Your mother wasn’t joking when she told you to sit up straight! Recent research supports good posture and its effect on shoulder function. An upright posture can increase shoulder range of motion and help you keep your shoulder pain at bay. This article teaches you how.
Why Posture Matters?
You’ve probably heard the nagging reminder to “sit up straight!” more times than you can count. But it’s not just about looking attentive. It’s about maintaining good body alignment to function optimally and pain-free. Slouching leads to pinching at your shoulders causing pain. This happens during activities like reaching to a shelf overhead, changing a light bulb, completing a tennis serve, or throwing a ball.
Posture is a contributing factor for shoulder pain in people of all ages. From young athletes playing volleyball, tennis, baseball, and swimming, to weekend warriors, to the average person performing household chores. Poor upper body posture and muscle imbalance lead to excessive curvature in the upper back and predispose you to shoulder pain.
Your thoracic spine plays a crucial role in overall shoulder health. If it’s not moving well, your shoulders will suffer. Research shows poor thoracic extension and altered shoulder blade position affect your shoulder range of motion and strength. Therefore, keeping your thoracic spine mobile is like oiling the hinges of a door. It helps everything move smoothly.
Exercise Combats Shoulder Pain
Maintaining a posture with your shoulders forward decreases shoulder joint space making it hard for all your shoulder muscles to function optimally. This increases the risk of shoulder pain. In contrast, maintaining a posture with your shoulder blades back increases shoulder joint space. This increases muscle strength potential creating a better mechanical advantage to use your arms. Appropriate scapular muscle strength and balance are important because the shoulder blade and arm move together.
Posture and thoracic mobility could be the culprit behind your shoulder pain. Your posture and thoracic mobility are like the roots of a tree for your shoulder health. They keep you grounded and support the branches as you move through your active lives. By sitting up straight and incorporating some shoulder-friendly exercises and upper back mobility into your routine, you’re not just avoiding pain, you’re paving the way for a more active and pain-free lifestyle.
Exercise is a critical component for healthy shoulders. Research supports exercise to improve pain, mobility, and function in patients with shoulder pain. Think of it as performing regular maintenance on your car or a spa day for your shoulders. Your shoulders need a little TLC too sometimes!
Reach for the Stars…Literally!
Let’s not slouch our way through life, your future self with thank you! The physical therapists at BSR use their knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics, and the function of specific muscles to develop a well-rounded, advantageous rehabilitation program. Our goal is to get you back to a pain-free lifestyle and provide you with a safe, effective, exercise program for injury rehabilitation and prevention.
Therapy may involve strengthening multiple joints simultaneously and using movement patterns that mimic athletic and functional daily activities of living. Our therapists often employ these techniques when our patients improve in strength yet continue to have symptoms during activities or sports. Give us a call and let us help you reach for the stars…literally!
