6 Tips To Reduce The Tension In Your Shoulders

Whether you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders or not, you probably still feel like you do. People tend to carry a lot of tension around in their upper back which can cause pain and discomfort. If you’re wanting to loosen up your shoulders a bit here are a few tips to try out.

Exercise

Before a good exercise, you should always thoroughly stretch. This gives your muscles a chance to loosen up and get warm before you ask them to do anything crazy. Exercising can help you to train your muscles to carry you in a controlled manner instead of haphazardly.

Heat

Putting a little heat on your tired shoulder muscles will promote greater blood flow which helps muscles to relax. You can either get a heating pad from the store for a few bucks or make your own. To make your own heating pad take a clean long tube sock and fill it with uncooked rice. Tie the end of the sock so the rice is contained. Heat the rice sock for just over a minute in the microwave and then place it on your shoulders to help your muscles relax.

Posture

With the amount of time most people spend at a desk or looking down at their phone, it’s no wondering everyone is walking around with shoulder pain. Make a conscious effort to notice how you sit at your desk. If your head isn’t over your shoulders than you’re hurting your shoulders. When you look at your phone try and hold your phone up so your neck doesn’t have to crane down, or better yet just put the phone away for a while.

Stress

It’s probably no surprise to you that your shoulder pain might be connected to that great big ball of stress that you’ve been carrying around with you. Allow your self to relax during the day. For each person, this will be different, but you might try deep breathing, guided imagery, taking breaks from stressful activities or listening to calming music. Try things out until you find what works best for you.

Sleep

Your beauty rest is time for your body to unwind and your muscles to loosen. This won’t happen if you don’t actually sleep at night. Make sure you make sleep a priority in the evening. You want 8 to 9 hours of actually sleeping to allow your body to fully reboot like it needs to.

Medical Intervention

If the pain in your shoulders goes beyond just tension you should seek the help of a medical professional. Your doctor should be able to offer suggestions for ways to relieve your pain. Some things they may suggest are acupuncture, physical therapy or in certain circumstances orthopedic surgery.

Don’t prolong your pain longer than is necessary. A tense back can lead to a grouchy person because no one can stay pleasant for long while fighting with physical pain. Help yourself by letting your shoulders finally relax.