Sleeping on stomach can cook your shoulder

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Broseidon

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Hey guys, got some info from my physio I thought I’d pass along. Despite cleaning up technique, and taking care of my rotator cuff, I’ve been having some issues with my right shoulder forever. Turns out, sleeping on your stomach with an arm up under your head absolutely can mess with your shoulder health (in my case causing impingement) over time. You’re stressing your shoulder in an extended position for 8 hours a night. I’ve been sleeping on my back for a few weeks, and have noticed way less stiffness, and pain during my workouts, and throughout the day.

I’m not sure if this is common knowledge, but it was new to me, and helped me a ton. So I figured I’d share it.
 
Broseidon said:
Hey guys, got some info from my physio I thought I’d pass along. Despite cleaning up technique, and taking care of my rotator cuff, I’ve been having some issues with my right shoulder forever. Turns out, sleeping on your stomach with an arm up under your head absolutely can mess with your shoulder health (in my case causing impingement) over time. You’re stressing your shoulder in an extended position for 8 hours a night. I’ve been sleeping on my back for a few weeks, and have noticed way less stiffness, and pain during my workouts, and throughout the day.

I’m not sure if this is common knowledge, but it was new to me, and helped me a ton. So I figured I’d share it.
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I slept with my arm above on my stomach for years and I stopped because I was getting shoulder pain and thought I’d try sleeping differently.
I pretty much sleep on my back all the time now. If I sleep on my side I use a pillow to prop up my arm.
 
This is how I tore my rotator on my left side. Still hurts to this day and the damage done much more than my right which I fucked up lifting heavy in my early 20's. For the right I felt it tearing while doing behind the next barbell presses with two plates per side.

For 12yrs I can only sleep on my sides and I flip from one side to the other. If on my back I choke
 
Interesting that you post this. I found sleeping on my stomach to create issues with my knees as it made my hips tight so i go to back and side sleeping.

I'm now nursing my left shoulder back to health because sleeping on my side caused irritation and/or misalignment that caused me to injure what i believe is my supraspinatus. The right side is irritated because I'm sleeping on the other side FML lol. I haven't trained my chest or back for a few weeks now.

I've come to the conclusion that sleeping on my back is THE only way to sleep. For those that can't sleep on their backs, work on your hip and overal leg mobility, it will allow your lower back to be positioned properly instead of arching due to tight glutes etc.
 
Yup... Been part of my shoulder issues for the last 15 years.. I can not break the habbit of sleeping on my side or off to the side.

I broke the habbit once in my early 20's by taping tenis balls to the sides of a t shirt.. I slept with the t shirt on and anytime I rolled on my side, the feeling of the tennis ball stopped the roll..

These days I can't sleep unless I'm totally naked.. any sort of cloth on my body means I can't sleep.. No tennis ball shirt for me
 
I’ll snore or choke and wake myself up if I sleep on my back. It’s always on my stomach or on my sides with extra pillows on the sides to keep my arms elevated. The extra pillows help for side sleepers. I was irritating my already injured shoulders without them.
 
entropy said:
I’ll snore or choke and wake myself up if I sleep on my back. It’s always on my stomach or on my sides with extra pillows on the sides to keep my arms elevated. The extra pillows help for side sleepers. I was irritating my already injured shoulders without them.
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I haven't invested the money into one of these pillows yet.. Keep looking at them though.. I am such a fussy sleeper that I just don't think I'd adapt to it..
 
