Don’t Power Through Shoulder Pain

Don’t Power Through Shoulder Pain, Rest might be a good idea!!

 

In this blog we are focusing on shoulder overuse injuries and strains!!

If you are a worker that involves constant overhead movement (Painters, plastering walls…) or athlete (swimmers, throwers…), you have come to the right place to understand why you should give your shoulder a few days rest!!

Have you ever felt pain in the shoulder and said “oh I just have to power through this and will be fine” and notice your shoulder keeps getting worse or does not improve?

Shoulder Pain

There are multiple injuries that can cause shoulder pain:

The pain must not be related to a trauma or paired with other symptoms such as feeling ill or pain that comes up at the night without reason, you should speak with a GP or a physiotherapist to check any complications or refer you further on.

Overuse can possibly lead to one of multiple conditions:

  • Shoulder Tendinopathies
  • Repetitive strain injuries
  • Subacromial bursitis
  • More...

Some of the signs of overuse but not exclusive:

  • Dull or sharp pain, especially when raising the arm or at night.
  • Weakness in the shoulder.
  • Reduced range of motion.
  • Difficulty with daily activities like combing hair or getting dressed.


Why you should give few days rest?
When you irritate a joint or tendon it can cause more inflammation and swelling leading to more pain.
- Not providing some rest or reduce the strain on your shoulder tendons and joint can cause to become worse or not improve at all.

Shoulder Pain

A Few things to help your shoulder:

First you should try to understand which specific movement causes it to aggravate it, then:

  • Start by trying to modify your movement during activity to a less or no pain movement.
  • Try to spend less time doing this activity to avoid aggravation.
  • Try to have a few days off of your main aggravating activity.
  • Use ice or heat to see if it helps relieve pain.
  • Introduce some stretchs and strength training pain free or minimal sensation to help keeping those muscles and tendons active and promote healing.

Once you feel that it has improved:

- Slowly increase your time spending doing the specific movement or activity that you perform, this could be minutes or hours per day or week.

If this still not improving 👉 Book a 1:1 consultation with our Physiotherapist.