Blog

Acute Shoulder Pain – Why Does it happen?

21/08/2019

At Rai chiropractic, our primary focus is the overall health and wellness of the spine, nervous system and the peripheral function of our bodies. One of the most common complaints we hear as Chiropractic Doctors is about shoulder pain or discomfort. However, almost every time we ask our patients ‘what happened?’ the answer is, ‘well nothing’. The discomfort or pain within the shoulder stems from no major incident, no accident or fall that has caused injury to the joints or spine. This leaves us with the question, why do so many people experience acute shoulder pain?

Of course, the pain and discomfort could stem from imbalances within the spine, causing your nervous system to signal pain or discomfort as a sign that something is wrong. But more often then not, the shoulder pain comes from simply, not using the joint and muscles to their potential.

Our shoulder consists of a ball and socket joint, which is one of the most versatile joints and allows us to move our shoulder in six different motions. That is right, six different motions! This is significantly more movement than most of the joints in our body which are restricted to about 2 or 3 motions. Unfortunately, in today’s society we limit our bodies by sitting at desks all day, arms out in front of us, muscles and joints hardly ever getting fully utilized to their fullest potential.  We have all heard the phrase, if you don’t use it you lost it!

So how do we prevent acute shoulder pain?

Move! Utilize your body to its fullest capacity, build strength and agility in your shoulders through exercising and stretching the right muscles and ligaments. Light weightlifting and bodyweight exercises that focus on building the shoulder strength will also decrease the probability of a future shoulder injury and acute shoulder pain.

Here are some great stretches and exercises that will help keep those shoulder healthy:

• Windmills
  • Stand with your feet hip-width apart, tall alert spine, reaching out through the top of your head.
  • Extend your arms out parallel to the ground.
  • Begin making large circular motions with your arms for 1 – 2 minutes.
  • Reverse direction for 1 – 2 minutes.
• Wall angels
  • Stand up against the wall with your back on the wall. Feet hip-width distance apart and heels as close to the wall as possible.
  • Extend your arms out elbows with a 90-degree bend and elbow parallel to the ground, palm of the hands facing outward
  • Engage your core and begin to straighten your arms up and overhead, then back down to 90 degrees.
  • Continue this motion for 2-3 minutes.
• Pec Stretch
  • Find a doorframe or open wall space and stand about ½ a foot away from the wall
  • Bending your arm at 90 degrees and placing your forearm on the wall, shoulder relaxed
  • Begin to apply a small amount of pressure by stepping forward, till you feel a stretch across your pec region
  • Hold for 30 seconds
  • Repeat on the other side

Who is Rai Chiropractic?

We are a Langley-based Chiropractic Clinic that focuses on the well-being and health of our patients. We focus on pediatric, pre-natal and post-natal chiropractic care. Our goal is to help guide our community to be healthier and happier. Want to learn more about how we can help you achieve a balanced life? Check out our Website and Instagram!