How to Get Rid of Shoulder Joint Pain When Lifting Arm
Shoulder joint pain can be one of the most severe kinds of injuries to deal with.
This usually happens when lifting heavy weight or possibly by poor physical posture.
However, there can be several other reasons which can cause pain in your shoulder joints.
The pain may increase gradually if left untreated in the early stages.
What’s more, getting late for the treatment can worsen the pain and may lead to some other injuries.
Some of the reasons for shoulder joints pain include:
- Arthritis
- Shoulder injury
- Pinched nerve
- Frozen shoulder
Etc.
Thankfully, there are several natural ways you can use to get rid of shoulder joint pain in a quick time.
How to Get Rid of Shoulder Joint Pain When Lifting Arm
Here are some tips & DO’s/DONT’s, which will guide you on how to fix shoulder joint pain when lifting arm. Try to follow each so you can get rid of the pain quickly:
- Do Shoulder Exercises
- Take a Salt Bath
- Cold Compress
- Compression
- Apply Heat
- Fix Your Posture
- Tiger Balm
- Massage your Shoulders
- Avoid Weight Lifting
- Take Plenty of Rest
- No Excessive Tech
- No Extra Work
- Muscle Relaxants
- Pain Medication
- Visit Physiotherapist
Do Shoulder Exercises:
Stretches and flexibility exercises can help to reduce the shoulder joints pain.
While it’s necessary for you to take better care of your shoulders, making them stiffed by completely stopping their movements is also not a wise idea!
That is, keep them in movements with simple exercise; especially, when you are watching TV or sitting for a long time.
You must take short breaks and give slight movements to the shoulders.
Move your arms slowly after few hours to avoid stiffness and jamming in the joints.
Here are six practical shoulder exercises that you can try:
- Pendulum Stretch
- Normal Shoulder Stretch
- Overhead Shoulder Stretch
- Neck Release
- Arm Across the Chest
- Chest Expansion
1. Pendulum Stretch:
- Stand and bend at the waist
- Let your arm on the affected side hang straight down
- Keep your neck relaxed
- Move your arm circularly 20 times
- Do this once or twice a day
(Check this article from Harvard to learn more about Pendulum Stretch!)
2. Normal Shoulder Stretch:
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- Stand in a straight position
- Squeeze your shoulder blades back and hold them up to 5 seconds
- Pull your shoulder blades downwards and hold them for 5 seconds
- Get back to the normal position
- Do this exercise 10 times a day
3. Overhead Shoulder Stretch:
- Intertwine your fingers in front of you
- Bend your elbows and raise the arms above the head
- Snugly squeeze your shoulder blades together to move your elbows back
- Repeat this 20 times
- Do this exercise 5 to 10 times a day
4. Neck Release:
- Sit up straight on a flat chair
- Bring your chin slowly toward the chest until you feel the stretch in the back of your neck
- Lean your head to the left to stretch right shoulder or lean to the right to stretch the left shoulder
- Hold for up to 1 minute in each direction, and breathe deeply
- Repeat this exercise 3 – 5 times a day
5. Arm Across the Chest:
- Keep your arm in straight position
- Move it towards the chest by giving support on the elbow with second hand
- Hold on to this position for 30 to 50 seconds
- Repeat this 3 – 5 times a day
6. Chest Expansion:
- Take a rope or necktie and hold them behind your back while grabbing it with both hands
- Move your shoulder blades with one another and slowly lift the chin upside
- Hold in the same position for 10- 15 seconds while taking deep breaths
- Do this 3 – 5 time a day
Take a Salt Bath:
Salt is rich in magnesium that helps to reduce muscle tension and stress. So, don’t skip this excellent and affordable remedy, which can provide you a perfect solution against your shoulder pain!
