How to Relieve Shoulder Pain in Under a Minute (Solution for Shoulder Pain)
Posted on | September 24, 2008 | 7 Comments
Shoulder Pain. Yuk!
Came across an interesting solution. No drugs, no medicine. Instant effect.
What did we do? Stretch!
Over the last few weeks two of my clients experienced severe shoulder pain. On the scale of 0 to 10 (10 being the worst pain ever) both rated it between 7 and 8.
Much pain!
Nothing would help. Even drugs would only numb the ache. It was still there.
We tried few things but one particular stretch removed the pain all together within minutes. Chest stretch.
That’s right. Freaky but true.
Why?
All comes back to posture and body mechanics.
You see, both clients had rounded shoulders. That means very tight chest muscles, pulling the shoulder forward.
Both spent whole day sitting in front of a computer (makes shoulders more rounded).
Pecs (chest muscles) got really tight and started REALLY pulling on the shoulder. Tendons and ligaments didn’t like it. Pain!
What we needed was a chest stretch to relieve the tightness in the chest.
Pecs stop pulling so hard on the shoulder, tension is lessened and pain is relieved. Magic!
Here is what Debra, one of the clients who got to ‘enjoy’ her shoulder pain had to say:
“I woke up this morning with a very sore left shoulder. I guess I slept wrong. I worked on the computer all day which, I am sure, did not help my shoulder. I thought about not going to workout tonight due to the pain, but the guilt got to me and I went. The pain was a 7 on the 0 – 10 scale. Denis suggested doing a pectoral stretch. After a couple of stretch sessions, I felt great and energized. The pain . . . what pain? I was now a 0 on the 0 – 10 scale and was able to continue with my workout. Thanks Denis.”
Good thing that she came to the boot camp… Otherwise she would still have pain.
Below is the the now famous chest stretch that relieves shoulder pain.
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Mary, another client that went through the shoulder pain/relief experience, shares her story:
“I could hear Denis’ voice somewhere though the pain, but it didn’t register the first few times. When it finally sunk in, I realized he wanted to know what hurt and how bad the pain was. Denis asks his clients to rate their pain on a scale from 0 to 10. A zero means you’re fine, and dandy, and a 10 means the pain is so intense, you’ll passed out. (Been there, done that, don’t want the t-shirt.) The pain had overwhelmed my brain so much that I had a hard time thinking, let alone responding. Somewhere deep in the recesses, enough of a thought made its way to the surface to allow me to put my left hand on my right shoulder and say “eight”. Fortunately for me, Denis knows about my recurring aches and pains and knows I’ve had problems with my shoulder in the past. But, this was worse than he’s seen before.
Denis prescribed an exercise for the shoulder and I found some relief. The pain dropped to a seven. That was enough to let me think clearer and provide more feedback to Denis to let him know what movements I could do and what causes the pain to increase. It centered around the rotator cuff, the ball and socket mechanism that allows your arm to swing in a wide range of motion. But, this time eve the smallest of movements would cause the pain to radiate. It would go up along the ridge of my trapezius, up the side of my neck, and yank on the muscles at the base of my skull. The pain would also go down my arm, twisting along the striae of muscle fibers of tricepts, bicpets, and my forearm. Even my hand hurt, the pain shooting out like sparks from my fingertips.
Denis prescribed another exercise, this time for the trapezius. No change. Another exercise for the lats didn’t do much, either. On and on it went. Try this. No affect. Try this other thing. No affect. I could see Denis’ brain hard at work, mentally going through a list of options, trying to piece together the puzzle standing in front of him. Finally, he asked me to turn around. There’s one last stretch to try.
Denis had me stand with my arms at my sides. He stood behind me and carefully entwined his arms around mine, pulling them up behind me while keeping my elbows locked. I felt the muscles in and around my shoulder being pulled taught, like ropes under strain. I braced myself, expecting another wave of pain to wash over me, cranking up to a nine, or even a ten. Instead I found tranquility. Denis felt the shift and lifted my arms higher. I felt more of the muscles engage and a moment later, they released. It felt so good, like a hot tub after an exhausting workout. I didn’t want this to stop and was afraid that this moment of respite would end and I would be back in the world of pain. But, this stretch cuts off the blood supply to your arms and Denis had to stop when my fingers turned blue. When he let go and stepped back I had a huge surprise. The pain in my shoulder was completely gone. Just like that. I didn’t even have muscle fatigue. It was as if the pain had never existed.
I asked Denis how this miracle cure worked. He said is a pec stretch. Pec? As in pectoralis, the group of muscles across your chest. Denis theorizes this is the true source of my rotator cuff problems. I sit a lot at work and have overall bad posture. My shoulders are rounded and this causes the pecs to shorten and tighten. The posture correction exercises he had prescribed to put my shoulders in their proper place didn’t account for the pecs. So, as my shoulders were realigning, the pecs were pulling them forward, and the tug-of-war resulted in pain. Now that we know what’s going on, we know what to do about it.
It is amazing how the body works.”
If you don’t have anyone around but feel like stretching, use a door way.
Listen to your body, don’t force the stretch. Breathe and relax.
Tingly fingers? No problem. It will go away after you’re done with stretch and circulation restores.
Also (kind of important), not all shoulder pain can be treated with a chest stretch. There may be other reasons for shoulder pain besides tight chest.
That said… it’s worth a try. Especially if you fit the profile.
Sit a lot, rounded shoulders and upper back… Had a particular bad day of web surfing or computer work and (bam!) shoulder pain.
Gently do the chest stretch and watch it dissolve into nothing withing a minute.
Hey, it’s better then popping pills or living with it.
What have you done to help with your pain?
What’s next?
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Tags: pain relief > shoulder pain > shoulder pain relief > solution for shoulder pain > what to do for shoulder pain
Comments
7 Responses to “How to Relieve Shoulder Pain in Under a Minute (Solution for Shoulder Pain)”
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September 25th, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Yes, stretching is a solution!
Cool with the pictures that easily describe what to do!
September 27th, 2008 @ 3:29 am
It’s amazing that a simple activity like stretching for a few minutes can have such a profound impact on the quality of your workout as well as your life. Kudos to you for being able to deduce the problem so quickly – most people would have overlooked the obvious in search of something complicated. Great Job!
November 6th, 2008 @ 5:59 am
Great piece about shoulders and stretching!!
Amazing how many people wouldn’t realize that your chest can create shoulder injuries. I was diagnosed with the exact same problem about 4 years ago, and having had 3 years off training (due to marriage and moving abroad) – I now realize the importance of stretching that area!
February 10th, 2010 @ 3:13 am
everyday stretching really helps to prevent this kind of pain, If you are working in an office I bet you experience this kind of thing everyday.
February 16th, 2010 @ 8:58 am
Great… many times stretching is the solution!
February 26th, 2010 @ 12:29 pm
I have sensation burning pain aright in my both forearms for the last 8 years, MRI Scanning is done shows slip disc herniation at C6-C7 witdh posterior annular tear compressing the exiting and traversing nerve roots.
February 26th, 2010 @ 12:32 pm
Pain in the both forearms as sensation pain in both elbow arms for long time.