Shoulder pain from impingement- sleeping

[Lovemycat2023]

Hello all. I have ongoing shoulder pain which has recently got worse. I had surgery but it didn’t help, and since then I’ve been working to strengthen / stretch relevant muscles to help. Over the last two months the pain is much worse and I’ve been back to the GP for a re-referral to the surgeon.

But the help I’m asking for here is about sleeping. The pain wakes me up during the night, and I can’t seem to get the support right. Effectively I need some support to keep my top shoulder in place, and pillows piled up in front of me don’t do that as the shoulder falls forward and that hurts. Has anyone come across a better solution? Thanks

I’ve spent many nights crying with pain, exhaustion and frustration with the same problem in both shoulders OP, you have my sympathy ☹️ one of mine is a lot worse than the other and that’s the one that keeps me awake at night.

I tried so many different sleeping positions and pillows to see if anything helped and the one that has given me relief from the pain long enough to fall asleep is one I tried in a fit of desperation at 3am! A travel pillow (the horseshoe kind that you would take on a plane!), wedged right under my armpit like a weird armband. Gives enough support from underneath the shoulder to stop the joint moving too much, and side support to stop the shoulder dropping forwards. I hope it helps you too

Thank you so much @WetBandits! I have one of those, and was trying to work out if it would be useful. I’ll give it a go tonight. I’m back at the musculoskeletal clinic in a couple of weeks. I hope you find some relief for your pain.

As you’re referring to ‘top shoulder’ are you side sleeping? I was a side sleeper for years, over the last few months I’ve had to train myself to sleep on my back but with pillows under my knees to relax the lower back and a folded blanket under the arm of the painful shoulder for additional support Good luck.

Poor you, shoulder pain is the worst. I am on my way out of a second frozen shoulder and wonder if you could have one too.
Best solution I have found is to sleep on my side in the recovery position. I fold a fairly soft pillow in half and then stuff it under the affected arm in a kind of rugby ball hold.

Yes, I really want to be a back sleeper but I’ve never managed it. After my shoulder surgery I had to sleep in a lounger to stop me turning on my side, and I only dozed most of the time.

That sounds miserable - hope your recovery continues. My consultant mentioned a frozen shoulder but I have good mobility, just lots of pain.

Oh ouch OP! I've had this and it's awful. I escaped needing surgery though luckily and physio mostly keeps mine at bay, though it's always still there.

I also did the travel-pillow-under the armpit trick and found it useful.

Did this help?

can you please explain your pain? Mine is so bad and I’m scared it’s more serious than a simple shoulder issue.

I’ve found that the sleeping is a bit better now - I also have a new pillow which aligns everything a bit better. I’ve been referred back to physio again. My county used an MSK clinic to asses and then refer, which I found useful.
I’m lucky that the pain isn’t so bad - probably a 4/10, but it is constant with no relief.

I don’t feel pain during the day unless I cough / sneeze, then it’s like the pressure causes a sudden pain.

and at night - oh my. The whole area feels like it’s got tight and I have to rip it open with movement.

That does sound very different from mine. I hope you’re getting some treatment?

I found the suggestions in this video really helped for me. I’m a side sleeper so I only watched as far as that.

It’s more pillows, but understanding what position you’re aiming for helped particularly. I bought two toddler size pillows so I wasn’t drowning in pillows 😂. It helped almost immediately!

I’m seeing a consultant on Thursday as the presentation is so unusual.

Good luck - I hope they’ll find some answers and some effective treatment

Thanks. I do recall there being pain with overhead lifting / stretching. But that’s gone now. I think I’ve started holding my shoulder differently which is why the presentation is unusual. When I had the ultrasound done, the physio said my bursa was ‘massive’ but I think muscle weakness / holding myself wrong has caused muscular issues as well as. At least that’s what I hope, because my mind is in some horrible places and I’ve basically signed my own death certificate at this point. The anxiety has stopped me eating and sleeping.

Feeling fed up.... the niggling shoulder pain that's been on and off for the last 2 weeks is now constant. In 2020 I had a rotator cuff tear, and I'm pretty much certain it's happened again.
First time around physio didn't help much, tried Naproxen, Codeine Hydrochloride & Nefopam (I already take 30mg of Amytriptaline nightly) and trying to get some sleep, even to escape the pain, is so difficult. Took me 18mths to get to a point where I was mostly pain free... couldn't wash my own hair, get into the bath or even fasten my own shoe laces.
Im lucky that I work part time, and mostly from home, but feel so fed up that this has happened again.. I will be digging out my travel pillow, and watching the YouTube video just to try and get some relief.

I had an MRI in the end which showed 3 of the 4 rotator cuff tendons are inflamed, and 3 different area of bursitis plus a tendon sheath inflamed in the biceps.

weirdest thing is I have absolutely no symptoms of any of this, apart from the odd niggle in my outer shoulder, and night pain.

@ToussaintTheChef .. I can get through the day, its the nights that drag me down, and not knowing if/when things might start to improve.. I'm persevering with strategically placed pillows at the moment :)

@DumbledoresWand i’m the same. Day time is fine, nighttime sucks. Although now constantly lying on the other side seems to have caused an issue there too, so I’m stuck on my back, which I absolutely hate.

@Diah Thank you so much for posting the helpful video, just had the best afternoon's sleep I've had for ages! The third option, where you sleep with your arm between the two pillows, worked a treat for me. I didn't sleep a wink last night so this is a godsend 🙏