Night splint pain is waking me

I started wearing ankle/foot night splints at the end of June. Therapy wanted me to get used to them by wearing them in the daytime. While I realized I needed to get accustomed to them, I wanted to do it wearing them at night when I was lying down. It took several days before therapy said I could try the splints out at night.

The first night the splints woke me at 1 AM because my legs were aching. Since I had not previously warn them for over two hours, I had the night shift aides take them off. It was such a relief.

The next night I thought I might be able to go an hour longer. Surprisingly, I was able to keep them on until I woke at around 4:30 A.M. And the fact that I did surprised me.

The next night I was able to keep the splints on the same amount of time as the night before. If the therapist or the PT assistant was here, I informed them of my progress.

Then, the Fourth of July weekend intervened. There were no therapists here for me to tell about my night splint progress. But each night I was surprised I was able to keep the splints on until early morning.

Then my sister visited on Thursday. It was a rainy day and we got stuck in it and had to go through some droplets going to and from a restaurant for lunch. I have not been out of the rain much lately. I don't get out very often and I try to limit it to nice days, if possible.

That night, my splints woke me at 1 AM. My right leg felt like someone was pulling it hard towards the other side of the room. Reluctantly, I asked the aides if they would remove them. I did not really want to do that but once my muscles are fatigued – there wasn't much else I could do.

The next night, Friday, the same thing happened. I woke at 1 AM with achy legs. This time I asked the aides to loosen the braces but leave them on. I was able to relax and wear them for another two hours.

Saturday night, I again woke at 1 AM. I had the aides loosen the splints but after a few minutes my right leg was throbbing so badly I could not handle it. I asked the aides to remove them.

I wonder why, after six days of wearing them for over six hours, I'm getting such bad aching and cramping in my legs. I feel like I am going in the wrong direction. It seems like my time should be extending, not getting shorter. I wonder if when I first started wearing them, they held everything in alignment and my legs and hips felt better. But now, I am beginning to get stretched consistently and it feels like my legs are rebelling.

I hope I can build up tolerance soon and be able to keep these braces on most of the night.