The Pittman CONNECTION The Newsletter About Your Health And Caring For Your Body
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ARE YOUR SHOULDERS GETTING WEAKER? 4 Basic Tests Can Tell You a Lot!
Does your neck aches towards the end of the day? Do you often end up with nagging headaches? While you might think it’s only due to stress, itmay also be a result of your daily posture. Whenwe use our arms throughout the day, the shoulder muscles get tired. This leads us to use our neckmuscles as a substitute. A sure sign of this is when you notice your shoulders rising up closer to your ears. You may also find your spine rounding forward. The sooner our shoulder muscles fatigue, and the more rounded forward we end up, the sooner we notice headaches and neck pain. Think this might be you? Here are 4 BASIC TESTS to try at the end of the day! STARTING POSITION: Sitting at your workstation, your home computer or the dinner table in your normal posture: 1. Try to raise both arms up in front and continue overheadwithout moving your spine. If you can’t get full shouldermotionor have pain,
you probably end up slouched without realizing it. 2. Try to roll your shoulders down and back without moving your spine. If you feel this is difficult to do, your muscles are probably keeping your shoulders elevated. 3. Raise your arms up and out to the side like a “jumping jack” without moving your spine. If you have pain, you probably end up slouched without realizing it. 4. Try to clasp your hands behind your back. Now raise your arms up behind you. If you are unable to raise them very far, you have limited shoulder, spine or chest mobility. Now repeat the tests while sitting up straight and allow the spine tomove. Compare the difference in your shouldermotions or pain. If you suffer fromneck pain, headaches or shoulder pain, don’t let it linger on and causemore damage. Call us today to speak with your physical therapist, or come on in for a free consultation.
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