Shoulder pain can really slow down most of your daily life. Things like reaching or lifting overhead, doing pushups, washing your back, putting on a coat, and even sleeping can be seriously limited. There are 3 main types of shoulder injuries:
- Shoulder impingement
- Shoulder instability
- Tendon strain/tear
Today we’re going to talk about impingement. Shoulder impingement happens when the muscles and tendons in the front of the shoulder get compressed. This is usually due to poor posture. Shoulders rounded forward puts the shoulder in a position that causes this compression when reaching across your body or overhead. Fortunately, this can be corrected with a couple easy exercises:
Pec stretch
Pec stretching stretches out the muscles in the front of your chest. These muscles can get tight from sitting with your shoulders rounded forwarded. Once they get tight, they can limit the ability of your shoulders to move correctly, compressing on the rotator cuff tendons.
Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and do it 3 times on each side. Do this twice a day for maximal effect.
Prone T
Prone T’s help you strengthen the muscles between your shoulder blades. This makes it easier to get out of and avoid the shoulders rounded forward position, helping you maintain the flexibility you gained from stretching your pecs. And you don’t need to lie on a fancy table like this video shows. You can do this lying on the edge of your bed, a gym bench, or even on the floor. The most important part is getting your elbows as high off the floor as possible Hold for 5 seconds at the top and then return to the start position. Start with 2 sets of 10 every other day and work up to 3 sets of 10.
Neither of the exercises above should make you hurt more. If they do, or if you’ve tried these and you’re still hurting, there’s still hope! Shoulder pain can be frustrating to fix on your own. At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we’re experts at treating shoulder pain. We can discover why you’re still hurting and help you overcome it.
Call our office at 703-299-3111, or click here and a member of our team will schedule you an evaluation with one of our expert physical therapists.
Helping you live your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
