Rounded shoulders are a sign of bad posture and about 72% of the population has rounded shoulders. It is a natural consequence that led our population to this deformity. As we live our day, we spend most of the time looking forward either on computers, books, and even while driving. Round shoulders are common to people with sitting jobs.
There is nothing to be ashamed about if you are experiencing round shoulders and there is no need to go to a physiotherapist to improve your posture. You can do all that just by following our instructions mentioned below. Verified physiotherapist prescribed these instructions, so no need to worry and in no time you will get rid of those rounded shoulders.
You know that Round or Hunched shoulders are bad for posture but you don’t know that it could also cause various health problems. When we have round shoulders, it affects our chest muscles as they contract and tighten themselves. Continuous contraction and tightness in chest muscles cause breathing issues and chronic pain.
Read on to learn more about which kinds of activities that lead to hunched or round shoulders and How to sleep to fix rounded shoulders.
Causes of hunched or round shoulders?
Variety of reasons that affect the poor posture of human beings. Most people are affected due to their daily tasks and others have some medical conditions. According to experts, smartphones and laptops rise the cases of round shoulders, neck pain and it is most common among students. Staring down at a smartphone for long periods of time causes rounded shoulders, neck, and back pain.
Also, people with sitting jobs and truck drivers are been showing cases of round shoulders. Lest check out what Daily tasks that may contribute to rounded shoulders:
- using a smartphone or tablet
- using a computer or laptop
- sitting for long periods
- driving a vehicle
- bending over repeatedly
- carrying heavy objects all-day
These are other medical problems that could lead to hunched or rounded shoulders:
- scoliosis – sideways curvature of the spine
- kyphosis – forward curvature of the spine
- Spine or Neck injuries
- Overweight – Causes your shoulders and upper back forward.
- Muscle imbalance – tight chest muscles and poor back muscles.
If you are in one of the categories, we can fix your rounded shoulders. Read to learn about sleep position to diagnose rounded shoulders.
How to sleep to fix rounded shoulders?
Depending on the cause and the condition of your shoulders, treatment can range from stretching, exercise, or surgery. But, if you are going through any procedure you have sleep at night and a bad posture for 8 hours a night if not good for your health. Stretching or exercise is recommended by the doctors to boost your posture and get rid of rounded or hunched shoulders.
Sleep position plays an important role in recovering from any health problem. But generally, there are three positions all human beings sleep. And our goal is to modify these sleep positions to increase to recovery ratio.
Do You Sleep on Your Back?
Sleep experts refer to this as the supine position and this Back-sleeping has its advantages and disadvantages.
- Lower back pain – Spine, neck remain neutral but butt sinks in and arch your lower spine.
- Sleep apnea – Serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
- Reduce heartburn – Head and chest remains an elevated position, so it reduce heartburn.
- Low acid reflux – when our stomach is lower than the esophagus, our food and acid doest crawl back to the digestive tract when we sleep.
- Remove Neck Pain – Neck remains in a neutral position with the help of a pillow.
- Ease shoulders stress – best position to remove any shoulder or back pain issues.
There are two ways you can modify this sleep position and fix your rounded shoulders.
Methods to fix rounded shoulders while sleeping :
- Add a flat pillow below your neck, just that your head can rest back and your chin tucked, this way you will have a better spinal position. Your pillow should be flat, if it a large pillow your neck is at an elevated position and you will have hunched shoulders all night. You have to choose the pillow carefully so that your upper body is not elevated to the rest of your body.
- For the second method, you need three pillows. Add two pillows over one another and a third pillow forward it. Lie down with your shoulders resting on a single pillow and your neck rested on two pillows. This enhances the stretch on your chest while sleeping, it is the best technique to fix rounded shoulders while sleeping.
Do you sleep on either side?
It’s not possible to sleep in one position, people often changes sleep position. Some people prefer sleeping on the right and some on the left side. Side sleeping has its advantages and disadvantages
- Shoulder Pain – All weight of the teg body is passed on to one shoulder. It causes numbness and pain in the shoulders.
- Neck pain – Neck does not remain in a neutral position while sleeping, it lasts stays on either side and it causes serious pain.
- Boost Digestion
- Improve heart rate – Sleeping on the left side puts less pressure on your heart and it can easily pump blood throughout your body.
Method to fix rounded shoulders while sleeping :
When we sleep on our side, all our body weight is focused on shoulders. The result of that causes rounded shoulders and shoulder pain. To avoid this there is a certain method you can use to modify your side sleeping position and to ease that shoulders pain.
You need two pillows for this method.
- The first pillow should be placed below your neck. Lie down on the side ( left or right) on your pillow and adjust your neck to make it comfortable.
- Take the next pillow and place it on the side of your chest.
- When you do this, you will create a canal for the shoulder to dive in and release unwanted stress from the shoulder.
- When you perform this position, you will not have shoulder pain or you will get rid of rounded shoulders.
Do you sleep on your stomach?
If your favorite sleep position is sleeping on the stomach and we have some good news and bad news for you.
Let’s start with good news, this sleep position does not affect and promote rounded shoulders. In this position, your shoulders are stress-free and your shoulder muscles are fully relaxed. There is nothing modification you need to make your sleep position that will promote fixing rounded shoulders.
The bad news is that this is the worst position for you to sleep. Let’s check out the advantages and disadvantages of stomach sleeping.
- Back Pain – Causes strain on your back and spine.
- Neck Pain – Causes neck pain due to long-term elevation of the neck from the rest of the body.
- Snoring – If you have a history of snoring, to reduce this you can sleep in this position.
If you are curious about what stomach sleeping is affecting your health :
Rounded shoulders a something that you don’t want to ignore and before it becomes something serious, you should consider a verified physiotherapist. If you have any further questions, related to How to Sleep to Fix Rounded Shoulders you could use the comments section.