Shoulder pain from sleep?

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ssbmacdaddy
ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I frequently wake up and have shoulder pain and neck pain when waking up - always on left side. I have used a variety of pillow and even changed the bed and mattress. See physical therapy and massage regularly and chiro. Any one have the same thing and fixed it?

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  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    Oh it's like the muscle just gets too tight on that one side .
  • davecando
    davecando Posts: 46 Member
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    Rotor cuff i have this it started with stretching to reach a bar behind my neck to do a squat, went to physo he massaged it felt ok then , then went achey again, went to another physio she said massage wont help you and i needed to do streteches for it , its been over 6 months and still aches at night or first thing on a morning its painfull. i cant do bench press or press up with it properly a sit causes it to hurt to much , complete rest and plenty of stretches . no weight above the head or press ups , see another physio and ask for streches for it hope this helps out.
  • Samstan101
    Samstan101 Posts: 699 Member
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    Same problem but on the right for me. I tend to sleep with that arm over my head with my hand hooked under the pillow and my head resting on my arm. I've tried to go to sleep in a different position but then move back to this in my sleep. Shoulder is stiff and clunky first thing but by the time I've been up and moving about a bit it eases up. Sorry no fix for you but you're not alone :D
  • spara0038
    spara0038 Posts: 226 Member
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    This can actually result from daytime ergonomic stress, but you only feel it when you sleep because your muscles are at rest and have time to build up knots and lactic acid. I had the same thing a while ago from poor placement of my computer mouse. Didn't hurt during the day because I was still active and moving but when I had some time to relax or sleep... man, did it hurt!!

    You aren't left-handed, by any chance...?
  • sunglasses_and_ocean_waves
    sunglasses_and_ocean_waves Posts: 2,757 Member
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    Same here. :ohwell:
  • MelStren
    MelStren Posts: 457 Member
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    Ditto. On my left side. I'm right handed but sleep on my left. I spend a lot of evenings under a heating pad.
  • cantfail
    cantfail Posts: 169 Member
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    I had the same problem. I started doing yoga (specifically DDP yoga - you can google it) and after a couple of weeks the pain was completely gone.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    No not left handed. I tried exercise, stretching, now going to try another pillow, I think I sleep a lot more on left side yet hard to tell as I am asleep. I do change sides frequently at night and even refluff the pillow in the night. Movement makes it better as does a heating pad. I just want to figure out a way to get out of the cycle. I will look up the yoga . Any more experience or ideas would be appreciated .
  • Chickee8586
    Chickee8586 Posts: 155 Member
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    I have degenerative discs in my neck and sleep without a pillow. Hard to get used to, but not having pain all day every day makes it worthwhile.

    I also end up with my arms over my head while I'm sleeping.
  • 212019156
    212019156 Posts: 341 Member
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    Unless you have experienced an injury what is probably happening is that you are sleeping with you arm under you while on your side. This puts your infraspinatus and/or supraspinatus in a continually stretched position which will hurt.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    The best way to do it is to sleep with just a bolster pillow under your neck and on your back. Maybe with a pillow under your knees. Ideally, you would sleep on your back with no pillow, but I don't know anyone who does that after the age of 5 or 6.

    You're pinching a nerve in your neck that runs down through your shoulder and into your arm. If you find you can't sleep except on your side, put a very thick pillow between your legs and get a thicker pillow for under your head that will lift your head up a bit more and relieve that nerve. Memory foam pillows are good for that. It will help align the spine.
  • ssbmacdaddy
    ssbmacdaddy Posts: 124 Member
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    I have a history of 7 bulging disks - 4 thoracic 3 lumbar. Ever since the last back episode the pt said to sleep in my side to prevent dependent edema of disks. I have been doing that. I have tried the foam pillows but maybe the wrong size . I will try a different foam pillow and see how it works. My wife gets the same pain so the pillow I thought was the culprit yet when she slept in a air bed she felt better. Out bed is pretty firm. Like I said we have changed beds and mattresses for back pain issues.

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