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For side sleepers whose hip pain keeps waking them

why your hip keeps waking you at 3 a.m., even when you're tired enough to sleep

I flipped from side to side all night like a rotisserie chicken, and I kept blaming the bed. Then one question at a specialist appointment showed me what was actually happening inside my hip.

- By Donna Sharlton

It's 3 a.m. and I'm awake again.

 

I'm 58, and for the past few years I've hated going to bed.

 

I drift off on my left side. Then a deep ache on the outside of my hip pulls me back up, like a thumb pressing into the bone, harder the longer I stay there.

 

So I do the routine. Roll onto the right side. Move the pillow between my knees. Pull the covers back up.

 

My husband started calling me his rotisserie chicken. The first few times I laughed. Now I can't stand hearing it, and some nights I can't stand him for saying it.

 

Right now he hasn't moved. I stare at the ceiling fan, waiting for the ache to settle enough to fall asleep again.

 

By morning, I can remember turning over more clearly than I can remember sleeping.

During the day, I could get on with things. There were moments when I barely noticed my hip.

 

But lying on that side made it impossible to ignore. So I decided the problem was the bed.

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Everything I bought for the night

I'm a side sleeper. I have been all my life. Sleeping on my back never felt natural.

 

Four mattresses in six years, a topper in between, the last one firmer and more expensive.

 

That's what the salesperson said. “Firm is better for hips.”

 

By then I'd spent more than $4,000 on beds alone.

 

After a while, the firmer one felt like the worst choice of all. More bedding to try. More money spent. I stopped counting the pillows.

The knee pillow helped a little. It really did. But I still woke up with the same ache.

 

I tried stretching. Reached for a painkiller on a bad night.

 

Eventually, I took it to my doctor and asked whether menopause had something to do with it.

 

The answer came back to age, arthritis and trying to sleep on my back. I was describing nights broken by pain.

 

I left feeling as though the problem was the way I slept.

 

A second doctor called it bursitis and gave me a cortisone shot. It helped for a few weeks. Then it faded, and the nights came back.

 

Maybe you never brought it up with anyone either. Who sees a doctor about a bad bed?

 

I still didn't know why that one spot kept waking me. And sleeping another way didn't make it any easier to do.

The question that changed where I looked

Later, at a sports-medicine appointment, I started with the mattresses. Then she asked me something simpler.

Where, exactly, did it hurt?

 

I put a finger on the outside of my hip. The spot I kept lying on.

 

She told me pain there usually isn't the hip joint at all.

 

Two tendons attach the buttock muscles to that bony point on the outside of the hip. When they start to break down, it's called gluteal tendinopathy.

 

It doesn't show up on an X-ray. That's why so many women get told it's arthritis, or bursitis, or just getting older.

 

For the first time in years, someone had put a name on the spot I'd been lying on every night.

 

I'd blamed the mattress, the way I slept, even my age, until I half-believed it was all in my head. But it never was.

Your tendons used to repair themselves while you slept

Tendons are made of collagen.

 

Every day you walk, climb stairs, carry the groceries, and they take a little wear. And every night, while you sleep, your body replaces that collagen. You wake up repaired. You never think about it.

 

Estrogen is one of the signals that keeps that repair running.

 

After menopause, estrogen drops, and collagen production drops with it, by up to 30% in the first five years.

 

The wear doesn't stop. The repair does.

 

And these two tendons carry your full weight, on the wider set of a woman's hips. They're the first to wear thin.

 

Then I lie on that side for hours, pressing those same tendons against the bone. Every night they take on more than my body can rebuild. Fiber by fiber, they start to break down.

 

That's the ache at 3 a.m. That's the stab on the first step out of bed in the morning.

 

And that's why I could have bought forty mattresses. A softer surface changes what's pressing on the tendon. It doesn't put back what's missing inside it.

 

If a mattress could reach it, one of the four would have.

That explains the pillow too. Supporting the upper leg takes some of the pressure off. But a pillow can't rebuild a tendon.

Before buying another bed, find out what's happening inside the hip that keeps waking you.

The Broken-Night Loop starts before 3 a.m.

The ache doesn't always wait for bedtime. Sometimes it's already there at 10 p.m., while you're still on the couch.

 

Then you lie on that side, wake at 3 a.m. and start turning over.

After a restless night, the next day feels harder before it has properly started. Less energy. Less patience. A familiar task you put off because you're exhausted.

 

And in sleep studies, people feel pain more after a bad night. So the hip hurts more the next day, too.

 

I started calling it the Broken-Night Loop.

Hours of pressure on tendons that can no longer repair.

The ache wakes you, with more wear than you went to bed with.

Poor sleep makes the next day's pain sharper.

Every night the loop runs, the tendon goes into the next one a little weaker.

 

At 3 a.m., moving the pillow is all you can do. But it doesn't have to be the only thing you do for the hip.

Nothing I'd tried was reaching the tendon

Once I understood it, I looked at everything in the bedroom closet differently.

 

A pillow moves the leg. A mattress changes the surface. A heating pad warms the skin. A painkiller quiets the ache for a few hours.

 

The cortisone quieted it for a few weeks. It didn't put back a single collagen fiber. Underneath, the tendon kept wearing thin, thread by thread.

 

None of them get anywhere near the tendon. And none of them do anything about the collagen my body stopped making.

 

What I needed was something that reaches the tendon and gives it what estrogen used to: the signal to start repairing again.

 

That's how I found a device that wraps around my hip.

Meet Halsten Stride

Halsten Stride is a red light therapy wrap shaped for the outer hip.

