - high strength cod liver oil.
3 - exercise your hips using resistance bands.
4 - pillow between legs.

collectively these things made a difference ❤️❤️