Neck and Shoulder Pain

Neck and shoulder pain

Neck and shoulder pain is very common these days but thankfully it is also easy to remedy. The overwhelming majority of neck and shoulder pain are primarily due to poor postural habits and muscular imbalances. If you read my other posts you will see how the major cause of over 80-90 % of neck pain is posturally related. The forward head posture being enemy number one as far as neck pain goes which must e eradicated from your lives if you ever want to be neck pain free forever if you continue to have a forward head posture the strains will remain on your neck structures and your neck will never get a chance to heal. Remember that every inch your ear goes forward of the centre point of your shoulder it creates an extra 10 lbs of stress on your neck. In other words, your head weighs 8-10lbs and when you sit and stand with good posture the stresses are minimal to your neck because the force of gravity goes directly down the line of your spine vertically. However, when you sit and stand in a forward head posture whilst driving, sitting sewing or at the computer you create an extra 10 lbs of force on your neck. In the clinic I commonly see people with a 2 inch forward translation which means they are creating in the vicinity of twenty pounds of extra strain on their necks. Its no wonder their necks are sore and tight at the end of the day.

Shoulder pain: if you continue in this position for long enough (which most people do each and every day) the muscles, discs and ligaments will eventually strain. There are no ifs buts or maybes about it. Think of trying to hold up twenty pounds of potatoes in your hand with your outstretched arm for more than ten minutes. Your muscles (if you could even do it) would be screaming from the strain and would more than likely be painful for a couple of days thereafter because of the strains you have caused to your muscles and soft tissues. Your neck is no different. Hour after hour, day after day if you sit at the computer or read or drive in a forward head posture you are asking the same thing of your necks.
After a while, your chest and shoulder muscles get weakened from being in this posture. Your chest muscles get shortened and weak and the muscles in your middle back between your shoulder blades get weak and over stretched. This then puts you in a major risk category of rotator cuff injuries because with your shoulders now pulled forwards and internally rotated there is very little room to allow the humeral head (arm bone) to slide underneath the acromiom. This can then lead to impingements and rotator cuff tears, tendonitis and bursitis to name but a few. You must counteract this by strengthening your middle back muscles and stretching out your chest muscles.
But I want to reiterate that all of this will be next to useless if you do not adjust your posture! Two minutes of stretching will never undo 8 hours of slouching a day. This is the reason why people do Pilates classes, yoga classes, get chiropractic treatments, massages acupuncture etc and have temporary relief at best. YOU MUST ADDRESS THE CAUSE OF YOUR PROBLEM!
My new 2 DVD set will show you exactly how to remove your neck and shoulder pains, rebalance your muscular and postural imbalances and show you how you can remain pain free. It will save you thousands of dollars in unnecessary treatments alone.