Shoulders: Why Shoulder Pain and Stretches are so Difficult

You probably think it is inevitable that at some point you will get shoulder pain. Especially as you age. A lot of people don't even know where it came from, how it got there, or where even to begin to get it to go away. Shoulders are one of the most complex muscle groups in our bodies. The area has a great amount of tissue and ligaments joining together all at one spot. And one skinny spot at that. Today we are going to go over what makes the shoulder so difficult, what makes it so hard to diagnose where the pain is coming from, and what and where to actually stretch.

First off you have your traps that run from the upper part of your neck down to your shoulder where it goes underneath your shoulder muscle. Then you have your shoulder blades which can start growing and overtaking the space creeping up to your shoulder. Then if we move to the front part of your body, we have your pecs that also go underneath your shoulder as well as both of your biceps. So you see your shoulders are major highways for major muscles and ligaments and smaller nerves. All of these muscles running into one spot makes it very difficult to find out what is going on and where the pain is really coming from.

Let's break down where you feel the pain and what it could mean. There are two most common reports of pain from the shoulder, either a painful spot in the front part near the pecs and underneath the round part of your shoulder, or in the back of your shoulder in-between your shoulder blades and your spine. The first scenario in the front of your body is most likely due to a pinched muscle. Now if you work out a lot this could be from years of performing bad technique exercises for the shoulders. If you don't and it has just showed up, then most likely it is due to bad posture. Bad posture in this area comes from rounding forward caving the chest in making it smaller but tighter, the opposite happens in your back though. As we round the chest the upper back expands and overstretches. But remember your biceps also run under your shoulders, so as you round forward the biceps begin to pull in too. Your biceps connect to your chest, if both of these muscles get pulled in too tight, they cause a pinching sensation. The second scenario in your shoulder blades is caused by stress and an overly tight neck. Every nerve in your spinal column goes up into your neck and head. If there is any disruption in the cord it will present itself as shoulder pain. Why? Because it's the nearest muscle group that can take the pain and spread it out. Sometimes the shoulder blades and traps get fused together causing this pain but that is mostly found in car wreck victims. For the everyday person, it is from stress and overly tightening the traps and shoulder blades for no reason.

Ok so how do we fix all of this? Your shoulders are a very high Maintenace group that requires everything to be functioning perfectly all at once to never feel pain. They ask a lot out of you to take care of them on a daily basis. We can narrow down the treatments to just a few key things: Make sure to not overwork your back and underwork your chest, STRETCH your biceps, and have good posture. These three points will keep you on your toes and prevent any future pain from coming on. Now if you do all of these treatments all ready and still have pain, then it is time to see a professional.

It is to be noted that most of my clientele is in their upper 50's to 70's, some have shoulder problems, and some do not. I find the more active the person the less shoulder problems. The less active tend to get early signs of Frozen Shoulder which will lead to bigger problems and eventually surgery. You want to keep moving your shoulders. That is how they stay hydrated and healthy.

What did we learn today? Shoulders are difficult and truly a mystery when someone has pain but when you break it down it comes to good posture and working all of your muscles equally to support the others. Get moving and drink your water!