shoulder injury from sleep position

[stronger]

It turns out that I get horrible, almost debilitating shoulder inflammation if I sleep on my sides at all or especially on my back with my shoulders externally rotated (arms up near head with hands supine and elbows flexed). Takes several days and many ibuprofen to get back to normal after a bad night's sleep.

If I sleep on my back with my arms to my side or resting clasped on my chest, no soreness, inflammation or grinding. Not a training question really but it's just surprising that a minor change in positions is the difference between pain and feeling normal.

Any experience with this?

[Mark Rippetoe]

This probably indicates a shoulder pathology, not something that just happens while you're asleep. How old are you? Previous injury history?

[stronger]

24 - no previous injuries. Happens in both shoulders equally as far as I can tell

[Mark E. Hurling]

How wide are your chest and shoulders and how many pillows do you use under your head? I had this same problem until I added enough (3) firm pillows to keep my head and neck in neutral and take some of the load off the shoulders. It still happens now and again, but very infrequently. Sleeping on my back solves the problem too, but then I snore so loudly in that position that marine mammals surface in the Sea of Japan asking "What the Hell was that!?"

[engineer]

Similar here. I'm a 53 y.o. male with no history of significant shoulder injuries. My problem was compressing my ulnar nerve from sleeping with flexed elbows, leading to numbness in the last two fingers while sleeping. No problems during the day because I wasn't compressing the nerve. The problem sort of crept up on me as I prgressed in training and as I added mass to my shoulders, and developed the issue that Mark Hurling is referring to.

My experience with adding firm pillows is the same as Mark, it solves the problem. I can also sleep with elbow braces to keep me from flexing my elbows under my head, but the sleep is not quite so good.

My experience, YMMV. But the pillow solution is cheap to try.

[stronger]

How wide are your chest and shoulders and how many pillows do you use under your head? I had this same problem until I added enough (3) firm pillows to keep my head and neck in neutral and take some of the load off the shoulders. It still happens now and again, but very infrequently. Sleeping on my back solves the problem too, but then I snore so loudly in that position that marine mammals surface in the Sea of Japan asking "What the Hell was that!?"

My chest and shoulders aren't of unusual proportions but I am 225 lbs at barely 5'9 so that may be a factor. The strange thing is how suddenly the condition is exacerbated - weeks of no pain can be wiped out by one night - at least as far as I can tell. This pain/inflammation is especially felt in the anterior aspects of the shoulder. I will give the pillows a try!

[andrewtac]

I get it too, and have for some time. I have a tempur pedic type mattress, and it is better. I am on the road right now, and it sucks. I wake up and my arm is asleep and shoulder hurts, go to my back, fall asleep, and the repeat; sucks for recovery. Sometimes I can get pillows situated to help it.

[Mark E. Hurling]

My chest and shoulders aren't of unusual proportions but I am 225 lbs at barely 5'9 so that may be a factor. The strange thing is how suddenly the condition is exacerbated - weeks of no pain can be wiped out by one night - at least as far as I can tell. This pain/inflammation is especially felt in the anterior aspects of the shoulder. I will give the pillows a try!

At 5'9" and 225 you might not think so, but I'm 5'11" and 255 and wear a size 52 suit coat. So your proportions are probably not too different from mine, although minus my aging gut.

[David Kirkham]

I don't get the shoulder problem but I get headaches if I sleep like that. I have to use one down pillow and no more. Try different pillow combinations. Pillows are cheap. Sorry man.

[DutchPancakes]

Judging from the various complaints on these forums, we know that SS causes the following negative side effects:

1. You won't find dress shirts that fit
2. You won't find jeans that fit
3. You will have to change gym because the one you are currently at forbids chalk/deadlifts/grunting/you-and-only-you-from-the-free-pizza-offer.
4. You get banned from all-you-can-eat-buffets
5. You get accused of fat-fucking yourself
6. You obsess over macros because of JF
7. Your retina detaches
8. You get a hernia
9. You fail the fitness test and get thrown out of the Marines
10. You get sucked into arguments with Meshugah
11. You discover you are lactose intolerant
12. You can't even sleep like a human being because your shoulders are too massive
13. You see photos of Dastardly's puffy nipples and wish that your retina had detached earlier


It's time to put a warning on the cover of the books and the website. The consumer must be protected.