Lifestyle and Shoulder Health: Preventing Pain and Injuries
Lifestyle and shoulder health are closely connected. Maintaining strong, flexible shoulders is crucial for all manner of everyday activities–everything from lifting groceries to playing sports. Making small changes in your daily routine and incorporating effective strategies can prevent common shoulder injuries and improve overall shoulder health.
Shoulder injuries don’t always occur after a major accident. Injuries such as rotator cuff tears and tendinitis often develop due to repetitive movements, poor posture, and lack of exercise–which means preventing them is often a matter of making simple lifestyle changes.
Furthermore, when you protect yourself from these kinds of overuse injuries, you also reduce your risk of severely hurting your shoulder if you do take a bad fall or get injured while playing sports.
Many people associate physical therapy with rehabilitation after an injury–but at TOP Physical Therapy, we’re also here to help you prevent injuries completely! Today, our physical therapists want to share some of their favorite lifestyle and shoulder health tips. But if you need extra help, just schedule an appointment at our Southfield, MI, and Sterling Heights, MI clinics!
Five Simple Lifestyle Adjustments To Improve Shoulder Health
Maintain Proper Posture
Maintaining good posture is one of the simplest ways to prevent shoulder injuries. Slouching or hunching over your desk can strain your shoulder muscles and lead to discomfort. Ensure your workspace is ergonomically set up, with your computer monitor at eye level and your chair providing adequate support for your upper back.
However, one of the most important things you can do to improve your posture is to take frequent breaks to stand up, stretch, and move around. We have a saying: “Your best posture is your next posture,” meaning regular movement is crucial for shoulder health.
Keep Your Shoulders Strong and Mobile
While exercise and movement are essential in preventing shoulder injuries, you want to ensure you’re performing targeted exercise to improve your shoulder’s strength and mobility.
Strengthening the rotator cuff–a group of muscles and tendons surrounding the shoulder joint–helps stabilize the overall joint, reducing your risk of injury. Targeted shoulder mobility exercises help you move better and increase your range of motion, further helping reduce injury risk.
Be Wary of Repetitive Movements
Everyone uses their shoulders throughout the day, but some people have to perform frequent or repetitive shoulder motions due to sports, hobbies, or their jobs. For example, baseball pitchers and swimmers repeatedly rotate their shoulders as they train and practice. House painters and plumbers frequently reach overhead to perform their jobs.
Unfortunately, these repetitive movements are a major source of overuse injuries. To reduce your risk, take frequent breaks and vary your movements to avoid overusing any one muscle group. Make sure to cross-train to avoid muscular imbalances and help ensure one muscle group isn’t dominating, which can lead to muscle fatigue and strains.
Make Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Lifestyle and shoulder health isn’t just about targeting the shoulder joint–it’s also about working to improve your overall health. Maintain a balanced diet rich in nutrients that support muscle and joint health, such as calcium and vitamin D. Stay hydrated and get adequate sleep to promote recovery and overall well-being.
Listen to Your Body (And Call a Physical Therapist)
People often ignore minor aches and pains, assuming they’ll go away on their own–only to discover that ignoring them allowed them to blossom into a much bigger problem. If you notice persistent pain or limited mobility in your shoulder, give TOP Physical Therapy a call).
We’ll evaluate your symptoms and run simple movement screens to assess your shoulder’s mobility and strength. This helps us determine the cause of your shoulder discomfort and provides you with a personalized treatment plan to address the issue before it becomes more severe.
A Healthy Lifestyle Means a Healthy Shoulder!
Even if you’re not currently experiencing shoulder pain, our Southfield, MI, and Sterling Heights, MI physical therapists can create a personalized injury prevention program to help keep your shoulder healthy. We can learn more about concerns, evaluate your body’s biomechanics, and provide customized tips for good shoulder health.
Ready to get started? Schedule an appointment at TOP Physical Therapy today!