How to sleep when you have shoulder pain

If you have suffered from a shoulder injury or suffer from continual shoulder pain you’ll know how hard it is to find a comfortable spot in bed. Especially if you are a side sleeper!

However, there are steps you can take to allow for adequate sleep with such injuries/pain. After all, as mentioned all throughout our blogs sleep is a the bee’s knees when it comes to assisting in recovery!

Sleeping on your back- prop a pillow up underneath the affected shoulder to provide a stable area for the shoulder to rest, ensure the forearm and wrist are not elevated too high as this may reduced blood flow and promote “pins and needles”. This positions places the ball and socket joint in a much more anatomical stable position. 

Avoid sleeping on your front with arms up over your head as this will pull your shoulder forward and out of alignment . 

Sleeping on the opposite side with a pillow underneath your arm pit of the sore shoulder- this will allow the sore shoulder to not roll forward and reduce the space within the shoulder joint as this may cause aggravation. 

Ensure you have quality supportive pillows that are comfortable for your neck as this will take strain off the shoulder if the head and neck are support correctly. 

Give these tips and tricks a go! Such sleep routines should be accompanied with a graded exercise program specifically tailored to you to ensure such pain can be managed.