Shoulder Pain

How Modern Lifestyles Are Damaging Your Shoulder Health

If we were to name the one musculoskeletal component that is undergoing the most serious devolution, it would be the shoulders. We don’t use them much these days. Our world of motion has been squeezed into an invisible 3-by-4-foot box that hangs in midair directly in front of us, covering an area roughly from the mid-thighs to the armpits. We reach into it to answer the phone, adjust the radio, and unlock the car door. We do little else outside this box; we take it with us wherever we go.

Time-lapse photography would show that the box is getting smaller as the head comes forward, the shoulders round forward, and the spine takes on the shape of a letter C. In the final configuration, some of the muscles are shut down completely, while others are attempting to move joints that have been nearly immobilized by friction and biomechanical restrictions. Under these conditions, episodic shoulder pain is a warning: Don’t push the limits, stay in the box!

But what happens if you don’t change? Pain and swelling in the shoulder are symptoms of musculoskeletal misalignment. Some muscles and joints have distinctive pain signatures, but the shoulders do not. Constant or intermittent, sharp or numb, tingling, burning, or throbbing—the characteristics are varied. Frequently stiffness takes the place of pain.

Therefore, before you seek treatment for shoulder pain, it is necessary to get a rough idea of what the shoulder joint is doing in relation to the other load-bearing joints. Most people don’t realize it, but the shoulders are indeed load-bearing joints. They participate with the hips, knees, and ankles in supporting the full weight of the body. Get the body to work as a unit, and the shoulder pain disappears.

Towel Settle with Strap

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor pointed straight at hip width.
2. Place a strap around your thighs just above your knees, slightly wider than hip width.
*Relax your legs so your knees fall outward against the strap. Do not actively press into the strap.
3. Place a roll/towel under your low back (behind your belly-button) and under your neck.
4. Relax arms at 45 degrees from sides with palms facing up and breathe through the stomach/diaphragm.
5. Allow your body to settle on the rolls.
6. Stay in for 10 minutes.

FUN FACT

This E-cise helps to re-educate the spine of its natural “S” curve.

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