Shoulder Pain at Night

Our shoulder has a very complicated structure. It mainly consists of 3 different bones, nearly 30 muscles, their muscle tendons and a bursal sac. The muscle tendons hold the muscles to the bones while the bursal sac is responsible for secretion of some fluids that facilitate lubrication during shoulder movements. Throughout the day, our shoulder muscles perform innumerable number of tasks. As a result, it undergoes a lot of stress and strain. When we go to sleep at night, these muscles can relax and relieve the tension but if you regularly suffer from shoulder pain at night neither your body nor the shoulder gets the much needed rest with the result that you become fatigued.

Shoulder Pain at Night: Causes and Symptoms

The main possible cause of shoulder pain at night is some kind of injury to the rotator cuff. It consists of a group of four muscles which provide stability to the shoulder. It also helps in various movements of the shoulder joint, like, lifting of the arms. Therefore, it is highly susceptible to injury. One can get such injuries as a result of a bad fall or overuse of the muscles or a blow to the shoulder. Those sport persons who are into racket sports are prone to rotator cuff injury. Even simple tasks, like, throwing a ball, swimming or painting a ceiling can strain the rotator cuff. Other possible causes of shoulder pain at night are health problems, like, tendinitis, bursitis, arthritis or dislocation of shoulder. However, if you experience a sudden left shoulder pain at night, then it could be a sign of heart attack.

The main symptom of shoulder pain at night is, of course, a constant, dull aching pain with a stiffness or swelling in the shoulder. The intensity of the pain becomes severe when you change your position in bed. Shoulder pain at night is often aggravated if you try to move your arms up and down. In case your muscle tendons are in a badly compressed condition, then pain will worsen when you raise your hand. The pain in shoulder at night is mostly accompanied by a numbing and tingling effect in the arms and fingers.

Cure for Shoulder Pain at Night

When a person visits a doctor with shoulder pain at night, the latter will first of all give medicines to bring down the severe shoulder pain at night so that the patient can catch up with some sleep. For this, doctors usually administer two different types of medications. One is the anti inflammatory drugs that can provide temporary relief from the pain. The other is medicines that will help the patient to fall asleep. With the help of x-rays and MRI scan, it can be identified whether the rotator cuff has undergone injury or not. The best way to treat an injury is by physical therapy. If the cause of the pain is any other disease, then necessary steps are taken for treating those underlying causes. In case there is a tear in the rotator cuff, then surgery is needed. Read more on rotator cuff injury - torn rotator cuff.

You can also take a few measures at home that can give you relief from shoulder pain at night. Like, simple stretching exercises before going to bed provides a lot of relief to the shoulder pain. It will also help to increase strength and flexibility of the shoulder muscles. You can stretch your arms first up and down and then from one side to another. Hold your hands in the each of the stretched positions for about 20 seconds but not more than that. Make sure that the stretch should just give a gentle pull to the muscles, do not hurt them. To know more read exercises for shoulder pain.

After the exercises, use ice for cold compression of the affected part. Take ice cubes, wrap them in a towel and rub gently over the painful shoulder for 15-20 minutes. Never apply ice directly on the skin. Ice has a calming effect on the pain and swelling and you will be able to fall asleep quickly.

When you are suffering from shoulder pain at night, you should sleep in such a position that your body weight should not put additional pressure to the injured shoulder. You can align a number of extra pillows under the bad shoulder for support. As a result, the shoulder remains isolated and the weight of the body will get distributed evenly.