Ways to Treat and Prevent Shoulder Pain

You began your Saturday with 18 holes of golf, then followed up with an afternoon of trimming hedges, pulling weeds, and planting flowers. Now it is bedtime, and you can barely raise your arm to brush your hair. It has every reason to balk. After all, your shoulders work very hard over the course of a day. They are involved in numerous routine tasks, from turning doorknobs to writing notes. Among all the joints in your body, your shoulders are perhaps the most versatile. They combine with a variety of tendons and muscles to give your arms their broad range of motion. So you feel as though you have been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders literally. The good news is that you don't have to just grin and bear the burden of pain. Here are some tips that you can consider to adopt for fast relief.

1. Move Your Body Right

Whether you are a weekend warrior or a serious athlete, you can avoid a repeat performance of your shoulder injury by having an expert check out your body mechanics. A qualified fitness trainer or coach can spot what you are doing incorrectly, for example, when you swing your tennis racquet, or lift a barbell and teach you proper form and technique.

2. Test Your Flexibility

You should be able to raise your arms overhead, both from the side and from the front. It is recommended practicing these movements until you can do them easily. Also practice reaching up behind your back, as if you were unhooking a bra. But don't try so hard that you strain yourself.

3. Limit Lifting

It is also a good idea to refrain from heavy lifting while your shoulder is sore. The rule of thumb is, don't hoist anything heavier than a briefcase or a gallon of milk.

4. Stretching

Gentle stretching and range-of-motion exercises are important to your shoulder's rehabilitation because they help to restore and improve flexibility. It is recommended to adopt this move to keep your shoulder loose and limber. Move the arm on the same side as your sore shoulder across your chest, toward the opposite shoulder. Then gently pull the arm toward you by placing the opposite hand over the elbow. You should feel the stretch in the back of your shoulder. Hold for at least 15 seconds. Repeat at least three times a day.

5. Stop What You Are Doing

If a particular activity has aggravated your shoulder, then give it up or at least cut back for the time being. Avoid any movement that can make your pain worse, mainly reaching over or behind your head.

6. Make Nice With Ice

Applying ice for the first few days that your shoulder hurts can help reduce inflammation. It is recommended using a freezable gel pack, which you can purchase in a drugstore. Wrap the pack in a thin towel and lay it on top of your shoulder, perhaps wrapping an elastic bandage around it to keep it in place. Leave it on for no more than 20 minutes and reapply it three times a day.

7. Switch To Heat

Once the inflammation subsides, you can begin treating your sore shoulder with heat. It can help loosen up your shoulder if you are stiff. Just be sure that you use moist heat, like a hot shower, rather than dry heat, like a heating pad.