Shoulder Bausitis

shivywivy

Hi all - I have psoriatic arthritis and struggle with usual typical symptoms - knee and hand pain but have also now developed shoulder bausitis which is not necessarily PA but blooming painful. Sleeping is route of problem as I start on my good side but end up on my back which means I am in absolute agony every morning- the shoulder seems to drop and then to move or turn - the pain is excruciating - I can feel the tendons being rubbed against to get it back into position. I have had physio for it before and an ultrasound steroid injection on the other shoulder but just wondering can anyone suggest something for sleeping- I’ve tried the pillow from Arthr- afraid too small and too soft. Any suggestions? Thanks

Anna

Hi @shivywivy,

I see you’ve posted to the Helpline Team and I know they’ll respond to you shortly, but I just wanted to welcome you to the online community. You’ll find the members friendly and keen to share their experiences.

I think you are talking about shoulder bursitis, but please correct me if I’m wrong. You’d like some suggestions to help sleep. The Versus Arthritis website has a page that you might find useful - I’ve linked to it below. It has suggestions for how to manage pain including the idea of placing a pillow behind your back to stop you rolling over, or under your arm to help support it. If you haven’t already tried this, it might be worth a go.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/bursitis/

Best wishes, and do let us know how you’re getting on,

Anna ( Mod)

crinkly

Have you tried sleeping with the offending shoulder supported in a sling? That should help keep the arm in one place with the shoulder joint still. If necessary you can tie a narrow scarf or similar over arm and body as well.

It's the usual immediate follow-up to shoulder surgery and I have reverted to it a few times since then when my shoulder is particularly sore/achy.

shivywivy

No but give that a go - thanks

helpline_team

Hi @shivywivy,

Thank you for posting on the helpline forum. I’m sorry you are in so much pain because of your shoulder bursitis and that sleep is making it worse.

Thanks to Anna for providing the link to bursitis and Crinkly for the tip - I hope it helped.

I’m sorry the pillow from Arthr didn’t help. You may find this link from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy helpful:

https://www.csp.org.uk/publications/good-sleep-guide

If you haven’t already done so, you may also wish to post on Life With Arthritis so that you can get suggestions from others.  

You are very welcome to call us on our freephone helpline: 0800 5200 520 so you can talk things through with one of our helpline team. 

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Mags

Helpline Team