Sleep and pain

Short answer

Sleep improves when pain improves

Exercise and good pain management seemed to help reduce pain.

My experience over second 2 weeks

Before I had bunion surgery I didn't sleep through the night, so I could hardly expect sleep to improve things.

The local anesthesia used in the operation lasted for 18 hours, so the first night's sleep was fine.

After a few days I had to get organised by day with pain management and hoped night time would take care of itself. It didn't. 

I'd wake up several times a night with some foot pain and a lot of lower back pain, from so much sitting with leg elevated and sleeping on my back with it elevated at night. The walk to the loo at the other end of the house often stirred up the foot. Then you wonder what to do to get back to sleep. If you rob from your daytime paracetamol rations, what are you going to do? It varied, sometimes the opiate, sometimes 1 paracetamol.

At my 2 week follow up appointment with the surgeon I complained about the back pain and he said, forget the leg elevation.  Well, I didn't, not totally. I moved around more, tried out the exercise bike I'd bought for this period and the back pain decreased and the sleep improved. Didn't elevate at night, laying in my normal side position with a pillow between my legs to take the pressure off the hips. More exercises - leg raises on the back and on the side. Spinal twists lying on the bed. professional massage and acupuncture helped too. Yey! Pain decreased. Sleep improved.

On day 29, my 4 week post-op appointment I'm expecting the surgeon to tell me to give up the post-op boot with the rigid sole. I've tried walking around the house in Crocs and it certainly improves your gait. Less limping. Walking more normalised. I'm ready for this.

I'm getting reading for those big toe stretches I've read about. Helps your walking return to normal.

Can now walk upstairs alternating on the steps, instead of leading with the good foot and bringing the other to the same step. Cannot do this downstairs yet.

Written on Day 26