AVOIDING COMMON SHOULDER PAINMAKERS
The goal of this program is simple. We want to decrease the amount of “pain makers” you experience each day.
In our world, a pain maker is an action, a position, or a thing that causes pain. The pain can be in your shoulder. Or it may be “referred” pain. That is pain that originates from a structure in your shoulder but refers to some other place in your body (arm or even forearm).
There are times when the pain in your shoulder will really flare up. Your goal should be to calm the pain back down. That may be with ice, medications, etc. However, in addition, you should be attempting to decrease the pain makers affecting your shoulder.
If you perform a task and you begin to feel pain, that task is a pain maker. If you move your arm a certain way and it causes pain that movement is a pain maker. If you are lying in bed on your side and you have shoulder pain, that position is a pain maker.
For many of you, these pain makers occur throughout the day and severely limit what you can do. We want you to change that.
Reduce the pain makers in your day and you begin to reduce the sensitivity of your nerves to pain. It has a cascade effect both ways. Increase pain from pain makers- increase nerve pain sensitivity. Decrease pain from pain makers and decrease nerve pain sensitivity.
People are surprised to learn the way they move and position their shoulder and shoulder blades can eliminate pain.
By reducing pain makers, you begin to see you control the pain in your life. It does not have to control you.
The fewer pain makers you have, the more you can do.
THE INITIAL RULES
Things you need to stop doing NOW. To get your shoulder pain to calm down, our recommendation is to avoid the following shoulder pain makers as best as you can. We understand that some of the activities on this list may be important to you. We are not asking for you to give them up forever. We are just asking for you to stop them right now so we can reduce your pain makers. You will be able to return to some in the future, and we will try to provide guidance.
LIST
Putting your shoulder in an awkward position like reaching into the back seat.
Repetitive overhead activities such as painting or pruning a tree.
Repetitive activities with the arm level but with your upper back in poor posture. Examples writing on a whiteboard or smart board, painting, or driving a car.
Forceful pulling. Examples include pulling a weed out of the ground, lifting a suitcase, or pulling on the starter cord for a lawn mower.
The bra strap is too far out on the shoulder. Causing increased stress on the shoulder blade, possibly depressing it. Obtain a bra whose straps are closer to the neck.
Carry a bag strap on the same shoulder over and over. This causes the shoulder blade to depress and stretch out.
Poor posture while using your arms- including using a computer, eating, or knitting.
Sleeping in poor positions- see video How to Stop Shoulder Pain in Bed (Sleeping Postures)
Repetitive overhead sports activities. Swimming, tennis, baseball pitching, etc.
Lifting weights overhead.
Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program
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