Why Do I Have Shoulder Pain While Sleeping
Why Do I Have Shoulder Pain While Sleeping?
There are a few conditions in which causes shoulder pain at night or while sleeping:
Shoulder impingement
Shoulder impingement is a condition that causes pain and pinching sensation in the shoulder. It also has the effect to decrease a person’s range of motion. Is it possible for anyone to develop shoulder impingement, however there are people with certain risk factors that are more likely to develop it:
Old shoulder injury
Overuse
Shoulder instability
Natural anatomy – either a curved or hooked acromion or a prominent coracoid.
Acromion: is a bony process on the shoulder blade
Coracoid: is a small hook-like structure that serves to stabilize the shoulder joint.
How to treat Shoulder impingement
There are many structures that can be injured in rotator cuff impingement and each structure may require a different treatment.
This is why we like to discover why the impingement happened. Since shoulder impingement injuries and the treatment options available can vary considerably, it is important to arrange an appointment with your physiotherapist to assess it.
Shoulder Bursitis
Bursitis is the inflammation of one or more small sacs of synovial fluid in the body. When bursitis occurs, movement of muscles and tendons around the inflamed sacs becomes difficult and painful. Bursitis is commonly caused by repetitive movement and excessive pressure.
How to treat Shoulder Bursitis
You can manage you shoulder bursitis with physiotherapy treatment. Initial treatment focuses on reducing inflammation and improving shoulder mobility. However, you can achieve mobility with the use of soft tissue release, passive joint mobilisations, taping to offload irritated structures and dry needling.
Shoulder Tendinitis
Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendon, which in the shoulder is most common to the complex of muscles called the rotator cuff. Tendonitis of the shoulder tendons is a repetitive, or overuse injury. Is a common sporting injury- mainly a biomechanical issue and muscle imbalances around the shoulder which put more pressure on one muscle or tendon than it is used to.
How to treat Shoulder Tendonitis
The initial pain can be helped with rest from activities and icing the shoulder. Visit your physiotherapist who will assess the condition and decide which treatment is best including; Strengthening programme, biomechanical, referral for an MRI if needed and design a rehabilitation programme.
Rotator Cuff Tears
The rotator cuff is a complex of 4 muscles that help move the shoulder and also stabilise this joint at the same time. Rotator cuff tears may occur from a traumatic event- fall, dislocation etc. a tear may also happen to a degenerative tendon. Tendons attach muscles from the shoulder blade and ribs to the upper arm bone (humerus). Because these tendons help to rotate the arm within its socket, this sleeve of tendons is called the rotator cuff. The tendon may tear after it has been weakened by inflammation.
How to treat Rotator Cuff Tears
Small rotator cuff tears in the shoulder may not need an injection- conservative management should be tried first- ie physiotherapist. followed by physiotherapy exercises to restore shoulder movement and strengthen the rotator cuff muscles. Surgery may be necessary only for large rotator cuff tears which results in a large deficit in movement and functional capacity.
At Ballsbridge Physiotherapy, we can help you with many injuries and conditions. We treat many common sports injuries in our sports clinic.