Here’s how to take a salt bath:
- Fill the bathtub with lukewarm water
- Mix 2 – 3 tablespoon of salt into a bathtub
- Apply salt water directly to your affected shoulder
- Take a salt bath for at least 5 minutes for the better results
Cold Compress:
A cold compress helps to reduce swelling from the muscles joints. It also helps to lower the severe pain in the joints. It’s the most natural tip that you can use to treat your joints pain.
- Put some ice in a plastic bag and wrap it in the towel
- Apply it directly to the muscles joints
- Keep ice for about 5 minutes
- Repeat this remedy 5 times a day
[alert type=”warning” icon-size=”normal”]Note: Do not apply ice directly to the body; always use this remedy while wrapped in the towel; otherwise, this can cause frostbite, which is an injury caused by freezing of the skin and underlying tissues. What’s more, if you find redness in your skin, stop it immediately and move towards other remedies.[/alert]
Compression:
Compression helps by reducing swelling and pain around the joints.
You can provide compression to your shoulders with the help of a bandage.
- Get a normal or an ACE bandage.
- Wrap it snugly but not so tight, or it will block the flow of blood.
- Move your arms slightly and make sure that bandage is wrapped correctly.
- Optionally, you can also get your shoulders wrapped from a pharmacy store.
Related Blog Post: How To Wrap An Ankle – (Ultimate Step-by-step Guide for Beginner with Pictures)
Apply Heat:
Heat is one of the most practical and working solutions against the pain, stiffness, and immobilization in the muscle joints.
The best thing is that it also helps improving blood flow in affected the area.
- Pour half a liter of hot water in the bowl.
- Dab the towel in water and rinse it to avoid drippings.
- Apply the hot towel directly to the painful areas. Soak the towel again if it gets cold.
- Do not apply heat for longer; apply for only 1 – 2 minutes.
- Alternatively, you can pour the hot water in a plastic bottle and apply it to the shoulders.
- Use heat therapy twice or thrice a day.
[alert type=”info” icon-size=”normal”]Note: You can apply heat with any other easy and safe methods you are aware of. But applying it with a cloth is recommended as using hot water directly over the joints is more effective than other methods.[/alert]
Fix Your Posture:
Improper shoulder posture can also cause joints pain. That is, sitting, standing, working, and doing any other activity with the wrong position can lead to severe joints pain.
Try these tips to avoid shoulder pain:
- While you are sitting, do not push your shoulders. Especially don’t forcefully push them while using computers.
- Keep the mouse, keyboard, and other devices near to your reach.
- Keep your shoulders relaxed by letting them hang by your sides.
- Avoid gripping of the shoulders on your side, especially if you are experiencing pain in your neck.
- Always keep your shoulders in movements. Do not let them freeze by sitting for hours in the same position.
- Give support to your lower back with a pillow, cushion, or a chair with lumbar support to enhance your upper body posture.
- Keep a strong eye on your posture while working on a computer, as the shoulder is affected more with the improper position when you are using a computer.
- Don’t sleep on your shoulders; avoid this habit until the pain ends.
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Tiger Balm:
Tiger balm is a thriving natural ayurvedic solution against the multiple joints issues. Its ingredients such as camphor, menthol, cajuput oil, and clove oil, help to relieve the joint pain, stiffness, sprains, and arthritis pain.
Unlike other medical gels, it does not have any side effects on the external body.
- Take a finger of tiger balm and apply it directly to the painful areas
- Rub the balm gently in a circular motion
- Leave the area uncovered for 5 minutes
- Do this two times a day until the pain is gone
Massage your Shoulders:
Massage helps to relieve the pain and stiffness of the muscle joints.
It also removes & fixes the lack of mobility and tiredness caused by multiple reasons.
What’s more, massaging is very easy and extremely beneficial to your muscle joints.
The following points explain how to massage your shoulders properly.
- Heat the oil in a small quantity
- Take it in fingers and apply directly to the shoulders
- Massage using fingers in circular movements
- Use clockwise & anti-clockwise motions for better result
- Massage until the oil is not absorbed in the skin
- Massage every day until you feel complete relief
Avoid Weight Lifting:
Do not burden your shoulders by lifting weighted items.
