Do shoulder braces really reduce pain?
Shoulder support braces are designed to support your shoulders to help speed up the recovery process after an injury. It does this by reducing the stress on the shoulder, allowing it to get more rest and heal faster.
Not only protects your shoulders:
Rotator cuff shoulder braces reduce the risk of re-injury or dislocation by limiting certain shoulder movements that can lead to injury.
Some other benefits are:
Reduces the effects of inflammation by applying pressure to the shoulder joint.
Put your shoulders in the best position for faster recovery.
Improve blood flow by raising your shoulders, which is essential for healing.
The Ultimate Guide to Shoulder Support
What other treatment options are there for your shoulder?
Now, shoulder braces for rotator cuff or bursitis can help reduce your pain by treating symptoms. However, it does not address the underlying cause of your pain. This is where physical therapy can help.
Physical therapy can reduce your pain by creating a customized treatment plan for your specific area of the shoulder.
You will see that your shoulder is made up of a set of muscles and tendons that surround your shoulder joint, allowing it to move freely and remain stable.
Physical therapy can help with rotator cuff injuries by strengthening all surrounding muscles to compensate for damaged tendons and improve shoulder mobility.
A physical therapist will also help strengthen your shoulder blade (scapula), which is essential for shoulder stability and injury prevention.
What is a shoulder rest and how does it work?
How to relieve pain from shoulder injuries
1.) Avoid getting back into the car without turning. This puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders.
2.) Avoid putting your shoulders in the same position during repetitions. For example, a painting that is stroked in the same place for a long time. This can overwork specific muscles or tendons in the shoulder, which can lead to inflammation in the shoulder, leading to tendonitis.
3.) Temporarily avoid over throwing movements such as swimming or baseball. As you get better, you can gradually return to these types of activities.
4.) If you go to the gym, temporarily avoid challenging weightlifting like neck presses and bench presses. These exercises put a lot of load on the rotator cuff and can be irritating. Starting off with simpler weightlifting exercises like bicep curls and bent-over rows can help you recover faster.
How to fall asleep and get better sleep with shoulder pain
First, let's start with the worst sleeping position, lying on your back with your hands behind your head. Instead, place your arms by your sides or place a pillow under your elbows and your hands on your stomach. Avoiding the overhead position when you have shoulder pain should help you improve faster. It's important to note that this position is a completely safe sleeping position when you don't have shoulder pain.
Lying on your side is a good position to sleep when you have shoulder pain. Sleeping on the painful side can be uncomfortable, so try sleeping on the less painful side. It is recommended to add some pillows when sleeping on your side. Just place two pillows next to you and place your sore arm on top. This puts your shoulders in a natural resting position, and it's a very comfortable sleeping position. Also, you can try placing a pillow between your body and the sore arm to keep it in a comfortable position.
Try these sleeping positions above, and you may notice less pain when you wake up in the morning.
5 Shoulder Strengthening Exercises for Shoulder Pain
These are examples of exercises that can help relieve shoulder pain.
Not all shoulder exercises are suitable for all situations. All of this is best done with the help of a physical therapist who will know the exact best exercises from which your injury will benefit the most, and who can show you how to perform them safely and correctly.
Do all of these shoulder exercises carefully and slowly, and stop if you experience shoulder pain during the exercise.
climb the wall
Facing the wall, move your fingers slowly up and down the wall. You can also turn your body to the side, extend your arms to the side, and move your fingers up.
Shoulder Swing Seesaw
Find a chair or something to support you while you stand. Bend over and let the injured shoulder and arm drop straight down. Swing your body and gently move your arms. You want it to move in all directions, back and forth, side to side, clockwise and counterclockwise in a circular motion.
Do this for 1-2 minutes, 3 times a day.
The next three exercises for shoulder pain require flexible tubing, ideally including handles.
Straight arm row
Attach the tube to a doorknob or similar, and hold it by the handle with your arms out in front of you, facing whatever the tube is attached to. Then, slowly pull back until your elbows are against your side.
Hold for 3-5 seconds, then return to the starting position. Repeat several times.
belt pull open
To do this, you will have and on each hand, about shoulder-width apart.
The arms can be extended horizontally from your chest (with the elbows straight) or with the elbows bent and at the side of your body.
Pull the straps apart and feel your shoulder blades together.
Repeat 10-15 times in a row
shoulder flexion
For this, you attach the tubing to your feet. Hold the pipe along your side and lift your arm up and out until it is directly in front of you, at shoulder level. Hold for 3-5 seconds, then return. Repeat this ten times.
