Before we offer 3 basic actions you can take to prevent your shoulder problems, we just want to make it clear that I will be leaving the ultimate solution off this list.
That’s because the ultimate solution is to stop sitting at a desk for 30+ hours a week.
99% of all shoulder injuries have their roots in chronic postural changes.
Slouching forward over time drops your spine, ribs and shoulder blades forward which puts huge stress and strain on the shoulders soft tissues.
Desk workers are predisposed to shoulder injuries the way smokers are predisposed to breathing problems … that’s life.
All this being said – we know that you do need to put food on the table – so we will leave this point right here and give you some slightly more practical solutions than quitting your job.
This step alone is usually a game changer for most chiropractic patients with shoulder pain.
Narrow your grip while doing all ‘pressing’ movements at the gym!!!
Especially shoulder press!!! The wide grip that we tend to take on a bar puts unnatural strain on the shoulders when pressing.
A narrow grip taken with 2 dumbbells… holding the elbows closer to the body makes the shoulder move with less stress to the soft tissues.
On machines choose the narrowest grip options and keep your elbows and arms more compact … you’ll be stronger and have less pain.
This step alone is usually a game changer for most chiropractic patients with shoulder pain.
Narrow your grip while doing all ‘pressing’ movements at the gym!!!
Especially shoulder press!!! The wide grip that we tend to take on a bar puts unnatural strain on the shoulders when pressing.
A narrow grip taken with 2 dumbbells… holding the elbows closer to the body makes the shoulder move with less stress to the soft tissues.
On machines choose the narrowest grip options and keep your elbows and arms more compact … you’ll be stronger and have less pain.
Stick your chest out while you work.
Part of the postural change that so many of us suffer with and that leads to shoulder injuries is a slightly sunken chest.
Imagine in your mind’s eye the classic teenage posture… the sunken chest is super obvious in teens – but most of us do a bit of it.
The remedy is to gently push your sternum forward and drop our shoulder blades a centimeter or two down your back.
When it’s time to move weights around at the gym give at least half your awareness and attention to having a big chest and low shoulder blades.
It can be a slightly self-conscious feeling at first – but you are a big boy/girl now and you can handle that.
Use the mirror in gym to see how different you look when you focus on this postural adjustment.
Stick your chest out while you work.
Part of the postural change that so many of us suffer with and that leads to shoulder injuries is a slightly sunken chest.
Imagine in your mind’s eye the classic teenage posture… the sunken chest is super obvious in teens – but most of us do a bit of it.
The remedy is to gently push your sternum forward and drop our shoulder blades a centimeter or two down your back.
When it’s time to move weights around at the gym give at least half your awareness and attention to having a big chest and low shoulder blades.
It can be a slightly self-conscious feeling at first – but you are a big boy/girl now and you can handle that.
Use the mirror in gym to see how different you look when you focus on this postural adjustment.
Get your ribs manipulated by an expert.
Close to 100 percent of people with stubborn shoulder pain have become locked up in their upper ribs where they tuck in behind the shoulder blade.
Many of whom actually feel an annoying tight or painful sense of a knot in behind the shoulder blade.
Many however don’t feel anything in that area but are still locked up there – and they experience great relief once it is worked on.
Too much sitting in the wrong alignment leads the ribs to lock over time which cripples the rotator cuff.
A simple rib adjustment in most cases leads to immediate increase in comfort and range of motion in the shoulder.
For some it borders on seeming miraculous that years of limitation can vanish in a moment. we would argue though that it isn’t particularly miraculous.
If you had left a splinter in your finger for 6 months and we came along and got it out for you – you could easily feel a sense of immediate relief.
Adjusting ribs isn’t much different – because it’s an immediate physical release within the body.
Whether you’re a chiropractic person and have chiropractors work on you or you prefer physiotherapy, massage or osteopaths – basic principles will help you to avoid the whole lot of us much more often… which let’s face it – is the whole idea behind successful pain relief.
Give us a call at City Chiropractic on 04 385 6446 to make an appointment now.
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