If you’ve been battling shoulder problems for weeks (or months), praying that it will magically heal itself, or you’re sick of being told to rest and take medication…
And you’re fed up with those agonizing shooting pains whenever you are carrying the shopping, playing with the grandchildren or exercising.
This blog is for YOU!
Here is some expert advice and practical tips about the most common shoulder problem and how to fix it.
Plus, we give you a natural way to ease shoulder pain that you can do at home if you are suffering right now!
The Most Common Shoulder Problem – Rotator Cuff Injury
In clinic, the most common shoulder problem that we see would be a rotator cuff injury. These injuries are usually caused by trauma—incidents such as a road traffic accident or a fall—or overuse (really the word overuse just means using the shoulder the wrong way).
Another common cause (due to the pandemic and the increase in working at home) is that more people are visiting our clinics with a rotator cuff injury because they are sitting in a slouched posture at home for much longer periods of time—this places repetitive strain on the muscles and tendons within the shoulder region.
Do I Have A Rotator Cuff Injury?
If you have shoulder pain, and you think it could be related to a rotator cuff injury, the most common symptoms are that the pain occurs when the arm is raised above shoulder height (either in front of you, or to the side). Typically, we do this when we are taking things out of kitchen cabinets or putting shopping bags in the trunk of the car.
Another time that a rotator cuff injury will create pain is if you are reaching behind you. We typically do this when we are reaching for something in the back seat of the car while facing forward or tucking in our shirts in the back of our pants.
It can, also, cause pain when pouring a cup or raising your arm to the side of your body while getting dressed.
These shoulder positions will be painful as the tendons in the shoulder are being pinched between the top of the Humerus (upper arm bone) and the bony arch above it, and could lead to fraying or tearing of the musculature of the shoulder joint.
Other symptoms could be difficulty moving the arm, weakness in the shoulder, and an increasing pain when laying on the affected shoulder or putting weight through the arm to get up from lying down.
Exercises To Help Avoid The Most Common Shoulder Problem
If you are suffering with shoulder pain, it may be beneficial to improve the strength and stability of the shoulder joint.
Some simple exercises that you can do at home to decrease the pain and improve your ability to move without pain that you could try are pendulums and some isometrics.
1. Pendulums are done in a bent over position and are essentially passive, where you use gravity to allow the arm to swing in a circle. This allows the arm to be distracted slightly in the joint which improves the flow of fluid in and out of the joint—essentially loosening up the joint and releasing your body’s own pain killing chemicals into the joint. To do this correctly, see the picture below
2. Isometrics are strengthening exercises where the muscle stays at the same length. These are great for rotator cuff injuries because the rotator cuff essentially functions to hold the shoulder together by keeping the humerus in the socket. By doing isometrics, you will be re-educating the rotator cuff to do its job correctly. We suggest doing shoulder external rotation, shoulder internal rotation, and shoulder extension isometrics to best hit the most important causes of your rotator cuff pain as pictured
Internal Rotation Isometrics
Squeeze the ball with your elbows pinned to your side, hold for 6 seconds and repeat that for 10 repetitions. Work up to 3 sets per session. You should only squeeze hard enough to feel a good contraction, but no pain.
External Rotation isometrics
Push out against a belt with your elbows pinned to the side. Hold for 6 seconds for 10 repetitions and work up to 3 sets per session using the same procedure as the internal rotations
Extension Isometrics
Push your elbows back into the wall hard enough that you feel your shoulder blades squeeze together. Again, Hold for 6 seconds and repeat for 10 repetitions and work up to 3 sets per session.
Using exercises like this will help to ensure that the muscles that hold the shoulder in place strong, and reduces the chance of issues in the future.
You should be avoiding any heavy, repetitive overhead movements (don’t stop reaching up entirely, but too much could be a cause of the pain). Definitely, keep the shoulder joint moving frequently, as this helps the joint stay mobile, nourished and slows down the degenerative aging process.
A GREAT Natural Way To Ease Shoulder Pain
A lot of patients in our clinic want to ease their shoulder pain WITHOUT painkillers, because they are concerned about the impact of strong painkillers on their health.
Using an ice pack (or a bag of frozen peas) is an effective, and natural way to ease shoulder pain. When icing your shoulder, make sure to limit the time to 15 minutes, but do it frequently (3-4 times a day at a minimum). Be sure to wrap the ice pack in a towel so it’s not in direct contact with your skin.
More Natural Ways To End Shoulder Pain
At Empire Sports Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, we also have a variety of other natural ways to end shoulder pain available to you, for FREE, which you can access online, or by visiting our Valley Cottage Clinic.
Free Shoulder Pain Report
Get your copy of our free shoulder pain report written by our founder, David Stedjan, which explains:
The 5 Essential Tips To Keep Your Shoulder Healthy and Pain-Free…and Working, Cooking and Going to The Gym!
Click Here To Download Your Free Shoulder Pain Report
Free Discovery Visit
If you’ve been suffering with this annoying shoulder pain for weeks, or even months, and things are getting worse – it probably not going to fix itself is it?
We have worked with hundreds of patients with shoulder problems who can’t pick up their grandchildren, struggle to drive without pain, and get agonizing aches when they’re doing chores around the house.
With our Help, those patients can, now, move freely, don’t need to rely on painkillers and can easily do their day-to-day activities.
In this FREE Discovery Visit, you will get expert advice about the worry and frustration of your life-changing aches and pains – for FREE, in under 30 minutes.
To discover how you can FINALLY fix your shoulder problems…
Arrange a free Discovery Visit by calling us on 845-675-8444 or click the link below:
Click Here To Arrange Your Free Discovery Visit
Other Free Resources
If you want to read more of our informative blogs, click the link below: Click Here To Read More Of Our Physical Therapy Blog Articles
Click Here To Read –What’s Going On With My Shoulder?
Click Here To Read – I Have Pain From An Injury, What Do I Do Now?
We also have free, downloadable reports for people with Back Pain, Knee Pain, Neck Pain, Foot and Ankle Pain, or Shoulder Pain
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