The human body is one of the very wonders in this world. Put to the test, the human body can do things that were once thought impossible! Yet, in the end the human body cannot hide from the wear and tear we place on it day in and day out.
One of the biggest areas I have noticed the wear and tear are in my shoulders. Tendinitis became my friend during the period I played baseball. Eventually, my reoccurring tendinitis is what prevented me from pursuing college baseball. Shoulder injuries are so common that the latest census by American academy of orthopedic surgeon’s recorded 7.5 million people visited the doctors with a shoulder injury in 2006.
That is an extremely high number, and one of the reasons for such a high number is due to the everyday use of the shoulders. Think about it…before lifting anything outside of the gym, do you ever do arm circles to warm up your shoulders?
The answer is probably “NO” which is fine since most people, including myself, would want to minimize the time when completing a daily project. Most people just want to lift the damn object and head to the next task. This is exactly how most shoulder injuries occur. Injuries usually occur on the very first lift when the muscles are the coldest.
This is usually when the notorious rotator cuff tear occurs. The rotator cuff tear is the most prominent shoulder injury due to the wide range of where the tear occurs amongst the 4 muscles.
Shoulder impingement is another well-known shoulder injury that occurs from repetitive shoulder use. This is what I call the “military tear “which comes from excessive friction between the shoulder muscle and bone. This injury can actually lead to bone spurs which no one wants. Preventing shoulder injuries is kind of tough due to our nature of over-use.
The best thing to do is treat the shoulder right away when any pain occurs with ice. If the pain prolongs, don’t hesitate to see a doctor. Check the link out at the bottom of the blog which will give you some good exercises to use to strengthen the shoulder at all angles.
Exercises to Strengthen Shoulders:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/patientinstructions/000357.htm
-Phil