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Regenerative medicine for shoulder arthritis
Bones, Joints & Muscles | Last Active: Mar 7 5:57am | Replies (6)Comment receiving replies
Hi, I can only offer what has helped me. Since I don't know specifically where your shoulder hurts, for me, it was generally just rotation in the joint and it was very bad at night. I started with getting deep tissue shoulder massages, because arthritis can cause knots in the muscles that add to the pain. That helped a lot. Then, I started sleeping with a couple firm pillows under my right arm, along my side, so that the arm was propped up to the side of my body or a little higher when I slept. Because my shoulder was stable and not dropped onto the mattress, this seemed to take a lot of the pain in the joint. This has pretty much alleviated my shoulder pain. However, I sleep on my back so I'm not sure how this would work for side sleepers, however, I have trained my body to sleep on my back because arthritis has made sleeping in any other position uncomfortable.
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Thank you @rvgirl66, and I'm glad you've found a way to minimize shoulder pain while sleeping.
I had my left shoulder replaced in August 2025, 7 months ago. It was an anatomical TSR. For recovery, I had to learn to sleep propped up, with folded towels under my operated arm so the shoulder wouldn't sink to the mattress, exactly as you describe.
At first I found sleeping on my back nearly impossible. 7 months after surgery and I still start sleeping on my back and I still use the shoulder-support towels. Fortunately, I can now also sleep on either side, but I always start out on my back, propped up, and fall asleep very quickly.
The surgery was a huge success and all my shoulder pain is gone. I had no cartilage left and many, many arthritic spurs. At the end, it hurt every day.
I'm 71 and this is my fourth joint replacement (both knees, right hip as well). And I'm in the gym everyday and fit for an old guy. The joint replacements have been miraculous as far as pain relief.
Timing is the big question. My advice - don't wait until pain is everyday in a joint. If you trust your surgeon and they tell you the joint will need to be replaced at some point, just schedule the surgery when it is next most convenient for you. I waited too long and had to wait three months for surgery in a lot of pain. Bad idea and totally avoidable.
All the best to you and thanks for sharing your experience.
Joe