Most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about their shoulders. Why would you? Your shoulders do their duty, and it’s an important body part that goes unnoticed, and often unappreciated, until they’re no longer working the way that they’re supposed to. Luckily, preventative shoulder care is a quick and easy thing to accomplish on a regular basis, to try and keep you out of an uncomfortable situation. If things go wrong, there are plenty of things that can be done to eradicate the problem, but wouldn’t you rather not have to deal with the pain and spend a few minutes to keep your shoulders healthy in the first place?
Rotator cuff health
The rotator cuff is incredibly easy to injure. In fact, 34% of people that are in absolutely no shoulder pain actually have small rotator cuff tears. In individuals over the age of 60, that number is 54%! That’s a lot of people. This just means that, just because you don’t feel daily pain, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem lying dormant under the surface. If it becomes more aggravated, that’s when the tear will pass your pain threshold and you’ll become aware of the issue.
Always use correct form
The easiest way to avoid shoulder injuries, is to make sure that you’re always using your shoulders correctly. Whenever you’re doing any sort of exercise or manual labor, make sure that you’re using your shoulders in a natural way and you aren’t overextending or overworking that shoulder joint.
Perfect your posture
Most people spend the majority of their time sitting at a desk, hunched over a computer or over their phone. This is often an unavoidable occupational hazard. It’s basically impossible to retrain your body overnight to sit up straighter. But this hunched position is causing damage to your shoulders. Try spending a few minutes of your workday, every day, to try and sit straighter, and focus on your posture for a few minutes. Sit straight, with your shoulders back, and don’t allow yourself to hunch forward. If you practice this every day, your posture will begin to improve and your shoulders will thank you.
Easy exercises
To counteract some of the damage that has been inflicted to your shoulders, you should do a few simple exercises to stretch that rotator cuff and make sure your shoulders are working correctly. One of the simplest exercises is to fully extend your arm, and stretch it behind you, slowly moving your arm(whilst remaining fully extended) in a full circle. Do this from a few different angles, and make sure to stretch this muscle as well as you can. For more specific exercise suggestions, visit Dr. Skedros to get an evaluation.