Health blog Category: Shoulder Pain
Strengthening Weak Shoulders
Repetitive overuse of muscles in your shoulders can lead to irritation of tendons. Some examples of common repetitive activities include:
- Gardening
- Yard work
- Throwing a baseball with your kids
- Carrying or lifting things
Shoulder irritation and discomfort can also be a result of falls, forceful contact with a person or object, or other sports related injuries.
Protecting and strengthening your shoulders:
- Keep your shoulder aligned: The number one reason for injury and pain in your shoulders is from poor posture.
When Washing Our Hair is Uncomfortable…
Shoulder discomfort such as, general tightness, achiness, sharp pain with specific movements, or inability to lift the weight of our arm comfortably or at all may limit our ability to do everyday things. We may have trouble doing things such as reach an overhead shelf, wash our hair, reach behind our back to tuck in our shirt, or even lift something simple like a grocery bag or throw a ball at practice. However, physical therapy could help to reduce that pain and discomfort you may be experiencing.
Read full blogHaving Trouble Lifting Your Arm to Brush Your Hair?
Some of the most common ailments related to the shoulder include tight/overworked muscles, tendonitis, impingement and, joint stiffness. All of these can cause pain, weakness, and decrease ability to perform everyday activities. It can limit our ability to get dressed because it may be difficult to raise your arms in order to pull a shirt over your head and brush your own hair.
Common Causes of Shoulder Injury
- Traumatic injury/dislocation
- Poor shoulder mechanics
- Post Surgery Posture, and muscle use imbalances can contribute to micro trauma and tendinitis, spasm, or the development of trigger points of the shoulder muscles.
Protect Your Shoulder when Swimming and Gardening
More and more of us are planning to spend an increased amount of time outdoors. This also means that we need to be more cognizant of our bodies when participating in outside activities such as gardening and swimming. It is important to protect your shoulder when enjoying outdoor activities such as swimming and gardening this summer.
Some common injuries that are associated with the shoulder is due to overuse or improper lifting techniques. A great example is when working outside in the yard or swimming for competition or everyday exercise during the summer months. Whether it’s picking up heavy bags of mulch or planting flowers, or preparing for the upcoming swimmers meet, it is important to be mindful of your body mechanics as well as repetitive movements.
Trouble Turning the Steering Wheel while Driving?
“My shoulder is killing me! I can’t even get my arm up to wash my hair!” Shoulder pain, whether it be sharp and stabbing, or dull and achy, causes a significant amount of discomfort and inability to perform everyday activities. It can make it difficult to reach in the overhead cabinets while cooking or putting away dishes and turning the steering wheel while driving.
The shoulder is a complex region of the body made up of three joints, four muscles of the rotator cuff (a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint that keeps the head of your upper arm bone firmly within the shallow socket of the shoulder) and over 10 other muscles that attach around the bones/joints that make up the shoulder.
Trouble Turning the Steering Wheel while Driving?
“My shoulder is killing me! I can’t even get my arm up to wash my hair!” Shoulder pain, whether it be sharp and stabbing, or dull and achy, causes a significant amount of discomfort and inability to perform everyday activities. It can make it difficult to reach in the overhead cabinets while cooking or putting away dishes and turning the steering wheel while driving.
The shoulder is a complex region of the body made up of three joints, four muscles of the rotator cuff (a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint that keeps the head of your upper arm bone firmly within the shallow socket of the shoulder) and over 10 other muscles that attach around the bones/joints that make up the shoulder.
Trouble Lifting Our Arm
The shoulder is a common region in which people complain of pain and discomfort and trouble lifting their arm. Shoulder discomfort and pain can commonly affect our ability to get a good nights’ sleep, carry groceries, shower, wash clothes, reach into overhead cabinets, and to tuck in our shirt.
Don’t let shoulder discomfort and pain limit you these activities or anything else!
Minor inflammation or minor tears can become worsened if aggravating factors are not addressed and prevent you from playing tennis, reaching that plate from the upper cabinet or scratching that itch in the middle of your back. The sooner treatment is initiated, the better.
Shoulder Discomfort Effecting Your Sleep?
The shoulder is a common region in which people complain of pain and discomfort. Shoulder discomfort and pain can commonly affect your ability to get a good nights’ sleep, carry groceries, shower, wash clothes, reach into overhead cabinets, and to tuck in your shirt. Don’t let your shoulder discomfort and pain limit you from these activities or anything else you enjoy doing.
Minor inflammation or minor tears can become worsened if aggravating factors are not addressed and prevent you from playing tennis, reaching that plate from the upper cabinet or scratching that itch in the middle of your back. The sooner treatment is initiated, the better.
Shoulder Joint Discomfort and Common Causes
Shoulder joint discomfort and pain can restrict you from doing simple ordinary everyday tasks such as washing your hair, reaching into cabinets, doing laundry or washing the dishes. Perhaps you are no longer able to throw a ball with your kids or participate in any sports because of shoulder joint discomfort or pain. Common movements such as:
- Wear and tear from poor lifting mechanics and poor posture,
- Overuse without proper conditioning, like bench-pressing or golfing,
- Overhead activities, like throwing a ball or painting walls,
- Tackling sports, like football or wrestling,
- Repetitive movements like lift/holding a child; and
- Your dog pulling you with his leash
- Falling and breaking the fall with arms
Put you at risk for shoulder joint discomfort and pain and may lead to shoulder joint damage. If you keep pushing through these symptoms you may make the injury worse or even larger and it may begin to limit your ability to *reach behind your back to tuck in your shirt, *drive a car, or even *lift something simple like a grocery bag; or *throw a ball at practice.
Read full blogHow many times a day do we have to reach overhead?
By Rachel Herrmann, DPT
The shoulder is a complex region of the body made up of three joints, four muscles of the rotator cuff and over 10 other muscles that attach around the bones/joints that make up the shoulder. This means there has to be a lot of body parts in good working condition in order to have a healthy and happy shoulder.
One common shoulder issue is called impingement. This is when the muscles of the rotator cuff become subjected to repeated pinching in between the rounded head of the humerus bone and the acromion process, a bony prominence from the shoulder blade that forms a roof over top of the ball and socket joint.
