Shoulder Injuries – Tips, Advice

img : patch.com


Shoulder Injuries – Tips, Advice
Shoulder pain is one of the most common ailment that may be caused due to a bad posture, mechanical contract stress, static loading at one position for a long duration, extreme temperature exposure, poor lifestyle, a minor injury/ trauma or an underlying health condition.
Though it best to see an orthopaedic surgeon if you have shoulder pain, here are some exercise tips and advice that you need to follow to help you with minor injuries:
Exercise Tips
  • Pulling exercises: Pulling instead of pushing can help you save from shoulder injuries. Pushing exercises strengthen your chest but, stiffens up your back muscles. This strains your shoulders in the long run. You must focus on pulling down your shoulder blades to encourage a good posture.
  • Push ups: Bench presses are one of the worst exercises that can induce shoulder injuries. Try doing the natural push ups instead to impart strength to your shoulder muscles (like the serratus anterior).
  • Targeting the thoracic spine: If you have a stiff thoracic spine, you would be required doing exercises like cat- camel, side lying diagonal reach, t- spine extension on a foam roller and quadrupled t- spine extension.
To determine whether you have a stiff thoracic spine, take your right hand at the back of your neck, down to your upper back and try joining it with the left hand from below. If you are unable to create a lock, then you have a stiff thoracic spine.
  • Strengthening the rotators: Rotator cuff injuries are one of the most common reasons of shoulder pain. To avoid rotator cuff injuries, you can engage yourself in exercises like reverse fly, cable external rotations, doorway stretch, lawn mower pull, high to low rows and side lying external rotations.  
Posture Tips
Develop a better posture habit. Your shoulders should always be in a relaxed position.
  • While sitting: our lower back should be given a firm support, feet should be placed flat on the floor or over a stable footrest and your hands should be in line with your forearms. If you experience fatigue, you must not slouch as it can worsen the strain on your shoulders and back.
  • While sleeping: Sleep on the side opposite to the affected shoulder. You may also sleep straight with a small pillow being placed beneath your injured shoulder.
Important Shoulder Pain Advice
  • Breaks at definite intervals: You must always ensure that you steal at least a one minute break after every 30 minutes of constant working. During this break, try doing some stretching, shaking off your arms and legs, exercising your neck and relaxing your head and eyes. Extend the break time to at least 10 minutes after every 2-3 hours.
  • Giving relief: If you experience shoulder pain, use shoulder pain relieving techniques like icing and massaging on the affected area. Give enough rest to your shoulders to recover faster from a shoulder injury. Cross fibre friction massage can help eliminate scar tissue formation and swelling.
  • Rearranging your workspace: If you have started experiencing shoulder problems, but, can’t ignore the office loads, then it’s best to bring some modifications to your workspace.
  • The top of your computer screen should sit just below your eye level and the screen should be placed at the centre.
  • Try installing an adjustable keyboard and a mouse tray. You may also switch the placing of the mouse on the side opposite to the affected shoulder.
  • Keep tools and supplies within reach.
When to see a doctor?
If you experience shoulder pain that doesn’t go away with the usual exercises and pain relieving techniques, then you must not delay seeking help from an orthopaedic surgeon. A pain or a deep ache in your shoulders, swelling, difficulty raising arm and difficulty sleeping on the affected side, are signs that indicate a severe shoulder injury. Shoulder pain if left untreated can impact your daily routine, which shall get very uncomfortable in the long run.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are for informational purposes only and the contents or, the linked materials on this blog are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If the reader experiences a medical concern, we highly recommend consulting a licensed medical practitioner or a health care provider, without any further delay.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best Treatment Options for Shoulder Instability

Image
Shoulder instability is often caused due to a sudden injury or when you force your shoulders to do some heavy or extra work for prolonged periods of time. Your Orthopaedic Doctor may diagnose you with shoulder instability through an MRI scan which will point that the “upper arm bone have been misaligned/subluxated with the shoulder socket”. Such a condition can limit your range of motion and, if left untreated, it can increase your chances of shoulder arthritis. Not one size fits all and here are some of the best treatment options currently available for orthopaedic conditions such as Shoulder Instability: Non-Surgical Treatments – Shoulder discomfort and shoulder pain that are caused due to shoulder instability maybe treated with non-surgical methods as the first line of treatment. Here, your Orthopaedic Doctor will recommend certain activity modifications such as changes in lifestyle. To relieve pain and swelling, your doctor will also prescribe certain anti-...
Read more

What To Expect When You Are Facing Knee Replacement Surgery- Pre Surgery Requirements and Post Surgery Recovery

Knee surgery is a daunting procedure that removes the damaged area of the knee joint and replaces it with an artificial joint. By doing this, the procedure looks to reduce severe pain mainly caused by osteoarthritis. In an effort to make the process as pain free and relaxed as possible it is wise to be thoroughly prepared both physically and mentally and to know what is expected of you during the recovery process. To prepare for knee replacement surgery you should initially take into consideration your physical fitness and where you could improve in this area. A good level of physical fitness will ensure a faster recovery time and will also help with the use of crutches and physiotherapy. It is also a good idea to learn what kind of physiotherapy exercises will be required of you and to start practicing these movements. This will make the recovery therapy much easier and less stressful. If you are a smoker, it is also a good idea to quit or cut down on smoking before the surgery...
Read more

Swollen Knee – Causes and Care

Image
Many call it as ‘water on the knee’, or, a ‘knee joint effusion’– a swollen knee is a very common problem that can affect anybody, especially if you are above 40 years of age or, in cases of accidental injuries. A swollen knee feels like a sponge and is caused by excessive fluid accumulation around your knee joints. If a swollen knee doesn’t go away with the RICE therapy, it’s highly recommended that you visit an Orthopaedic Surgeon at the earliest. Causes Your knee is covered by a joint capsule that is nourished and lubricated by synovial fluid. When your knees get injured, there is excess fluid build-up in this capsule, which causes your knees to swell. Your knee can either swell up immediately after an injury, or, the process of swelling can proceed gradually. Reasons of rapid swelling after an injury: Ligament Tear – In this case, quite usually, your Anterior Cruciate Ligament (or, ACL) ruptures. Along with swelling, you will also experience pain and los...
Read more