Movement is the answer! Get out and enjoy nature! Photo Courtesy of Charly Caldwell II

Upper back and shoulder pain is a common ailment for many.

Office workers, delivery drivers, and anyone staring at a screen for hours at a time all know the tightness that comes from slouching.

While many people complain about their shoulder pain, one’s posture may in fact be the culprit.

When it comes to postural deviations, often the problem starts with tired muscles.

Holding any one position for too long, including “perfect” posture, will tire the muscles.

We naturally off-load tired muscles, distributing the load of the body through other structures, such as ligaments. This means that the body hangs off these other structures, rather than being held in position by muscles.

Slouching sets in, the back-bends forwards, the shoulders round and the muscles that hold these in place become stretched.

Pain from slouching doesn’t just come from that one source.

Take the...

Be sure to enjoy everything nature has to offer - including smelling this delight - Sweet Almond! (This particular tree is in the Children's Garden in Lakes Park - Fort Myers, FL).

The management of shoulder injuries is one of the most challenging in physiotherapy.

With the complexity of the shoulder joint and the wide variety of injuries and conditions associated with the shoulder, it can make diagnosing shoulder pain tricky.

The shoulder joint is one of the most mobile joints in the body, which, unfortunately, also makes it one of the most unstable joints and therefore highly susceptible to injury.

Shoulder injuries make up a large proportion of the musculoskeletal injuries, with nearly everyone between the ages of 18-88 experiencing at least one shoulder injury in their lifetime. 

Regardless of whether the pain is felt directly in the shoulder, there are several different anatomical structures that can trigger pain.

In some cases, the source of pain may be referred from...

Angie coaching the Geared Up team in an early morning swim clinic, pre-COVID, teaching the Geared Up team healthy movements for healthy shoulders!

Shoulders play an integral role in many of our daily activities.

They are also highly susceptible to injury.

It is therefore imperative that we do everything possible to keep our shoulders strong and injury free.

Consider that the average American spends a majority of their day performing forward focused activities that load the muscles of the shoulder.

This includes tasks as simple as sitting at a desk or driving a car.

Always moving with a forward focus creates problems as the shoulders become tight through the chest muscles (pectoralis major and minor) while at the same time becoming week and overstretched through the muscles that pull the shoulders back (scapular retractors).

This tightening and weakening respectively can lead to an exaggerated curvature of the normal spine resulting in a condition known as kyphosis.

Along with daily...