Sleeping after shoulder surgery: I had surgeries on both of my shoulders, separately, several years ago. Bone spurs, torn rotator cuff, frayed biceps tendon. We bought a recliner since that was supposedly the best/only way to sleep after shoulder surgery. Not!!! I found it to be much more comfortable to sleep in my bed, with lots and lots of little pillows strategically placed to elevate/stabilize the shoulder. With chronic back problems, this was a much better solution all around. The one drawback was that I had to re-arrange my pillow fort after turning over and reaching for the Oxycodone and water every 4 hours.