Hard stiff shoulders can be caused by daily activities and postures, which can even lead to headaches. Stretching and massaging those stiff muscles, and being aware of your posture will open up life without worrying about stiff shoulders. This time, we will look at some simple solutions to eliminate those shoulder pain.
During the cold winter days, we tend to curl our bodies up. While looking at your smartphone or reading a book inside, you might find yourself hunched back. The accumulation of such postures causes stiff shoulders and sometimes even headaches. Today, we will examine the symptoms and causes of stiff shoulders and introduce some stretches to loosen up those stiff shoulders.
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Symptoms and Causes of Stiff Shoulder
Stiff shoulders are symptoms that appear from the base of the neck to the nape of the neck and from the shoulders to the shoulder blades. Specifically, there are various unpleasant symptoms such as pain, stiffness, and tension that one would experience. In severe cases, it can also cause nausea and headaches.
Why Do We Experience Stiff Shoulders?
The cause of stiff shoulder is poor blood circulation and the accumulation of body waste in the muscles of the shoulders, which stimulates nerves. Throughout the course of many common, everyday activities put burden on our shoulders and contribute to stiff shoulders. There are various scenes such as tension caused by mental stress, eye strain caused by long hours of facing a smartphone or computer, work that puts a burden on the back and shoulders, posture problems such as hunchback, lack of exercise, poor blood circulation due to coldness, and may others. Probably many are pretty familiar with some that are listed above.
If You Have Symptoms of Stiff Shoulder
Factors that cause stiff shoulders are often unavoidable in the workplace or at home. If you feel symptoms of stiff shoulders, there is a technique that everyone should definitely try. From here, we will look at how to easily eliminate stiff shoulders by stretching and loosening those muscles right in the comforts of your home!
Stretch
1. Stretching the “Scalene Muscules” on Both Side of the Neck
- Firstly, let us get rid of that stiff neck caused by smartphones and computers that lead to stiff shoulders.
- Slowly tilt your neck to the side.
- Use the weight of your head and gently stretch, do this for both sides.
- Then extend your chin out diagonally. Now let us also try this for both sides.
- If you want to stretch even further, it is also effective to place your hand on the opposite side of your head as you tilt and apply a little pressure.
- Try to feel your neck stretching nicely.
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2. Stretch the Front and Back of Your Neck
- Place both your hands on the back of your head and bring your arms towards your face.
- Then as if looking down at your stomach while exhaling, slowly tilt your head down.
- While inhaling, gently tilt your head back into an extended position with your eyes facing the ceiling.
- At this time, please feel the muscles of the front and back of your neck as well as your back stretch.
- It is essential to sit in a chair in the proper posture in both stretches and not strain yourself during these stretches. Do not forget to breathe deeply and steadily
3. Scapula (Shoulder Blades) Goalpost Stretch
Next, let us stretch the muscles around the shoulder blades, which is the main factor of stiff shoulders.
It is a very easy and straightforward stretch that even beginners can do using a towel. The stretch is to be done while standing.
- To begin, prepare a face towel.
- Hold both ends of the towel, stretch it out tightly, and slowly raise both hands up towards the ceiling.
- Next, while exhaling and keeping the tension in the towel, slowly lower your elbows as if pulling your shoulder blades.
- At this moment, pass the towel through the back of your head.
- Keep this position for 20 seconds.
- Repeat this several times.
The strength will vary depending on the width of the towel, so it is recommended to stretch out the towel to the width that suits you.
Massage
Next, let us massage those stiff muscles. If you can prepare two tennis balls, please come join us!
Lie on your back with two tennis balls placed perpendicular to your spine. At this time, the position of the balls should be just below the shoulders.
The point is not to forcefully move the ball with your weight but to take a deep breath as you loosen up the muscles. Imagine inflating your back and breath in and out as if sinking into the floor.
While repeating this movement, as if tracing your shoulder blades, gradually move the tennis ball down towards your waist. Please try to loosen those muscles while still being aware of your breathing.
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How to Realize a Life Without Stiff Shoulder
Finally, we will explore some daily habits to prevent stiff shoulders.
Above all, it is best to maintain a good posture.
First, stand with your back against the wall and open your legs to shoulder width. Point your toes and gaze straight ahead.
Suck your stomach in and have your head, shoulder blades, buttocks, calves, and heels all touching the wall.
Push the floor firmly with the soles of your feet and reach up as if the top of your head is being pulled up to the ceiling.
This stretch will help to attain a good posture. While you are going about your daily life standing, remember this and consciously correct your posture. Just by keeping this posture, although it may seem to be not much, is effective training.
Now, while performing the stretching and massage mentioned above on a regular basis, it is also essential to keep your body warm.
Ginger tea is recommended to warm up the body. Just add a proper amount of grated ginger and honey to hot tea and voilà! By the time you finish drinking that cup of tea, your body will be nice and warm.
Today, we explored the causes of stiff shoulders, stretching techniques to eliminate stiffness, and how to prevent the stiffness from happening. So now that we are all informed let us start to aim for a life with no worries of stiff shoulders through regular stretching, massaging, and your daily conscious efforts to keep a good posture! The neck is a delicate part of the body, so please take good care of it.