This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in February of 2024. For the original video go to https://youtu.be/ibDg48Ga7XQ
Mike: Are your sleepless nights plagued with shoulder pain?
Brad: Well, we're going to show you some excellent ways, actually invaluable ways so that you can get a restful peaceful night's sleep.
Mike: So Bob has dealt with shoulder pain before and had a restless night of sleep and he's sharing some of his effective solutions with us today.
Brad: And actually Bob, like many people with shoulder pain, he likes to sleep on both shoulders. So we're going to share some tricks that he uses so he can sleep on both sides throughout the night. Alright, so Mike has volunteered to go through each position back on both sides and we're gonna show you how things work in a very detailed manner. Are you ready Mike?
Mike: I am, now realize this is what worked for Bob. Not all shoulder pain is created equal. So some of them may work for you and some of them may not.
Brad: So starting out, lying supine, in other words on your back like Mike is.
Mike: Yeah, so obviously if you're laying on your back and there's no pain initially, this can be a good sleeping position if you can fall asleep this way.
Mike: Some people may put a pillow underneath their arm for some support here and sometimes that little gap in this area can help alleviate some shoulder pain if you are experiencing it.
Brad: That's right, and another thing he does is to take a smaller throw pillow, put it right between your shoulder blades, and lie down and there you go. You notice I said lie, not lay, English majors! Anyways, so what this does is it helps the shoulders go back and into a good position, we call that a posterior position, which opens up the shoulder a little bit and allows it to relax. And with that, you can also put the pillow under the arm. Just move it around, and you'll know what feels good, the shoulder should feel relaxed and you can feel like, oh, I'm going to fall asleep, not being egged by that shoulder.
Brad: Alright, now we're going to assume the left shoulder is the painful side. First, if you can avoid lying on that left shoulder to keep the pressure off it for an extended period, that's number one. We realize that's very difficult and Bob actually had a hard time with this, so this is a really good option to alleviate that stress on the shoulder while you sleep. Go ahead, Mike.
Mike: So the first thing you want to do is make sure you have enough pillows to support your head region. Notice I have two pillows now versus one when I was sleeping on my back. Now I'm going to lay another pillow. You can use a regular pillow or a throw pillow here and you're going to place it so you can get your arm in between there, creating a canal. Now what happens when I lay down is the pressure from the pillows will take off the pressure directly on my shoulder joint itself, so this may allow you to sleep on this side. Now this may not work for everyone, but if it does, it is a good option,
Brad: Right, it really does reduce that stress. You feel like you're going to fall asleep, huh?
Mike: Might as well.
Brad: Alright, let's go to the next one.
Mike: So if you don't like the canal option and you still want to sleep on the painful side, notice if I'm sleeping directly on my side, I'm going to feel a lot more pressure right on that shoulder joint, but if I simply rotate my upper trunk at a 45-degree angle, my pressure is now off the shoulder. Obviously you have to have good back rotation to rotate like this and be comfortable. But if you do, this is a good option as well.
Brad: I found it works very well for myself as well as patients. And Bob concurs. Okay, now the next scenario is you're lying on your side, but this time you actually have a painful shoulder on top. How do you make that feel better, Mike?
Mike: So in order to make this feel better, obviously you don't have the pressure of the mat on it, but sometimes just being too forward or too far back can still cause strain on the shoulder if it is painful. So simply take a pillow, you can do one or two. So we're doing a throw pillow and then a long pillow to give nice support to my shoulder joint. You could try just one pillow, but you could see I'm getting a little bit of a rotation downward with one pillow so sometimes two is a good option as well and this can alleviate some shoulder pain you may be having.
Brad: This works very well. As a matter of fact, even with a non-painful shoulder, if you do this, it just makes lying on your side more comfortable. Maybe it's an age thing.
Mike: You kind of feel like you're in a pillow fort too.
Brad: So now if it's your left shoulder, you create the canal with the pillow on your left side end, and if you are one of the people who do turn over to the other side, yes, actually make the pillow canal on the good shoulder as well. Try that and then you'll need pillows for the sore shoulder that's on top. A lot of pillows going on here, but try these. You'll be amazed how comfortable you can get yourself when you haven't tried this before and it'll give you options to make you sleep like a baby. Well, we hope so. Anyways, what about this position lying on your stomach?
Mike: So Bob consciously decides to not lay on his stomach. I'm assuming he says consciously because sometimes he subconsciously gets in this position. I often do as well. So if you're going to be on your stomach, I tend to sleep like this. My one leg is up to the side I'm rotated on, and my shoulders often out to the side.
Mike: Now this doesn't normally cause pain for me when I've had shoulder pain in the past, but obviously, everyone's condition is going to be slightly different. Sometimes I may take a throw pillow and kind of hug it with this arm. And it just provides a little more gap and cushioning here. Oftentimes, this pillow is on my chin as well, but you could try it if it helps. If you're not a stomach sleeper, don't worry about it.
Brad: So the bottom line is get a lot of pillows, work some of these positions, experiment and you will find positions that are going to take the pain away and allow you to sleep. So if there's some tips that you personally have done that we did not include to help you sleep, make sure you comment to help everyone else out. Remember, if we all work together, things go a lot better in life.
Mike: We also have a video to check out if you want to check out more videos on sleeping positions. This one doesn't deal with shoulder pain, but just optimal sleeping positions, "The Absolute WORST Way To Sleep If You're 50+."
Brad: There you go. Alright, have a good day, and sleep well.
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