Killer Exercises For Shoulder & Neck Pain

Exercises for shoulder and neck pain are commonly given in our office. We regularly see people who have developed structural problems in the neck, shoulder and upper back due to long term poor body positions in their daily activities.

Much of daily habits cause us to keep our neck bent forward and our head looking down. We sit for hours at a desk on a computer, countless times a day we look down at our cell phones, and our children spend hours slumped on a couch playing video games.  All these activities cause our muscles and ligaments to stretch and our spines to deformed to this hunched over position. The end result is pain and early joint degeneration.

The following are moderate level exercises that can be done to help ease the pain and begin the process of changing the poor spinal structure.

NOTE: Perform all exercise in a slow steady movement. While muscle soreness may happen after a work out, none of the exercises should cause pain! If this happens, stop immediately and call our office at (314) 731-4383 to schedule an evaluation. Your problem is more than just a muscle or postural one.

 

killer exercise for shoulders

Exercise A, Forward Flexion, Side Lying Position: lay on side with a pillow supporting the head. Hold top arm straight out,  level and at a 90 degree angle with your upper body. From this starting position, keeping the arm level, move the arm above the head, then return to starting position.

 

 

Exercise B, Side Lying External Rotation: Lay on side with a pillow supporting the head and one under the elbow. Start with the arm at a 90 degree bend at the elbow, resting across the front of the stomach. Now holding the elbow steady, rotate the arm up till it is straight up from the side of the body. Now, lower the arm to the starting position.

 

 

shoulder exercisesExercise C, Horizontal Abduction, Prone: lay on the stomach with the arms straight out to the side. From this position move the arms forward and upward above the head. Then return back to the start position.

 

 

 

shoulder exercisesExercise D, Prone Extension: Lay on the stomach with the arms down by the side, thumbs pointing down. Now lift the arms straight up as far as comfortably possible. Then, return to start position.