Why do I have Shoulder Pain all of a sudden?
This is one of the most common questions I get asked when I see patients:
“Why did my shoulder pain start without me even doing anything to set it off?”
Normally, there tends to be some sort of injury occurrence that sets off shoulder pain, such as a fall onto your hands or shoulder or even braking hard in the car that the shoulder jolts forward, can set off shoulder pain
Let’s understand a little more about the shoulder first.
As far as joints go, the shoulder joint is probably the most mobile joint in the body. Think just for a minute about how often every minute of every day that we do something with our hands, arms and shoulders. It’s quite a lot, isn’t it?
This means then that is not very stable, which means that sometimes it’s easy for your shoulder joint to easily go into positions that can cause stress on the muscles around it.
The shoulder joint relies a lot on its muscles, tendons and ligaments to support it. Unfortunately these muscle tendons often pass through very small gaps between the bones and therefore can rub and wear down over time.
So, what is the cause of the pain?
It is generally an irritation of the muscle tendon, which when going back to the cause is down to your POSTURE!
One common way this injury occurs is simply by sitting at a desk, the arms reach forwards and round the shoulders forwards.
Although such a seemingly simple activity, over time this repetitive movement can lead to your shoulders experiencing pain. Even reaching to pick something up, like a book or even a small child becomes more difficult.
So how do you limit the chances of this happening?
Well the answer is quite simple really… You check your position.
If you notice you have to stretch quite far forward to reach the keyboard, simply move your keyboard closer so that your elbow is at a 90 degree level and you can type comfortably.
Another way is to simply hold your shoulders back slightly. I bet you have noticed that towards the end of the day you slump more and your shoulders become rounded?
One problem with this position is that your shoulder blades aren’t working properly. The muscles around the shoulder blades aren’t doing their job as well as they should so they don’t look after your shoulder joint like they should.
Now, if you’re currently suffering with pain, and you want to get back to golf or tennis, be able to pick up your child or grandchild, or whatever it is that you may love doing then don’t worry…
…Physiotherapy is the first port of call for you!
The physiotherapist will be able to assess, properly diagnose and treat your injury, giving you the advice you need to get you back doing exactly what you want to quicker!
If should pain is bothering you right now and you’d like to discover how to ease it quickly… Click here to instantly download your free shoulder pain report:
Neck Pain and Shoulder Pain