Are you someone suffering with night-time shoulder pain? If so, know that you are in good company. Every night millions of folks struggle to sleep due to shoulder pain. The question everyone dealing with this has is, how to sleep so their shoulder does not hurt.
There is unfortunately not a one-size fits all solution for the many suffering. The first step is to understand what is going on. As in…is the shoulder the problem or is the shoulder pain referred from the neck. After this is determined, gathering data on how a person sleeps (side, belly, back) is part of the equation. Next, is the pain due to compression of the shoulder or does it not matter what position the arm is in at night? Finally, what happens to the pain when sleep position is changed? Understanding all these elements will help determine the best solution.
Ultimately painful shoulders do not like to be laid on…meaning if a person’s preferred sleeping position is on the painful shoulder, it will be important to adjust sleep position. I know people like to sleep how they sleep and changing position is hard. BUT if the shoulder does not like the pressure, you cannot continue to put pressure on it every night and hope the pain will go away. Did you know that there is reduced blood flow into the shoulder/arm if you sleep on it? It’s true and one reason every now and then you may wake with your hand tingling. But this pressure and reduced blood flow means that for those hours you attempt to sleep on the painful shoulder it will not be getting optimal blood flow which is essential for healing. So…all those hours at night when healing could occur – it will not be happening.
The solution?
Find out exactly what is causing the pain in the 1st place and then learn how to adapt sleeping to promote faster healing. No need to continue to suffer, just hoping it will one day no longer hurt at night. The best option is to consult your favorite muscle and joint specialist. They will be able to determine what is wrong and put you on the right path to feeling better once again.
For more information on how to end night time shoulder pain, click this LINK and get back to sleeping without shoulder pain once again.