Hypermobility: How to protect your shoulders while sleeping?

September 18, 2024 8:33 AM

I could really use some help to figure out how to position my arms while sleeping. It seems that no matter what I do, I'm causing myself pain and damage.

I don't think I can really explain this to anyone who isn't familiar with Ehler's Danlos/hypermobility. If you know, you know. I have a tendency to sleep on my side or stomach with my arm extended above my head, under the pillow. I think this ends up yanking on the joint too much and then I wake up in the night with spasms in my rotator cuffs and pain throughout the next day. But I've tried various other positions and nothing seems to prevent this fully. Every position yanks on the joint in one way or another because...my joints are very yankable. So I am trying to figure out:

1. How does a non-hypermobile shoulder get positioned during sleep and can I try to emulate that somehow?
2. Is there a type of brace I can try sleeping in? I'd need a double-shoulder one, or two of them. I have a shoulder brace like this, but it's so restrictive I feel like it's not very suitable for sleep.

posted by kitcat to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

Mildly hypermobile here, my biggest issue is that when my shoulders go funny I get nerve compression in my thoracic outlet. A few ideas:

- If you can sleep on your stomach with your arms at your sides, placing small foam blocks underneath your shoulders can keep them from collapsing forward. I had massage therapists do this, and it really keeps my shoulders in line with my back.

- I sleep on my back, which mostly works, but I have considered getting this pillow which goes under the back and allows ther shoulders to fall back, improving alignment, while slightly elevates the body which would prevent my neck from crunching up at night.
posted by A Blue Moon at 8:47 AM on September 18 [4 favorites]

How does a non-hypermobile shoulder get positioned during sleep?

I'm not hypermobile, though I still need to avoid putting strain on my shoulders. This may not be a detailed enough answer, but: I sleep on my side, hugging a reasonably firm pillow; that keeps the uppermost shoulder from collapsing downwards, and seems to help the lowermost shoulder find a more comfortable position too.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 9:20 AM on September 18 [2 favorites]

Would a little less pressure on your arm would help? There are pillows with channels cut out for your arm. You'd still be extending your arm, but at least it wouldn't have pressure from above?
posted by hydra77 at 9:47 AM on September 18 [1 favorite]

The pillow I have seen recommended for this is the Medcline. I don't have EDS but have considered whether such a pillow would be helpful for me (minor sleep apnea, trying to sleep exclusively on my side). She's not cheap but maybe she's worth it!
posted by Lawn Beaver at 10:00 AM on September 18 [3 favorites]

I am not hypermobile but I have the Medcline Shoulder Relief pillow and it has definitely helped relieve the neck, shoulder, and general arm issues I used to get from side-sleeping. I have been considering getting the body pillow as well, but the Medcline ones seem pretty expensive so I was looking at getting another Snoogle which seems like the same thing. I had a Snoogle when I was pregnant and it was really great for side-sleeping, but my dog shredded it one day when I was washing the cover.
posted by erst at 10:47 AM on September 18 [2 favorites]

I am hypermobile/EDS and I also have the same preferred sleep position as you! Maybe half a year ago I got myself these* V-shaped bolster type pillows as a treat and they’re effective in letting me put the arm up under with less… pillow… pressure? Ending up on the arm? They’re sort of moderately bulky, definitely not hugely thick — it’s just enough pillow to let me do my arm thing but little enough my arm and shoulder are less affected. Probably not ideal but definitely better than what I was doing before. The longness of the pillow and the bend mean I can position it Just Right based on the angles and pressures my body wants at a given point in the night. Feel free to memail me if this only sort of makes sense!

I also find that occasionally adding back in a night or two with a regular pillow seems to help with some sort of balance, I think on the same principle as rotating out different shoes so my feet don’t have the same type of strain every day, or something like that.

*Other brands are available
posted by cabbage raccoon at 1:34 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]

I think I have this going on but didn't put two and two together to the cause until now.

For me, a side sleeper who tends to sleep in the classic bent top leg, straight lower leg, dinosaur arms position, I am able to kind of control my shoulder and arm position by holding something in between my arms to help keep my body stable - in my case it is a stuffed fish I made for a halloween costume 12 years ago and have slept with every night since. It keeps my elbows apart and my body from compressing too much together, if that makes sense - really a similar approach to the pillows Lawn Beaver and erst link/reference.
posted by urbanlenny at 2:05 PM on September 18 [4 favorites]

I am hypermobile and sleep on my side with a small wedge pillow under the top arm, with the smaller wedge end under my upper arm. It took a little while but now I sleep with straight arms which avoids pain. They are straight pointing down or sideways depending on bed space (non cohabiting partner).
posted by ellieBOA at 2:44 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]

I just don’t extend my arm above my head. I use a soft, small pillow to fill the gap between my neck and the bed and keep my elbows down, close to my torso.
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:11 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Floppy shouldered EDS-er reporting! I have found the best strategy is to create a nice tunnel for my arm in a sort of neutral angle at about neck height. I do that using a c-shaped side sleeping pillow like this or a squishmallow (the EDS sleep positioning secret weapon).

For bracing, my sibling and a few other people I know swear by the scarf trick—gently loop a scarf or thin blanket over both shoulders and down through your arms, knotting at the back. This TikTok demonstrates it (sorry for TikTok but it’s got all the good short tip videos now)
posted by assenav at 8:19 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]