SHOULDER PAIN TIP 2

“ How Improper Rehab and Weight Training Can Ruin Your Shoulder”

If you look around at most people lifting in the gym, you may notice that they focus on working the muscles on the front of their body.  Bench presses, lat pull-downs, bicep curls, and shoulder presses all lead to forward rounded shoulders. Here at Watertown Chiropractic we help correct these postural faults through proper training of key muscles.

First thing you need to do is evaluate your posture.  You can either look in the mirror or have someone take a picture of you from the side.  Your posture from the side should have the ears, shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles all line up.  Generally, most people who have shoulder pain have slumped shoulders and forward head posture.  These two problems create tremendous amounts of stress on the shoulder joint.

Try an experiment on yourself.  Take your neck and jut it forward.  Next, take your shoulders and round them forward.  Now raise one of your arms (one that has no pain) out over your head as high as you can go.  In most people they can only get their arm to shoulder height.  Now take your neck and bring your head into a neutral and upright position (chin retracted).  Then take your shoulders and bring them back into a neutral position.  Now raise your good arm overhead.  You should notice that you can now clear shoulder level and maybe be able to touch your biceps next to your head. 

This is a demonstration of how posture plays a big role in the cause of most shoulder problems.  My recommendation to you if you have been having shoulder issues is to work on stretching the chest muscles (pectoral muscle group) and strengthen the shoulder retractors.  If you click below, you’ll find a link that will get you started on how to stretch out your shoulder girdle to help alleviate your shoulder pain.

Now, if any of the stretches hurt, STOP immediately.  You need to get your shoulder evaluated for what may be causing the pain.  Remember, stretches can help correct some of the daily stresses you may put on your shoulder, but they do not correct or remove scar tissue that has formed on the shoulder. 

Dr. Bryan Dingsor is the owner of Watertown Chiropractic P.C. in Watertown, SD.  He specializes in the treatment of many musculoskeletal conditions and weight loss.  For an appointment, please call 605-882-2304 Today.