Sleeping with Shoulder Pain
Barring athletic injuries, shoulder symptoms will most commonly begin in a person’s forties or fifties—seemingly out of nowhere. One day you go to sleep feeling well, and the next morning you wake up with a deep ache in your shoulder. Or maybe you began to notice a sharper discomfort while pulling on your jacket, tucking your shirt into the back or your pants, or ladies—putting on your back-closure bra.
Over the weeks or months that follow, your shoulder pain, which used to only be a daytime annoyance, begins to become a nighttime disturbance. You avoid sleeping on the painful side—yet still your “top” shoulder continues to ache. And even with the best of intentions, you may find you just can’t stop yourself from rolling onto your painful shoulder in the middle of the night. That’s when you experience an alarming wake up call!
Today I want to offer 2 quick fix positions which can ease your discomfort, and hopefully restore your sleep. All you need is an extra pillow and a small, soft blanket or towel.
PAINFUL SIDE “UP”: Simply place an extra pillow in front of your chest so your aching arm can rest on top of it. This will help to decompress your shoulder joint. Another option is to place that same pillow in between your side and your affected arm (into your underarm area) to, likewise, relieve the compression forces at the shoulder joint.
PAINFUL SIDE “DOWN”: If your shoulder pain is not as troubling and you long to sleep on your “favorite side”—which just happens to be your “bad shoulder side”—fold a soft towel or thin blanket and place it under your rib cage, between your arm pit and the top of your pelvis (most commonly referred to as your “hip”) on the side of your painful shoulder. Side lying with your mid-section supported in this way will take some of your body’s weight off of your “difficult” shoulder.
By making these small, but significant changes, you will likely find you experience a more comfortable (and healing) night’s sleep.