A research team in Denmark reported last year that with patients who have pain on one shoulder only, the side of shoulder pain was associated with the normal sleeping side in side sleeping patients. They also found that people tended to sleep back to back with their partner if they had one.
They do not know whether the relationship is causal. However, they suggest that a simple change of side of the bed (and therefore the shoulder the patient sleeps upon) could prove to be a useful tip to get a positive improvement in the shoulder pain.
The relationship does need further investigation, but we at chiropractic Dubai have been suggesting sleeping on the pain free shoulder (if there is one), for many years. Together with our usual care, chiropractic spinal and extremity adjustments, physical therapy modalities and rehabilitation exercises for different kinds of shoulder pain, this sleeping position change helps hasten the recovery of our patients. From JMPT June 2012.
