Salvage your mattress Instead of shelling out a thousand bucks to replace her mattress, Linda Haugsted, of Whittier, California, put a 2-inch memory foam cushion on top on it. “Since I started using the cushion, I’m much less likely to wake up with sore hips and shoulders,” says Haugsted, who was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1992. Black out your bedroom Lights dampen your body’s secretion of melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall asleep and keeps you that way. You may have thought about splurging on those black-out shades to keep your room as dark as possible, but here’s a cheaper solution: Buy a couple rolls of privacy film, cut it to fit your windows, and press it on. Granted, you’re not going to get natural light in your bedroom during the daytime, but Francis recommends keeping it as your sanctuary for sleep and sex anyway. MORE: The 5 Best Foods For Joint Pain Switch your sheets Egyptian cotton sure sounds luxurious, but it’s not a good choice if you have rheumatoid arthritis. “The weave is so tight that it will make you uncomfortable,” says Peterman Schwartz. Instead, go for knit sheets because they stretch with you. Free your feetIf rheumatoid arthritis has made your feet so sensitive that they can’t stand the touch of a blanket—but you’re freezing without any covers—try installing a blanket support bar, suggests Shelley Peterman Schwartz, author of Home Accessibility: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier. You insert the base between your mattress and box spring. An adjustable bar raises the covers off your feet, yet allows the blanket to drape over the rest of your body. Get rid of the pain in your neckWake up in the middle of the night with a stiff neck? You might sleep longer with a water-based pillow such as the Mediflow ($40, amazon.com). Compared to standard and roll pillows, people with neck pain fell asleep faster and woke up fewer times during the night when they used a pillow filled with water, according to a study at Johns Hopkins University. MORE: How Much Sleep Do You Really Need For Your Age?
