When sleeping on your painful side your shoulder is subjected to the extra weight of your torso. This increased weightbearing, over a prolonged period of time, can cause pain. It is important to try to sleep on your back or opposite side to avoid compressing your painful shoulder. To stop yourself rolling back onto your painful side you may need stabilise yourself with some pillows.
Gaining an accurate and timely diagnosis is crucial to accessing the most appropriate treatment options. Accurately diagnosing the cause of your night pain is a complex procedure which is routinely conducted by a physiotherapist , orthopaedic consultant or G.
Assessment starts with a clinical interview, used to understand your symptoms. Your clinician will also complete a series of clinical tests designed to pin point your pain causing structures. This may provoke your symptoms for a short period however, it helps the clinician understand your situation better.
Unfortunately, research has revealed that clinical tests for the shoulder are not specific enough to accurately diagnose the cause of pain.
A formal diagnosis for shoulder pain can only be made using diagnostic imaging. Diagnostic ultrasound has been proven to be as effective as MRI for assessing shoulder injuries, including tendons, muscles and bursa small friction reducing washers located at high pressure points throughout the body.
Diagnostic ultrasound can quickly and accurately assess for swelling and inflammation in the shoulder. At Complete our highly experienced team of clinicians are dual trained physiotherapists and musculoskeletal sonographers. An assessment by one of our team involves a clinical interview, physical examination and a formative musculoskeletal diagnostic ultrasound scan. Once a formal diagnosis has been made your clinician will be able to advise you on the most effective, evidence-based treatment options available.
The majority of patients suffering from night pain respond positively to a combination of analgesic medication please consult your GP or pharmacist before starting any medication and a course of physiotherapy. Physiotherapy uses a combination of manual therapy techniques and individualised rehabilitation exercises to help reduce your symptoms, manage pain flares, and allow you to return to the activities that you love.
If Physiotherapy, the advice highlighted above, and over the counter pain medication is unsuccessful then a steroid injection may be appropriate. Corticosteroid injections, a potent anti-inflammatory medication, is a highly effective technique used to reduce pain associated with inflammation. Research states that steroid injections are highly accurate and effective when administered under ultrasound guidance. To ensure you get the best outcomes possible all our injection procedures are ultrasound guided.
All our clinicians are fully qualified to advise you on the most effective medication and prescribe it for you all in the same appointment. This unique service means you do not need to consult your G. P to gain a referral. You are able to self-refer directly into your service, often with 24 hours. A pain doctor near you could help find a better diagnosis and treatment for your pain.
We hope that helps! Hi, I suspect I have some kid of rotator stuff tear that causes some restrictions to arm movements.
Okay during the day but really annoying at night. Dr, did not prescribe anything other than icing and stretches. After 2 months, no improvement. Hi Dave — Unfortunately we cannot answer specific medical questions on the blog. We recommend finding a pain doctor near you and bringing your questions to them so they can do a full work-up.
This is so useful! I am in the beginning stages of starting my business, with my first patented product, the side Cradling Sleeper. I created and refined it myself after struggling for years with poor sleep quality, and it basically elevates the torso to comfortably relieve the pressure on the shoulder. It has been tested by many folks with rotator cuff issues with positive results. Please contact me to let me know if interested! Thanks, Steve. Thanks for an excellent article.
It never occurred to me to do my stretches before going to bed. Doing so has clearly helped. I still feel discomfort in my shoulder which does inhibit my sleep only once during the night. I then apply a little Icy Hot to my shoulder which works for the rest of the night. I have added some of your stretches to my daily routine. Thanks again.
The night pain is the same 9 months post-surgery as it was for the 12 months pre-surgery. Could there be another cause of this pain or is it that the surgery was not successful? It is a known side effect of many antibiotics such a Cipro, Levaquin….. Hi, I am 54 years old, I was doing exercise on rings for more than a decade, one day I felt some pain in my shoulder since then I stopped doing exercise but till then I am having pain in my shoulder and it increases many folds when I go to sleep.
An inflation and pain is all the night, including chest and back. Advil relieves the sore feeling during the day but at night when I lie on it I feel pain. What do you suggest? For the last couple of weeks I have had pain in my left shoulder at night and it would radiate down to my arm.
For the last couple of days right shoulder is starting to ache is this typical or could this be heart related? My job is incredibly stressful also. Michelle, I had the same problem. Turns out it was pinched nerves in my neck. I think one of the main causes of my pain was from walking my dog who was medium size and pulled all of the time.
Stress makes my pain immediately much worse, so I have to find ways to reduce it. It may be too late for you but this might help someone with a dog that pulls on a leash. DO NOT put a harness on a dog, it only gives them more leverage to pull against you. Instead, try tbis product called gentle leader which goes around the muzzle it does not restrict your dog from barking, drinking ir other activities.
Google it, it worked great for my dog. Thank you for the article. I have been experiencing shoulder pain for a month now. It began in my right shoulder and I have been trying to sleep on my left shoulder and now both my shoulders are in pain. Why do you recommend against back sleeping and what is the proper way to position yourself if back sleeping is now your only option?
Thanks for your help. I just found your site and am wondering if you could help with any ideas of what is causing my pain. Just last night I have begun to experience pain in my left shoulder area, more on the top part of shoulder and towards the neck area.
It is a nagging ache type pain, but I have not done any heavy exercise, and it seems to have gotten worse overnight.
I slept on my right side last night. I hate taking pills as I have been all kinds of meds since due to an auto immune situation. Any suggestion would be really appreciated, and I intend to try to see a Doctor today, to discount anything potentially sinister.
Thank you for your help. I found this site when I googled shoulder pain at night. You cannot give advice One on one but at least knowing what is going on helps. I started having shoulder pain in my right shoulder quite suddenly a week ago.
No injury or accident that I am aware of. And I only have the pain a night, but it starts well before my usually bedtime. I have been sleeping with a heating pad and taking Tylenol at night and it in the morning it is gone.
And then it comes back like clockwork, literally at 8 PM the next night. I have had breast cancer a few years ago and my left shoulder has been really painful for 2 months now. I just read up anouy a pancoast tumor? I have been diagnosed with a frozen shoulder. Patients cannot find a comfortable sleeping position. The pain just does not let them sleep well. Night time shoulder pain is probably the most common symptom I see in patients with shoulder conditions such as tenditinis, bursitis, tendinosis, impingement, rotator cuff tears and capsulitis.
All of these conditions cause some level of shoulder stiffness and inflammation. The reason that shoulders hurt at night is not fully understood. It may be related to the inflammation that occurs when the joint is in a prolonged static position or it might be due to the inward position of the arm while at rest. When the arm is up against the body the blood flow to the rotator cuff tendon and bursa is slightly restricted. This position might partially account for the pain.
What we do know is that night time pain is a red flag that something is wrong. When I evaluate patients with night time shoulder pain my goals are 1 to make the correct diagnosis and 2 to provide efficient and appropriate treatment to permanently relieve the pain. Regardless of the pathology, one of the most common non-operative recommendations I emphasize is stretching of the shoulder joint, a.
In my experience, once the flexibility or range of motion ROM of shoulder is optimized the pain improves. In cases where the pain is caused by inflammation, such as tendinitis or bursitis, the night time pain may permanently resolve.
If the painful arm does not move as fluidly and completely as the opposite non-painful shoulder it is a stiff joint.
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