if you have shoulder impingement bursitis tendonitis or particularly frozen shoulder it can be really difficult to find a comfortable position for your shoulder and bed but the key lies in the natural plane of your shoulder blade so let’s find the best position for your shoulder in bed the secret tool could not sleep with a sore shoulder is to keep your arm in a neutral position compared to your shoulder blade now a shoulder blade at rest actually sits up against the rib cage on about a 30 degree angle forward and this is called the scapular plane if our arm is too flexed extended internally rotated or externally rotated compared to the shoulder blade it’ll reduce space in the joint strain muscles and irritate the joint capsule so let’s have a look at what that looks like in bed lying on your back is a pretty good option but if your shoulder is really inflamed putting your arm on the bed extends The Joint compared to the Natural shoulder blade plane and can become painful after a while so placing your arm on a pillow will feel more comfortable if you’ve got a frozen shoulder or impingement Place another pillow on top of your chest to stop the arm from internally rotating too much sleeping with your arm up will add to any shoulder impingement so avoid that even if it doesn’t feel too sore to start off with if you lie on your side with your bad shoulder up hugging a pillow will help to bring it into that good 30 degree shoulder blade plane position try to use a nice fat pillow though or even two pillows because this will minimize too much internal rotation now lying on the side of the sore shoulder is tougher because this can compress the shoulder joint but if you can only sleep on that side or if it’s not too inflamed here’s some tricks to help bending a top knee and rolling forward will just make things worse so firstly roll back a bit so that you’re lying on your rib cage more than your shoulder bending the top knee lessen the bottom Knee will help to roll your back a bit the higher your elbow Rises the more you’re stretching the shoulder capsule and compressing structures inside the shoulder so keep your elbow down internally or externally rotating your arm or strain things too so again hugging a big pillow will help to keep your arm in a nice neutral position some people find that putting a thin pillow below the shoulder so that your rib cage can lean up against it will take the pressure off the shoulder but if you do this place it so that you can keep your elbow down not lifted too much if your bed is pretty firm it can cause more compression of the shoulder so sometimes a mattress topper can help too lying face down makes it very difficult to find a good position for your shoulder and it’s terrible for your neck because you have to twist your neck to one side to breathe if you absolutely have to lie face down the best option would be with a pillow underneath your chest the leg on the side of the bad shoulder bent and the bad shoulder up this would allow the top shoulder the bad shoulder to sit on that 30 degree scapular plane but just keep in mind that then you would need to place your pillow to minimize neck rotation putting a hand underneath your pillow is going to impinge your shoulder so definitely avoid that but honestly I really can’t recommend lying face down at all but what about when you’re asleep how do you control all these pillars we’re going to sleep in a good position and then correcting it anytime you wake up will maximize the time you spend in a good position for your shoulder and a lot of people are surprised how quickly they change their sleeping habits if they’re correcting it all the time so just stick with it the aim of all of these positions is to keep your arm in a certain Zone so that’s 30 degrees forward um down not up so about this kind of space and they’re not too internally or externally rotate it so about here so just try to keep that as a general rule in mind anyway there you go I hope you liked the video hopefully you didn’t hear too much of the Jackhammer that was going on in the background if you did like the video please consider liking and subscribing because it always really helps my channel and let me know how you go in the comment section below because I like to hear the comments the feedback get a little bit of interaction okay cheers
If you have a shoulder pain from shoulder impingement, bursitis, tendonitis, or frozen shoulder in particular, it can be really difficult to find a comfortable position for your shoulder in bed. The key to finding the sweet spot lies in the natural plane of your shoulder blade. Something we call the Scapula Plane. So, in this video I explain what that is, and how it helps us to find the best position to sleeping in for shoulder pain.
0:00 Intro
0:21 The Key To Avoid Shoulder Pain In Bed
0:51 Lying Face Up
1:30 Sidelying: Bad Shoulder Up
1:49 Sidelying: Bad Shoulder Down
3:10 Lying Face Down
3:59 What about when I’m asleep though?
4:17 SUMMARY
HOW TO SLEEP FOR SHOULDER PAIN RELIEF
The secret to a good night sleep with a sore shoulder is to keep your arm in a neutral position compared to your shoulder blade. Our shoulder blade, at rest, sits against our rib cage on about a 30 degree angle forward. This is called the scapular plane. If our arm is too flexed, extended, internally or externally rotated compared to the shoulder blade, it’ll strain muscles, reduce space in the joint, and irritate the shoulder capsule.
HOW TO SLEEP WITH FROZEN SHOULDER
Finding the best position to sleeping in for frozen shoulder is especially hard! The shoulder capsule is so inflamed and contracted that any deviation from neutral soon results in pain. You’ll need plenty of pillows. Follow the instructions in this video but use the double pillow version for each position, because too much internal and external rotation of the shoulder can really hurt when the capsule is inflamed.
LYING FACE UP WITH SHOULDER PAIN
Lying on your back is a pretty good option. But if your shoulder is really inflamed, putting your arm on the bed extends the joint compared to that shoulder blade plane, so place your arm on a pillow. If your shoulder is really inflamed (eg. you’ve got frozen shoulder or impingement), place another on your chest to stop the arm from internally rotating too much.
HOW TO LIE ON YOUR SIDE WITH SHOULDER PAIN:
1. BAD SHOULDER UP
If you lie on your side with your bad shoulder UP, hugging a pillow will help to bring it into that 30 degrees scapula plane position. Try to use a BIG pillow though, or even two pillows, because this will minimise too much internal rotation.
2. BAD SHOULDER DOWN
• Roll back so that you’re lying on your rib cage more than your shoulder. (Bending the top knee less than the bottom one will help to roll you back.)
• Keep your elbow down.
• Hug a big pillow to stop internal or external rotation
• You can use an extra pillow for shoulder pain relief. Try a thin pillow below the shoulder—under your rib cage—to take pressure off your shoulder.
IS LYING FACE DOWN BAD FOR SHOULDERS?
Lying face down makes it very difficult to find a good position for your shoulder, so, I don’t recommend this. But, if you absolutely have to lie face down, the best option would be with a pillow under your chest, leg on bad shoulder side bent, and the bad shoulder up.
SUMMARY
The aim of all of these positions is to keep your arm in this zone: 30 degrees forward, elbow down not up, and without too much internal or external rotation. So, try to keep that general rule in mind.
—————————————-
Say ‘Hi!’ on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BodyFixExercises
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bodyfixexercise
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodyfixexercises
#bodyfixexercises #shoulderpain #shoulderpainrelief
