Alrighty, so if you saw my blog from 3 weeks ago or my eBook that was just released, you know I’m ALL too familiar with shoulder pain that keeps you up at night. (By the way, subscribers, please don’t share that link! Only subscribers at the time of release were elible to receive it for free. BUT if you know anyone who could benefit from it, it will be 50% off for a limited time!!)

I’m gonna be honest: shoulder pain that affects sleeping (either falling asleep initially or causing you to wake up in pain) sucks. It just does. And unfortunately, it’ll probaly be one of the last bits that will go away as you recover from whatever you have going on. This is because our brain has much less to focus on at night compared to the rest of the day, so pain signals are often a bit more prominent. To help, definitely make sure you are staying on top of hydration, try to cut back on sugar and get solid fiber intake (basically help reduce inflammation), and try to keep a bedtime routine (same sleep/wake times, something to help calm down your nervous system, etc). Because every little thing will help with decreasing pain signals and allowing you to have better sleep (which then helps decrease pain signals!) The good news is it DOES get better!! But for while it still sucks, try these sleeping position hacks (all tried and true for me and countless patients that I have made these suggestions to over the years)

Broken up into your typical sleeping position (because we all know how well trying to change your sleeping position goes…basically not a viable option for most)

Side Sleepers:

First, make sure you have a pillow that supports your neck and keeps it in a netural position. And no, you don’t need that $200 or whatever absurb priced My Pillow. You just want something that is going to be supportive and not create more tension on your system.

For the vast majority, sleeping on the side opposite the painful shoulder is the best bet with the below suggestion. Depending on what’s going on with your shoulder, occasionally it will actually feel good to have the compression of sleeping on that shoulder. Not most of the time, but sometimes, so I just wanted to throw that out there. Note that if that’s the case, that’s actually a solid piece of information to give your physical therapist if they haven’t asked (but hopefully they have). If it doesn’t feel great and you can’t switch to sleeping on the other side reliably (or you switch mid-sleep), you can try tucking a pillow between your arm and your side (not a crazy thick one or you’ll end up doing a weird side-bend thing). This allows some space under your armpit, keeping you from compressing the neurovascular bundle in that area. If you normally sleep on the opposite side, then having the painful arm drape across you with the shoulder lazily dumped forward isn’t gonna feel great. To fight against this gravitational pull, hug a pillow or a very large teddy bear :) Simply put, this will allow for a better shoulder position as it keeps it from dumping forward and causing pain. Even better if you can position the pillow/bear so that it also props the arm up away from the body - takes even more pressure off the shoulder joint. I am actually normally a stomach/mountain climber sleeper, but I was able to fall asleep sidelying most nights if I hugged a very large teddy bear that I found stuffed in the back of my closet with one of it’s arms hugging me back, effectively keeping my arm slightly raised from my body. Yes, really. Now I kinda wish there was photographic evidence because those would be way better photo than the plain ole pillow ones I’m gonna have to take for this. The bear has made it’s way back to my childhood bedroom closet since that time. And before you go run out to buy a giant teddy bear, you can do this with a regular good ole fashioned pillow, you just have to angle it. Or I tend to recommend a pillow between the knees in general for side sleepers, so a body pillow can do the trick for both!

Stomach / Mountain Climber Sleepers:

What do I mean by this postion?? I mean you are basically on your stomach with your head turned to one side. Your arm and leg on the side that your head is turned to are both bent, while the arm and leg on the other side are straight. I find that most people who identify as stomach sleepers are in this position. Definitely not ideal for shoulder pain. First suggestion is honestly to try to switch it up to more side sleeping with the painful shoulder up. But if that’s just straight up not possible, then try this: Put a pillow under that bent arm, so that it’s supporting the shoulder and keeping the shoulder blade back. I also like using a body pillow here that goes under both the arm and leg that are bent up on that side.

But for those of you who sleep straight as a board on your back:

For the most part, this will be an ok position. But there are some shoulder issues that may still be achy like this. Best bet is again, hug a pillow for support (are you sensing a pattern here?) I tried wrapping my tripod around the ceiling fan to get a good photo of this one, but alas, that didn’t work well. So if you’re laying on your back and it’s your right shoulder that hurts, then you’ll have a pillow half on your chest and half under your arm with your forearm drapped across your stomach on top of the pillow

Alright, hopefully this helps!! It may not make the pain go completely away, but it should help calm the intensity down so you can get some better shut eye! Which in turn helps further decrease pain signals ;)

And as always, hit me up or schedule an appointment (TONS we can cover with telehealth!!) if your shoulder is really bugging you.

Happy sleeping y’all!!!