1) Sleep Posture

Sleep on your back, if possible. When you sleep on your side, you compress your shoulder joint. If your shoulder is out of position, you will compound the problem and the pain. When you sleep on you stomach, you tend to keep one arm above you head. While this might not be painful or bad for your shoulder for a little while, doing this for 6-8 straight ours can irritate your rotator cuff.

2) Ice

I get the question all the time, “What should I do when my shoulder hurts?” Ice it. The reason that your shoulder hurts is swelling in the joint and tightness in the muscles and the other structures in and around the joint. You may never see that swelling and tightness, but I can assure you that it is there. The first thing to try for pain is to put ice on that shoulder. Put the ice on for 15 minutes, right over the pain and multiple times a day (at least 3 times a day). The ice should not contact the skin directly. Also, use a 3 to 1 ratio of ice to no ice. If you leave the ice on for 15 minutes, leave the ice off the shoulder for 45 minutes before reapplying it.

3) Sitting Posture

Is sitting the new smoking? Not exactly, but sitting at a desk, on a couch, or driving for prolonged periods of time is bad for your shoulders. When we sit, bad things happen. We tend to round our shoulders and slump out of position. If you sit in this position for a long period of time, you may end up with shoulder pain. To improve your sitting posture, gently tighten your stomach, slightly raise your chest, and lightly hold your shoulders back. Move more. If possible, get a desk that is adjustable and try to stand for 15 minutes of every hour. If an adjustable desk is not possible, try to get up and walk and/or stand for part of every hour.

4) Flexibility

Maintain normal flexibility in you shoulder. 3 times a day set aside time for a simple and short movement routine for your shoulder and neck. Gently and repeatedly move your shoulders and neck through their full range of motion. Once this can be done comfortably, without pain, add some flexibility exercises to your movement routine.

5) Breathing

Yes, we all breathe, but most of us don’t breathe correctly. Poor breathing habits promote bad posture. Bad posture leads to shoulder pain. Focus on three things. One, only breathe through your nose. Two, tighten your stomach muscles a bit. Three slightly lift your chest up. These three things will automatically improve your posture and will immediately help with shoulder alignment. If you want to improve your breathing and posture further, set aside 5-10 minutes for structured breathing. Count to 5 on your inhale and 5 on your exhale. Gradually increase the time as you see fit. This simple exercise increases the strength of your diaphragm, further improving your posture.

6) Physiotherapy

We have 10+ years of getting patients back to the lifestyle they want and need. Return To Sport Physio will provide the unique path you require to eliminate and prevent neck pain. Contact us for a free discovery visit.

Note: Insurance companies do not and will not provide payment for the hands on type of treatment, and wellness instruction that you need to end neck pain as fast as you would hope. Disappointing, but true.