Put a pillow or folded blanket underneath your mattress. Nothing bulky, just enough to raise the foot-end of your bed three or four inches. This helps relieve the pressure on the veins in your legs and lets gravity pick up the slack in getting blood back to your heart.
“The best sleeping position for people with leg pain is on their back with a pillow slightly elevating their knees,” advises Jordan Duncan, chiropractor and owner of Silverdale Sport & Spine, a clinic that specializes in difficult-to-treat musculoskeletal pain conditions.
Try calf stretches, yoga poses, knee bends, or a simple ankle or foot rotation. Relax your muscles with massage or a hot bath. Pressure can help relieve the discomfort of restless legs syndrome. Try wearing compression socks or stockings or wrap your legs in bandages (but not so tight you'll cut off circulation).
Inflammation of muscles/tendons
You may experience pain and inflammation in your muscles and tendons during the night as these muscles are healing while you sleep, especially if you have an injury. However it is not a common symptom of injury pain and may indicate a greater severity of the injury or problem at hand.
Pain in your legs and feet at night, or when trying to sleep, is often a symptom of peripheral artery disease (PAD). Peripheral artery disease leg pain can occur anywhere in your leg, but the most common places to feel pain are in the muscles of your calf, thigh or buttocks.
Instead, aching legs at night may indicate that something is wrong. We recommend visiting your doctor or a vascular specialist as soon as possible to determine the underlying cause. One potential cause of leg pain at night is peripheral artery disease (PAD).
Make an appointment with your health care provider if:
You have pain during or after walking. You have swelling in both legs. Your pain gets worse. Your symptoms don't get better after a few days of treating them at home.
Leg pain is a symptom with many possible causes. Most leg pain results from wear and tear or overuse. It also can result from injuries or health conditions in joints, bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, nerves or other soft tissues. Some types of leg pain can be traced to problems in your lower spine.
"Typically, muscle soreness peaks around day three and starts diminishing afterwards. If your soreness persists beyond three days, it means you overdid it — you pushed your muscles a little too hard. But, prolonged muscle soreness can also be a sign of an injury," warns Murray.
Sore muscles after exercise
It can affect people of all fitness levels, particularly after trying a new activity or pushing yourself a bit harder than usual. Usually your muscles will stop aching in 2 to 5 days and you won't need any medical attention. You should be able to ease symptoms yourself.
According to sleep experts, you should sleep on your side with your knees slightly bent to relieve low back pain. If the position feels uncomfortable, you can put a pillow between your legs, and your neck should have strong support too.
Legs hurt to train because of their size.
This gets us energy quickly, but inefficiently, resulting in “waste” products such as hydrogen ions that make our muscles burn from the acidity. And beyond the waste products, there is also the physical pressure within the muscles.
Drinks with electrolytes are important for rehydration
Electrolytes like sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium are great for ensuring healthy muscles and physical performance after a workout. Many different drinks contain electrolytes: sports drinks, milk, and orange juice.
Waking up with aching legs can be causes by lifestyle factors – for example, long periods of walking or standing the previous day can leave legs sore. Poor sleep can also contribute to leg ache, as our bodies need a good night's sleep to recover from any muscle soreness.
Muscle fatigue – too much high-intensity exercise is one of the most common links to leg pain, as overworking your muscles can cause them to cramp during the night. Nerve issues – a pinched nerve or spinal cord injury can put pressure on your nerves, causing muscle cramps in your legs.
Dehydration is one of the most common causes of leg cramps. A cramp is an involuntary contraction of a muscle. The fluids in your body allow your muscles to relax, but—when those muscles are dehydrated—they get irritable and prone to cramping.
Soreness is considered normal if it occurs between 24-72 hours after a workout, and if it does not prevent you from completing normal daily activities. If it lasts longer than this, or is so intense that it prevents you from functioning normally, it could be a sign of significant damage.
putting too much strain on muscles during exercise, which can be worse in hot or humid weather. pregnancy (usually in the later stage) certain medicines, for example medicine for lowering cholesterol (statins) or high blood pressure (diuretics) not drinking enough fluids (dehydration)
Without movement or exercise, the muscles are weakened and deprived of a steady supply of blood, oxygen and nutrients. This, in turn, can lead to muscle pain.
It can be due to reduced blood flow, tight muscles and ligaments, fluid pooled in the body's lower extremities, or pins and needles sensations in the feet.
"Muscle soreness occurs because both muscle and the connective tissue around it get damaged during exercise," explains Dr. Hedt. "This is completely normal and, for the most part, nothing to worry about. In fact, this is how muscle gets stronger since it builds back a little bit better each time."
Leg Pain Can Indicate Risk for a Heart Attack or Stroke
Peripheral artery disease that causes leg pain can be indicative of heart issues. People that have PAD are at a higher risk of having a stroke or heart attack. This could be a sign that the coronary arteries are blocked and the blood flow is reduced.
Specifically, sleeping on the side or back is considered more beneficial than sleeping on the stomach. In either of these sleep positions, it's easier to keep your spine supported and balanced, which relieves pressure on the spinal tissues and enables your muscles to relax and recover.
Side Sleepers
A knee pillow placed between the legs can reduce hip movement while also holding the spine in a straight position. Side sleeping is often recommended for certain stages of pregnancy and for people with back pain, and using a knee pillow can help these sleepers stay comfortable at night.