 

It uses three wavelengths of light, the Triple-Wavelength System.

 

Each one has its own job, and together they reach deep into the hip, right to the tendon.

Over 100,000 wraps shipped.

660nm, The Primer

Red light boosts oxygen-rich blood flow in the outer hip, helping the deeper wavelengths reach the tendon.

830nm, The Activator

Near-infrared light gives the tendon cells the energy to make collagen again, the job estrogen used to do.

940nm, The Healer

The deepest of the three. It reaches the tendon itself to calm the inflammation behind that 3 a.m. ache, and helps the new collagen lay down strong.

I already had a heating pad. It warms the skin, slides off the curve of my hip and goes cold.

Stride sends light through to the tendon, in a wrap shaped for the outer hip, so it sits right on the spot, hands-free, for the full 20 minutes.

Keep your pillow. Keep whatever your doctor or PT has you doing. Stride works on the part none of it reaches.

Three wavelengths: 660nm, 830nm and 940nm

Shaped for the outer hip, adjustable straps

A 20-minute daily routine at home

See what a session actually involves

Fit it over the outside of your hip, settle into your chair and make it part of the evening.

 

Fit: See where the wrap sits and how the straps fasten.

 

Session: Watch the controls and the seated routine.

 

Finish: See the device removed after the session.

A book. A comfortable chair. Twenty minutes while you're awake. Then bed.

Before another 3 a.m. wake-up, give the tendon what it's been missing.

It didn't announce itself

I kept waiting for one big morning. That's not how it happened. It showed up in small things, and I only saw them looking back.

The pillow stayed put

The pillow was still between my knees when I woke up. I hadn't moved it once.

No more 3 a.m.

I stopped seeing 3 a.m. on the clock. I couldn't tell you the last night I did.

Mornings got easier

Getting out of bed stopped being a negotiation. I just stood up.

He noticed first

My husband asked at breakfast if I'd slept well, because he hadn't heard me turning over.

I'm 58. I sleep on my left side again, and the next thing I notice is the alarm.

Every hip is different, and I can only tell you what happened to mine.

Before you spend more on another possible answer

After mattresses, toppers and pillows, you want more than another thing to hope about. You want to know what it costs and what happens if it isn't for you.

A mattress changes what's under your hip.

Stride works on what's inside it.

Right now it's Early Black Friday. Stride is $180 instead of $360. That's less than one of those four mattresses, about $2 a night across the 90 days. And it comes with five free gifts.

 

Use it every evening. If you don't feel real progress within 90 days, send it back for a full refund and keep the guides. Works or it's free.

EARLY BLACK FRIDAY

The Halsten Stride Healing Package

$180

$360

50% OFF + 5 FREE GIFTS:

Premium carrying case

Menopause Secrets guide ($47)

Menopause Healing Nutrition Guide ($67)

Priority shipping

90-day Works or It's Free guarantee

Value: $474 | Today: $180

Full return terms

Yes, I want my nights back

Yes, I want my nights back

90 days to decide. Free priority shipping. Real people on support if you need them.

Before another night becomes another month

You know what another bedding search looks like. Comparing firmness. Reading reviews. Wondering whether this time you'll choose the right one.

Keep looking for another bedding change.

Another pillow or topper, while the tendon keeps taking more wear than it can repair.

Or give the tendon what it's missing.

Twenty minutes in the chair before bed, half price for Early Black Friday, with 90 days to decide.

The question is whether you take the next step this week, or let another month of waking, turning over and trying to settle go by first.

 

Give your hip twenty minutes of your evening. See the Early Black Friday package.

Get Stride + 5 free gifts

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

3,943 customer ratings

5 star

90%

4 star

7%

3 star

2%

2 star

0%

1 star

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By Feature

Price

5.0

Effectiveness

5.0

Comfort

5.0

Quality

4.8

Questions

Can I wear it while I sleep?

No. It's a 20-minute session while you're awake. Take it off before you go to sleep.

How is this different from a heating pad?

A heating pad warms the skin and stops there. It's flat, your hip isn't, and it slides off the moment you shift. Stride uses three wavelengths of light that reach the tendon, in a wrap shaped for the outer hip, so it stays on the spot hands-free for the full 20 minutes.

Does it actually work on the tendon?

That's what it's built for. The 660nm light brings blood flow, the 830nm light gives the tendon cells the energy to make collagen again, and the 940nm light reaches the tendon to calm the inflammation. Pillows and pads work on the outside of the problem. Stride works on the inside.

Should I keep using my knee pillow?

Keep it if it helps. It takes pressure off at night. Stride works on the tendon in the evening.

Can I use it alongside my current care?

Yes. Stride fits alongside your doctor's or PT's plan. If you take medication or have a medical condition, check the instructions with your clinician first.

I was told it's bursitis or arthritis. Could it be this?

It could be. Gluteal tendinopathy is often mistaken for both, and it doesn't show up on an X-ray. If your pain sits on the bony point on the outside of your hip and it's worst lying on that side, ask your doctor about it by name.

How long before I notice a difference?

Tendons rebuild slowly, so give it time and use it every day. Pay attention to how you settle, how often the ache wakes you and how your first steps feel in the morning. That's why you get 90 days to decide.

What if it isn't for me?

Email info@tryhalsten.com before day 90 from delivery to arrange a return. Works or it's free: send it back within the 90 days for a full refund. You cover return shipping.

Sponsored content from Halsten. This story is a dramatized composite, not a single customer's account or a clinician endorsement. Individual results vary. General information, not a diagnosis or a substitute for medical care.

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