back pain -someone help me get some sleep without the use of an osteopath

[workshy]

I have niggly back pain which hurts in my hip more, down my leg and into my ankle

I can not lie on my back for more than a few minutes, lying on my front is impossible -the only way I can sleep is on my left side (opposite to the pain) but then I wake up every couple of hours and need to have a wander round as I sieze up

I have been getting less and less sleep over the last 10 days since it started
and I'm soooooooo tired!

I know I need to get it checked at the docs (and get some painkillers that actually work) but I'm a bit of a martyr and am trying to wait until my dad off thursday) but I may well have turned into a zombie by then

I've tried putting a pillow inbetween my legs to no avail

any suggestions?

Sounds like it might be sciatica. Try sleeping on your back with a pillow under your knees to keep your legs bent a bit. Hth.

I have a crappy back and got a lot of hip pain in bed when I was pregnant. I tried pillow between the knees with no success. The best thing I found (although it didn't stop it completely) was to fold up another double quilt and lay it over my half of the bed under the sheet IYSWIM. I just made the mattress that bit softer. Still firm but it took the pressure off a bit I think. Worth a try maybe?

During pregnancy yoga our teacher taught us this move for sciatic type pain:
Kneel on all fours, sucking your belly button towards your spine (so your core is well supported), with shoulders over wrists and hips over knees evenly spaced. Then put one leg behind you with foot resting on the floor loosely i.e. not with toes bent under. Then wiggle that leg around - making it kind of floppy. The idea is you are trying to loosen the stretch of muscles that traverse through your hip where the sciatic nerve gets trapped.
Repeat with the other leg. Do each one 5 times.

Hope that makes sense.

The other thing that I find helps me sleep with a bad back is to lie on my back but with my legs wide open. It seems to help with support in the weak areas - not much good if you are sharing a bed though! Pillow between the legs doesn't help me either, I find it just creates other pressure points.