I frequently hear people talk about their shoulder pain, and I can definitely relate. I have injured both shoulders on separate occasions.
Shoulder pain can come from a number of different sources, including overuse, sports injuries, falls, accidents, and repetitive stress.
You could take pills for the pain, but all medications have potential side effects – even over-the-counter ones like ibuprofen (Advil), acetaminophen (Tylenol) and naproxen (Aleve). Surgery would cost thousands of dollars and put you out of commission for weeks if not months of recovery time.
Below you’ll find some ways in which I have relieved my shoulder pain and continue to relieve it anytime I have a flare-up.
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Disclaimer
I am not a doctor, and this post is not intended to replace medical treatment. It is based on my own personal experience and research. You should definitely seek medical treatment for any severe pain. You’ll especially want to get immediate medical care after an auto accident, and not just for medical reasons.
Swap Your Mouse For a Trackball
If you use a computer regularly and your shoulder hurts on the same side as your mouse hand, try switching to a trackball.
I’ve recommended trackballs to a number of coworkers with shoulder pain, and nobody has asked to go back to a mouse after making the change. The Logitech Trackball is my favorite, and I’ve been using this trackball myself for over a decade.
Yoga Pose for Rotator Cuff Injuries
A few years ago, I injured my shoulder in a fall. I suspected a rotator cuff problem.
If you’ve seen a doctor for shoulder pain, you’ve probably been given the options of pain pills, physical therapy and/or surgery.
Based on what I’ve heard from other people and their shoulder pain as well as my own research, I didn’t bother seeing a doctor.
Not that I recommend against medical care. I just preferred to handle it on my own if possible. I didn’t want to take pills or have surgery. I’d had physical therapy for another problem in the past and got absolutely nothing out of it.
A coworker told me about a yoga pose that helped her shoulder pain, so I did some Google searches. I found the yoga pose, and holding that pose morning and night relieved my shoulder pain completely within weeks. I saw significant improvement within days.
I used the same pose again when I injured the other shoulder in a car accident.
Physiatrist Loren Fishman, a doctor specializing in physical and rehabilitative medicine, won awards and acclaim for his yoga pose for rotator cuff pain. The maneuver trains another muscle to take over the job of the injured shoulder muscle.
Yoga DVD
To keep my shoulder muscles (and other muscles) strong, I do Lilias Yoga regularly. You might call this yoga for normal people since you don’t have to stand on your head or do anything else that resembles twisting your body into a pretzel.
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