Top 10 Exercises to Relieve Shoulder Pain and Tightness
Exercise #1: Lying Down with Your Arm Behind You
You may have noticed that some of your friends are lying down on the sofa or even on their bed while others are standing up. They all seem to be doing something else besides sleeping. That’s because they’re all performing different types of movements during sleep.
If you were to lie down with your arm behind you, it would be like you were lying down with your arms at your sides. If you didn’t do anything during the day, then when night comes around, your body will naturally fall asleep. However if you did something during the day, then after waking up from sleep, it will feel unnatural to be laying on your back without any movement. You’ll probably wake up with a sore back and legs.
The same thing happens when you lie down with your head against a pillow. When you close your eyes, your brain will automatically go into deep sleep mode. Then once again, when you open them, it feels unnatural to be resting on one side without moving. You might wake up with a sore head and legs.
So what does happen? What type of movement causes our bodies to fall asleep and wake up?
You may already know from experience that the brain uses a combination of physical and mental activities to trigger what we call sleep. If you were to toss and turn for a long period of time, your body would reach a point where it is so physically tired that it wouldn’t matter what you were doing with your mind, your body would naturally fall asleep.
That’s what this exercise is all about.
Step 1: Lie down on your back with your hands at your side. You might want to put a pillow under your head. Crossing your arms or legs are also an option.
Step 2: Look up at the ceiling and try to find a corner where the two walls meet each other.
Step 3: Focus on the corner and try not to blink for as long as you can.
Step 4: After a few moments, you should start to feel like you are losing focus. The image from the corner of the room will start to get blurry.
Step 5: Next thing you know, your eyes will be closed and you’ll be on your way to dreamland.
Exercise #2: Sitting with Your Legs crossed
This is an exercise in which you are required to sit with your legs crossed. While sitting however, you must make sure your body is always moving in some way.
Step 1: Sit cross-legged on the floor and keep your back straight.
Step 2: Place both of your hands on top of your legs and start bouncing up and down at a consistent rate of speed. You might want to keep a clock beside you so you can see how long you have been doing this for. The more you can practice this, the better!
Sources & references used in this article:
Effect of a standard exercise protocol on shoulder pain in long-term wheelchair users by KA Curtis, TM Tyner, L Zachary, G Lentell, D Brink… – Spinal cord, 1999 – nature.com
Neck and shoulder pain related to computer use by Z Ming, M Närhi, J Siivola – Pathophysiology, 2004 – Elsevier
Reliability and validity of a new method of measuring posterior shoulder tightness by TF Tyler, T Roy, SJ Nicholas, GW Gleim – Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports …, 1999 – jospt.org
Scapular dyskinesis and its relation to shoulder pain by BW Kibler, J McMullen – … -Journal of the American Academy of …, 2003 – journals.lww.com
Work related neck–shoulder pain: a review on magnitude, risk factors, biochemical characteristics, clinical picture and preventive interventions by B Larsson, K Søgaard, L Rosendal – Best Practice & Research Clinical …, 2007 – Elsevier
Effects of a home exercise programme on shoulder pain and functional status in construction workers by PM Ludewig, JD Borstad – Occupational and environmental medicine, 2003 – oem.bmj.com
Physiotherapy interventions for shoulder pain by S Green, R Buchbinder… – Cochrane database of …, 2003 – cochranelibrary.com
Translations of the humerus in persons with shoulder impingement symptoms by PM Ludewig, TM Cook – Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2002 – jospt.org