Going to physio for multiple injuries and in particular spine/neck/shoulders. They often prescribe ball work as in working a racket ball around the shoulder to help get out any knows and loosen it up, cat and dog stretches, three of other exercises that helped immensely and now only take 3 minutes as I don't need breaks but at first it was muscles I did not use.
To help all the spinal stabilization muscles to prevent injuries - mobilization exercises before any workout often included supermen on the stomach or hand/knees. I found the same - it made it worse as I was constantly putting my sore shoulder / arm forward and held for a few seconds, then other side, over and over. It did help with stabilization but was not good for my shoulder.
Luckily, in general my shoulders have only had issues. Point being - makes perfect sense @Broseidon.
Don't care if you are 20 or 50 - mobility/stability exercises/proper warm up for the area you plan to work out will help avoid injuries albeit it adds 20 minutes to your workout. I started doing a lot of 5 rep warm up sets getting to a working weight which I will take one or two set to failure. Might look weird seeing someone doing 100 lbs for a 5 reps doing upright rows, but inevitably you get up to 150 lbs and are doing 10 reps or more depending on the day. The same can be said for curls or RDL's - each to their own but this is the longest I have worked out in a row without any little strain or sprain.
Food for thought - good thread to start @Broseidon as shoulders are an issue for so many.
 
years ago a friend had rotator surgery to fix his sleeping on shoulder injury. I sleep on my side but I do not use my arm to rest my head.

Sleeping on right side or left side are recommended for different medical condition like heart or GERD. Ask your physician (or AI if you want a not-paid-for-by-big-pharma opinion.

Those sleeping pillows are pretty warm to have against the body all night.
 
I got myself to sleep on my back by using one of those U shaped neck pillows that you'd use on an airplane. They keep your head locked in a good position and prevent your head from initiating the roll onto your side. You can still move your body around and roll it a bit side to side, but you'll stay on your back and your shoulders will thank you.

The $5 pillow from The Dollar Store is the best one I've used so far, and I've tried a few.
 
CoolRick said:
Interesting that you post this. I found sleeping on my stomach to create issues with my knees as it made my hips tight so i go to back and side sleeping.

I'm now nursing my left shoulder back to health because sleeping on my side caused irritation and/or misalignment that caused me to injure what i believe is my supraspinatus. The right side is irritated because I'm sleeping on the other side FML lol. I haven't trained my chest or back for a few weeks now.

I've come to the conclusion that sleeping on my back is THE only way to sleep. For those that can't sleep on their backs, work on your hip and overal leg mobility, it will allow your lower back to be positioned properly instead of arching due to tight glutes etc.
Click to expand...

Give this a shot. Take a lacrosse ball in a sock (so you don’t drop it) and roll the lat area under your armpit, down to your waist, then move inwards towards your back. Work the lat areas on the edgeish area. I was having issues in my left shoukder, started doing that and it cleared up.

First time I rolled the lat, about 2” in from its edge, the pain was pretty extreme, like I didn’t want to do it pain. Now I get almost zero pain when I do so.

You can also lay on you side with a foam roller and grind out your lat that way, the the ball gets in better and works better.
 
animal-inside said:
I haven't invested the money into one of these pillows yet.. Keep looking at them though.. I am such a fussy sleeper that I just don't think I'd adapt to it..
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I just use a standard pillow. I actually have this microfibre fuzzy white one I use. But the thing is getting pretty rough looking and I’m going to have to find a new one.

When I sleep in the basement on the hide a bed couch, I have a full body pillow. Man I love that thing, but it’s far too big in bed with all the blankets, in the basement I just use a thinner blanket I lay under. Or if it’s winter I have a heated blanket or turn up the furnace, lol.
 
Sorbate said:
Give this a shot. Take a lacrosse ball in a sock (so you don’t drop it) and roll the lat area under your armpit, down to your waist, then move inwards towards your back. Work the lat areas on the edgeish area. I was having issues in my left shoukder, started doing that and it cleared up.

First time I rolled the lat, about 2” in from its edge, the pain was pretty extreme, like I didn’t want to do it pain. Now I get almost zero pain when I do so.

You can also lay on you side with a foam roller and grind out your lat that way, the the ball gets in better and works better.
Click to expand...
I saw your recommendation to do this in another thread and i did end up releasing it, thanks for posting that. It took a few days of painful foam rolling and massage to get it out.

Since then I've been working on mobility especially scapular control. My shoulder is much better now as there is much more space for the joint to move freely. I think I'm ready to do some very light chest and back work to test the waters.
 
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