The human shoulder is a mobile joint and due to its wide range of movement, it’s prone to injury, pain, and discomfort. If you feel stiffness and soreness in the shoulders, it could occur due to numerous reasons. Your shoulder pain may lead to problems concerning your muscles, ligaments, cartilage, shoulder blade, tendons, nerves, arm, and neck. Slight pain is common and could be treated with exercises and therapies. However, pain that stays for a long time is a matter of concern.
According to an article published in Huffington Post, shoulder pain that’s stubborn or occurs with some activity shows that your tissues have irritation. And so, you’re experiencing pain even with no movement.
Apply a cold compress
A cold compress means a very cold or frozen material, usually an ice pack, wet cloth, ice wrapped in a packet, or frozen gel pack. Apply an ice pack on the affected area to alleviate the swelling to get relief by assuaging your shoulder pain. You can apply a cold compress when experiencing inflammation around your shoulder. Cold compress is very easy to apply. You can make a cold compress at home or buy it from a medical store. Sometimes, people also use frozen packets of fruit as a cold compress to alleviate shoulder pain.
Try shoulder exercises
Trying shoulder exercises regularly helps to strengthen your shoulder muscles and alleviate pain. Ensure that you do all stretches and exercise perfectly to avoid worsening the pain. Repeat the exercise daily to ease the pain in your home or office. However, start these exercises after sufficient warming up. You need to stop doing the exercises if the pain aggravates. The common exercises to make your shoulder muscles strong and flexible are:
Overhead shoulder stretch
- Pendulum stretches
- Neck release
- Across-the-chest stretch
- Shoulder circles
- Seated twist
- Downward dog pose
- Chest expansion
- Child’s pose
Even after regular exercise, if the problem persists, consult a pain management expert at QC Kinetix (Fort Worth). For the location, you can click:
Do heat therapy
Besides using ice packs, heat therapy is another effective way to deal with excruciating shoulder pain. The treatment is more suited if you have arthritis or muscle pain in your shoulders. Common muscle pain and soreness could also be treated well as the heat helps in relaxing your tense muscles and alleviating the stiffness.
You can apply heat therapy in many ways including an electric heating pad, a heated gel pack, using a warm cloth or towel, a hot water bottle, and things like that.
Try compression
You can wrap an elastic medicated bandage such as a crepe bandage around your shoulder, making it snug and not too tight for effective compression. Too much tightness will lead to poor blood circulation. Cold compression bandages work well. Ask your family member to wrap the crepe bandage for the best results.
Conclusion
Try these therapies to alleviate or treat shoulder pain without taking painkillers. If the pain doesn’t go away for a long time, consult a pain relief specialist.
