Off the wall help for more comfortable sleeping with rls

Just wanted to share a couple things that have no scientific documentation but that are working for me This may sound weird but sometimes I wake up in the morning with an off the wall idea about something and then find out it has some value. (Is this the Universe helping me out?) Anyway, this regards comfortable sleeping positions and arm pain. After I had a pacemaker insertion last November a friend gave me a pillow that was the width of a pillow but was 5 feet long. I don't know what it's called but I've seen them in catalogs as a way to reposition your body for more comfortable sleep. I just call it my long pillow. The original way I used it was to stretch my arm across it to keep from sleeping with arms folded near my chest and pressing on the pacemaker and lead while it healed. Then a few nights ago. I tried it to help some arm-nerve pain and it really helped. I think part of the reason is 1)stretching the muscles and nerves in my arm straight out so they were in a more relaxed position. 2) The pillow also elevated my arm a little and kept my wrist straight which may have taken some pressure off the nerves. As I said- I have no scientific basis for this but as it helps, I've now added it to my "Basket of tricks" to feel better. The second thing I discovered by accident is when I wake up during the night and have to get up and move/walk around it takes a while for this to relieve my pain. So I had some old knee high-over the counter- compression stockings from some cardiac surgery. I put them on and the pressure helped my pain almost immediately so moving around was not as painful as usual. A word about the stockings. I don't like using new ones because often they're too constrictive., These were just old and stretched enough where they didn't hurt. After about 20 minutes I took them off, did some things (painlessly) in the kitchen and was able to go back to sleep for three hours. Now they live on my nightstand. This might sound ridiculous but it worked for me. If you buy a pair just make sure they're not too tight. (We're not trying to prevent blood clots here). Feedback welcome. Back to the arms, I had surgery in my 40's for a condition called carpel tunnel syndrome -also a nerve problem. While waiting for the surgery (each wrist at a different time,) my arms were very painful at night. (Apparently when you're sleeping your wrist flops over and the bent position puts pressure on the nerve which causes pain up your arm. So I was told to wear wrist splints to bed to keep my wrists straight; worked very well. Maybe the same principle might work here. Those wrist splints are long gone but am thinking about getting 2 more. If this helps someone, I'll be happy. Let me know.

[Madlegs1]

Long pillow is called a bolster.

I find if I sleep with my back against a firm surface- bolster or wall or sofa- I sleep better , without getting the fidgets in my legs.

Thanks for sharing.

[ukmsmi4]

Glad you find them useful.

I have one of those pillows too and it's just called a body pillow. Really comfortable when arms or legs are aching and you just want to rest them on something soft but supportive.

Body pillows are soft like a normal bed pillow, but extra long. You can fold them in half and they then become about the length of a standard pillow (roughly).

Bolster pillows are usually cylindrical and stuffed with a firmer, denser or coarser material like foam or in the old days it would have been tightly packed straw.

I guess like most things these days the terms can be interchangeable depending on what part of the world you come from.xx

[Hidden in reply to ukmsmi4]

For people interest these pillows are good for so many things. They are fluffier that just a flatpillow and don't lose their shape when you're slleping on them. Good for just achy legs, knees etc. One doesn't need rls to enjoy these pillows. SOOOO comfortable.