Shoulder pain can be one of the most excruciating and debilitating upper body pains you can experience. It has been described as a sharp, stabbing pain that can drop you to your knees and, at other times, be an annoying dull ache that just won’t go away. Most of the time, people experience shoulder pain when doing overhead reaching tasks or even simple things such as tucking in their shirts. However, when it gets bad, it will start to interfere with your sleep, and that’s usually the tipping point for most people to seek out help. The problem is that most people tend to associate shoulder pain with rotator cuff tears and, ultimately, surgery, so it’s not uncommon for people to try to live with it for as long as possible, not knowing how simple it can be to resolve some shoulder pain (notice I said simple – not easy!).
The truth is that it’s quite common to have a rotator cuff tear as you age, and most of the time, it is not problematic. The reason for this is that the rotator cuff is composed of four tiny muscles, and there are at least (depending on who you ask) fourteen other, bigger muscles that help move your shoulder. Because of this, it’s actually very rare that your shoulder pain is directly caused by a rotator cuff tear. With that said, though, I must clarify that I am referring specifically to nontraumatic insidious onset shoulder pain. That means that there was no associated injury – your shoulder just started hurting for no obvious reason one day.
Is Posture the Problem?
What I’ve found in my clinic and throughout my career is that ninety-nine percent of nontraumatic shoulder pain is due to impingement syndrome, which essentially means something soft (muscle, tendon, ligament) is getting pinched between two bones (humeral head and your acromion). A quick Google search will give you a simple, clear picture. Also, ninety-nine percent of the time, impingement syndrome is caused by posture imbalance, with the shoulders rounding/tilting more forward than neutral. Now, I know that some of you who have shoulder pain are thinking, “My posture isn’t bad,” and it may not be compared to what the general population might consider “bad posture.” However, in relation to biomechanics and how your shoulder is supposed to work efficiently, even the slightest rounding or forward tilt of your shoulders will increase the strain on certain muscles, making you much more prone to inflammation and, ultimately, shoulder pain.
Here’s a super easy way to help you decide if your posture may be the true root cause of your shoulder pain. Do you typically sit more than you stand throughout the day? If so, it is highly likely that your posture is at least a little off because it’s nearly impossible to maintain good, neutral posture in any comfortable chair on the market these days. Take me, for example; as I sit here writing this article, I’m sitting on the edge of a hard-surfaced chair, which forces me to use my posture muscles to remain upright, maintaining as close to neutral shoulders as possible. Of course, I don’t always sit like this; however, when I know I’ll be sitting for more than twenty minutes, I try my best to use the hard-surfaced chair to simply give me a better chance at maintaining decent posture and avoiding shoulder pain.
The Two-Finger Drill
Now that you have some background knowledge of shoulder pain and its root cause, let’s go over the simplest and most effective way to ease shoulder pain and ultimately avoid shoulder surgery! I call it the “two-finger drill.” Simply take the pointer finger on your right hand and place it right in the middle of your chest, then take the pointer finger on your left hand and poke it right in your belly button. Now, suck your belly button in as hard as you can toward your spine as if you’re putting on a super tight pair of pants, and keep breathing as you hold your belly button in. Then, use the muscles in your middle back area (not lower back) to lift your chest up toward the sky. This will allow your shoulder to sit more neutral and allow those fourteen bigger muscles mentioned earlier to work more effectively. This, in turn, will improve the natural biomechanics of your shoulder, allowing the right muscles to control the correct motion and help you avoid those impinging pains. The key to this is to work toward getting into the position the two-finger drill promotes as much as possible throughout the day. The more often you get there, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to avoid surgery.
If you want more simple tips like this visit BermanPT.com, call/text 239.431.0232, or search Berman Physical Therapy on any of the social platforms!
Dr. Jake Berman, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist and the owner of Berman Physical Therapy, where they focus on treating the actual problem causing your symptoms (pain) to help you avoid taking pain pills and dangerous surgeries. So, if you’re tired of feeling “old” and you are looking for another way to keep active and mobile, call Dr. Berman at 239.431.0232 to take advantage of a FREE 30-minute taster session!