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Have U ever experienced Shoulder pain? The kind that limits you from lifting something heavy, playing sports like tennis, golf or cricket, playing with your kids or grandkids or pulling on that dog leash. If U have ever woken up with a stiff & painful shoulder wondering WHAT is causing it, you are not alone…
We hear stories like these everyday in the clinic & here are the 5 most common reasons of shoulder & neck pain & some possible tips of how you could avoid it in the first place...
1. Poor Posture at Work
Having a poor posture for several hours each day at work is extremely common. A common faulty posture - something your neck & upper back naturally fall into when focusing at the computer screen is called forward head posture. Most people tend to fall into this position without even realizing it whether they are using a sitting or standing desk.
This improper positioning of your neck, upper back & shoulder tissues & joints is easily becoming one of the most common reasons of shoulder, neck & upper back pain. Some people start to feel discomfort within days, others in months and some in years. It all depends on every individual.
2. Prolonged Driving
Spending a couple hours each day in your car driving could easily add up to the poor posture time you are clocking in each week. Holding onto the steering wheel & focusing can create the same sort of postural stress as created by staring at the computer screen.
Sure, biking or even walking to work could be a great substitute to this driving time but be wary of that bike posture if you have lower back or lumbar spine issue. Ofcourse, that is a different topic for another time!
3. Too much time on Cellphone
This is a huge one, especially when it comes to neck & shoulder problems. The ongoing increase of neck pain from staring at your phone screen is commonly referred to as text neck & yes we have apple, samsung & other companies to thank for it!
The constant or frequent looking down at our smartphones significantly increases the load on our cervical, thoracic spine and shoulders. This increased load accrued over days, months & years could easily be a contributor of neck & shoulder pain or in some cases even symptoms down your arm.
This topic is explained at full length in my different blog article here. But of course, finish reading this one first before you move on to the next!
4.Not Moving Enough
Now I know a lot of you might think you exercise pretty frequently. You either go the Gym, Yoga or Pilates or play some sports. In other words, you think you are moving enough. If you are in different group altogether where you are not doing anything much at all to break your sedentary routine then that’s a whole different topic altogether.
But even with your general exercise routine, most people almost never move their joints in the opposite direction of the posture they tend to adopt. As a result, your joints even start to lose mobility in that direction because they haven’t been moved that way in years. The phrase “you don’t use it, you lose it” totally applies here.
Because of this loss of mobility, early signs of an impending shoulder pain episode are usually started by stiffness more so in the mornings & when the weather is cold.
5. Lifting/Carrying on one side only
Last but not the least common reason is that most people tend to carry heavy stuff i.e lift a heavy suitcase, carry a heavy purse or lift heavy boxes mostly on one side instead of evenly distributing the weight. If you have a dog, you tend to hold the leash on one side as well resulting in additional forces being exposed to one side of your spine & shoulder versus other.
A lot of women carry a heavy purse almost always on one side versus the other too. So the easiest thing you can do is start to switch it up. Switch sides on which you carry your purse or use a backpack across both shoulders.
Switch sides on which you hold the leash for your dog too or if you tend to pick up your baby on one side switch it up to the other side occasionally!
So, here you go these are the 5 easily most common reasons of shoulder & neck pain in the absence of a sports injury, fall or an accident.
Want to learn more?
If you or someone you know experiences this very familiar neck and/or shoulder pain or stiffness, you could request our Free Guide on 5 tips to relieve Neck & Shoulder Pain right here!
If you would like to take things to the next level, you could fill out our short Inquiry Form here to see if you qualify for a Free Discovery Session with your specialist!
Found this article helpful and would like to hear more about our upcoming blog posts, subscribe to our newsletter right here. If you know a friend who has Neck and/or Shoulder issues, feel free to share this article with them. They will thank you for it!
We also know not everyone is ready to commit to regular physical therapy appointments, and that’s why we offer our Free Information Guide! This Guide is for people in our community who want really valuable, expert information about their Neck Pain or Shoulder problems. We know it’s confusing out there with all of the information floating around on Google and Facebook, and this is a valuable first step towards getting some real answers for your problem.
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