There is a 93% chance that if you are my facebook friend you enjoy one or more of these sports. That being said, shoulder pain is probably the most common question/complaint/drunken rant that my friends have come to me for advice about, so I thought I would share with everyone. Nothing would make me happier than to see "out in the surf" as your status message when we are 60 years old. For some of us that is sooner than others :)
This is meant purely as preventative advice and for your educational enjoyment and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or otherwise do anything to take the place of professional medical attention. (Is that ok, lawyer friends?)
I decided to break this into a three part series:
1. Understanding the shoulder, overhead motion, and what is causing your pain
2. Some great exercises to protect your shoulder and prevent shoulder problems
3. Proper overhead mechanics with volleyball, surfing, swimming, and tennis and common errors in each sport that can lead to injury
Understanding Shoulder Mechanics with Overhead Motion
Remember from third grade that the shoulder is a "ball and socket" joint (it moves in all directions). It is, and it also has a roof. Between the humerus (your arm bone) and the Acromion (the roof)... which is actually part of your scapula (shoulder blade), run all of the tendons to your rotator cuff muscles, some nerves, some blood vessels, and even your biceps tendon.
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| Look at the space between the rotator cuff and the Acromion |
When your arm is by your side, there is typically plenty of room for all of these structures. When you raise your arm overhead, the space closes down a little bit. Typically, no problem. Your body is designed to handle this stress. If you have one very crazy traumatic pinch, if you repeatedly and thanklessly perform the same overhead motion before your body can recover, or if you put your shoulder in a poor position that pinches it even more... it hurts.
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| As the arm raises, the shoulder moves closer to the roof, putting pressure on the rotator cuff |
Ouch
Our bodies are awesome in that they tell us right away when something is going wrong. Unfortunately, we often think of this as a challenge:
I can handle waaaaaay more pain than this.
This really isn't convenient to the fact that I want to keep playing volleyball on this beautiful 80 degree day in February.
If I pop a pill, it feels better soooo....
All legitimate arguments, but don't forget that your body is trying to help you out. We treat pain like a nuisance, but really it's a gift. As early as the very first signs of tissue damage, we know. Sometimes pain is almost instant, and sometimes it really isn't even that bad. Great communication skills body, thanks!
What is causing the pain? This is the part where I don't diagnose you. Just know that you could be feeling anything from slight pain you would like to ignore (see above) to excruciating pain, to maybe even significant weakness when lifting your arm, which could signify anything from slight inflammation inside the joint along the muscles (impingement), to a small tear in the tendon, to some pretty massive damage.
Even if, say, you have the very common case of mild shoulder impingement that feels better after one day of rest and a little ice, if you are consistently having episodes like this every few months or even more often over the course of years of being active, you could be tearing up your shoulders. Literally. You could be cutting years off your time spent doing overhead sports. Even worse, you could end up not being able to do simple things like brush your hair, reach for a can of soup, or fasten your bra without major surgery.
My advice is simple: Protect yourself from injury and listen to your body at least a little more often!
The next two sections will be focused on how you can protect your body from shoulder injury. I will include some (hopefully new) ideas for strengthening and stretching with a little rationale on why each are my favorites next time!
M
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