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Shoulder Pain due to side sleeping for pregnancy

lsmithk2lsmithk2 member
in 2nd Trimester
Has this ever happened to anyone???  I have been sleeping on my side due to being pregnant and I sleep on my side anyways, but a couple of days ago I woke up with pain in my left shoulder.  It's pretty bad considering I notice it every time I move my arm or my neck.  Sometimes the pain is so bad it sends shooting pains down my left arm.  I rotated sleeping on my back and my side pre pregnancy, but now only sleep on my side and I'm wondering it this is causing stress to my shoulder???
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Re: Shoulder Pain due to side sleeping for pregnancy

  • AlmostMrsIAlmostMrsI member
    I fell asleep on my side on the sofa last Saturday and my shoulder had the same pain you're describing.  It finally went away last night after I took some Tylenol for a severe headache.  I think it was a combo of the tylenol and some time passing for my shoulder to feel normal again.  I'm hoping my body gets used to side sleeping the more I do it--otherwise it's going to be an achey next few months. 
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  • PNJBPNJB
    I have this problem sometimes and the advice I got from a physical therapist friend of mine was to try to sleep on the back of the shoulder instead of the shoulder joint. This has helped me a lot. Also sometimes I just switch sides for a few nights.
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  • GrinAndBarrettGrinAndBarrett member

    I slept on my back before I was pregant and now I'm on my side. I used one pillow for back sleeping, just enough to support my neck. I have to use two pillows when sleeping on my side. It takes the pressure off my shoulder and leaves more space between my neck and the end of my shoulder. Since I started using two pillows, I no longer have shoulder pain. Now I just need to find a cure for hip pain and I'm set! Hope this helps.

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  • novlove11novlove11
    I get pain too! It was suggested to me to cushion my mattress more ( even though I have a pillow top) with a foam egg crate or other soft mattress topper. It helps. I still get the pain, but not as bad & not nearly as often.
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  • Mac0711Mac0711
    I get it about once a week and it lasts for at least a day.  I hate it too and usually just switch to the other side when I get it.  All this craziness over what position is best to sleep in kind of makes me nuts sometimes.  Seems like we over-analyze all these things but I'm still trying to sleep on my side as much as possible.  My snoogle helps.  I think it's just like anything else though - sometimes you just sleep wrong and have to deal with the muscle pain afterward.  Hope you feel better.
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  • beachgirl24beachgirl24 member
    Yes! I actually have a bad shoulder--had surgery 2 years ago on the left and so it gets aggravated by laying on that side.  Now recently my entire right arm has been falling asleep in the middle of the night, I assume from laying on it too.  A small solution I've found is to stay on my side, let's say it's the left side, with a small pillow under my right hip/butt, then lean back so that my back is flat on the mattress.  So, basically laying sort of with my upper body twisted away from my lower body. I manage to lay like this (I switch sides all night) and get pretty good sleep so far.  Might not be good for the low back but so far it's working out. I hope that helps!  I feel your pain, literally, LOL!
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  • wiggie2309wiggie2309 member
    This has also been happening to me and the only solution I found to work is propping up my upper body with about 4 pillows and then putting a body pillow folded under my knees (similar to sitting in a recliner). I tried placing a body pillow under the right side of my backside but DH likes the body pillow too and he would unknowingly pull it out from under me as we were sleeping :) 
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  • MrsLaLaBugMrsLaLaBug member
    Throwback Monday? lol
                                                                                      
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