How to Sleep With Shoulder Pain If you suffer from shoulder pain, sleeping can be difficult. It hurts to lay on your sore side, you may experience a constant deep ache or sharp pain. It is also difficult to roll over, change positions, or find a difficult position to fall asleep. Shoulder pain can lead to long, uncomfortable, sleepless nights. Sleeping on your sore side will compress the damaged tissue and shoulder joint and deplete the shoulder of the proper blood flow it needs to heal. Try to avoid sleeping with your arms above your head, as well. To optimize the healing powers of sleep you need to keep your shoulders at your sides. Allowing your arm to hang down will compress the tissues and cause more shoulder pain. The best position is to lay on your comfortable side (your non-affected shoulder), and place a folded pillow under your sore arm and another between your knees. You can also place a pillow behind your back to help alert you should you try to turn over onto your bad shoulder. You should look like you are hugging a large body pillow. If you have shoulder pain come in and see one of our experienced Bowmanville Physiotherapists TODAY.
Written by: David Evans – Physiotherapist