Stop visiting the gym until the pain is not relieved completely.
Avoid activities like weight pulling, stretching, and other strenuous activities.
Only follow the light and simple exercises which we mentioned above, and keep yourself safe from the burdened activities, which may lead to other problems in the shoulder joints.
Take Plenty of Rest:
In a situation of severe shoulder pain, you must stay in a rest condition for a couple of days.
You need to give your body a rest in a peaceful environment to kill the pain sooner.
Also, sleep for at least 8 or more hours to provide better rest to your muscles.
No Excessive Tech:
Take a break from the computer, smartphone, and any other life activities or hobbies that affect your arms.
Instead of the substantial activities, relax on a sofa and watch televisions or enjoy some audiobooks.
There are so many other things you can do without hurting your shoulders.
No Extra Work:
Reduce your daily work and rest until the pain isn’t eliminated.
Forcing the affected shoulders for some activities can lead to more pain and other abnormal problems in the joints and tissues. [alert type=”danger” icon-size=”normal”]Also, if you are having pain due to any particular injury, you can get suffered into severe issues like shoulder fracture or immobilization, which is not a common situation for anyone.[/alert]
Muscle Relaxants:
Muscle relaxants can help you to get rid of joint pain.
They can help release tensions or spasm around the shoulder joint.
Typical muscle relaxants that you should use are Cyclobenzaprine, Tizanidine, and Baclofen.
Remember that muscle relaxants may cause drowsiness and shouldn’t be consumed while you are driving or doing any activity that requires serious attention. [alert type=”warning” icon-size=”normal”]Note: Do not use any of the medicine without talking to a doctor first.[/alert]
Pain Medication:
Medications like Acetaminophen and Aspirin can help reduce joint pain.
They may also help you fight with the injury and provide better sleep and recovery.
Topical pain-relief gels and creams can also be used, which don’t have similar side effects as oral pain medicines.
You can also try Diclofenac, which is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain.
It is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for osteoarthritis treatment. [alert type=”warning” icon-size=”normal”]However, pain medications can cause side effects like stomach upset and heartburn. Therefore, discuss with your doctor about these medications if you’re consuming them for longer than four weeks.[/alert]
Visit Physiotherapist:
Physiotherapy can help treat the joints pain!
Visit physiotherapist as they know better how to handle the muscle problems.
They’ll examine the stage of your joints problem, and you’ll be suggested effective therapy with the complete duration and details.
When you need a doctor help?
Shoulder joint pain, if caused by a particular injury or disease, may require help from the medical experts.
Severe complaints should be directly consulted with a doctor; otherwise, it may lead to a big issue in the future.
Consult with an expert if you have any of the following complains:
- You have encountered a particular accident.
- You have lifted the bulk of weight improperly.
- Pain is not reducing even after taking medicines or applying tips mentioned throughout this blog post.
- You experience shoulder pain more than once in less than a month.
- You are experiencing issues in lifting and rotating your arm normally.
- One of the arms is weaker than another one.
- You have a dislocation or if it feels like your shoulder could slide out.
- A lack of mobility and abnormal feelings in an affected arm.
[alert type=”danger” icon-size=”normal”]If you have either of these problems, visit the specialist as soon as possible to stop the problem from getting worse. Talk to the doctor about everything related to shoulder pain to get a proper solution.[/alert]
Conclusion:
Shoulders are the sensitive joint of the body and we must take better care of them by doing the right practices.
Ignoring joints pain may lead to fractures and other permanent issues to the shoulders.
Therefore, try the practical exercises and other homemade remedies described throughout this article to get complete relief.
However, If you notice nothing seems to be working for you, and you’re still observing joints pain, rush to the doctor immediately to get a practical solution!
If you have got any other question(s) in mind, please let us know by commenting below or by contacting us here.
Cheers!
