What to do for the non-falling out of a tree related shoulder pain.

Today we conclude our body part series with shoulders!  I want to start with yet another disclaimer.  If you fall out of a tree and land on your shoulder, seek medical attention immediately.  You should also seriously re-evaluate your choice of hobbies.  Why exactly were you climbing a tree?  Were the authorities in anyway involved?  Is there a pending restraining order?

But if you wake up one day and you feel a little discomfort in that shoulder or if you are getting a little discomfort doing pushing exercises I recommend a little light stretching before you commit to visiting the doctor's office.  Again, by way of disclaimer, if after 2 to 3 weeks you do not see significant improvement it is time to go see the doc.

Each of these four stretches is going to have a dynamic (moving) and static (not moving) component to it.  There will be a 5 count and then a 20 second hold:

1. Straight Arm Against Wall: Find a corner of a building, preferably one you belong in, and hold your arm straight out, even with the shoulder.  Place your hand on the wall and rotate your body so you feel a stretch in your chest.  Stretch and release, stretch and release 5 times and then hold for 20 seconds.
2. Bent Arm Against Wall: This is essentially the same stretch only you will bend your elbow 90 degrees so your fingers are pointing up.  Place your entire forearm (or as my friend Claire calls it the "forceps.") on the wall and do the same stretching technique as the the straight arm.
3. Arms Overhead: Reach your arms up overhead with fingers pointing toward the ceiling.  Shifting the shoulder upward, reach and relax, reach and relax, 5 times plus 20 seconds.
4. Hands Behind the Back: With straight arms, interlace your fingers behind your back.  Without bending at the torso, bring your arms away from your body and let them come back.  This is also done 5 times plus 20.

Do this every day for a couple weeks and see what happens.  If your shoulders start to feel better, you were successful and it was all a result of my help and you should probably send me a large cash donation.  If it did not help it was probably because you did not follow instructions properly but you should still send a large cash donation.  Oh and make an appointment to see an actual physician.

I discovered this week writing these descriptions is pretty challenging!  I imagine reading them has been equally challenging.  So starting next week in celebration of Thanksgiving I will GIVE you pictures and maybe even some video of all the exercises from our body part series if I can talk someone, Courtney, in to doing them for me.  

For more information or vague exercise descriptions visit www.canyonptandf.com or message me at tom@canyonptandf.com.