4 Things You Can Do to Relieve Shoulder Pain

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes read

Having shoulder pain that just won’t go away? 

It’s very frustrating!

Shoulder pain can come on for many reasons, but the big question is what can be done about it??

While it all depends on the possible cause behind your shoulder pain, we have 4 things you can do to find relief!

What are Common Causes of Shoulder Pain?

Shoulder pain can come on suddenly or gradually show up.

One of the first things to acknowledge is that if your shoulder pain is related to a specific injury or trauma, then you need to have it looked at right away.

This is important in order to rule out serious injuries, such as a fracture, dislocation or tear, that might need immediate attention and treatment.

For our purposes here, let’s get into common causes of shoulder pain NOT related to a recent trauma or injury.

Here are some of the top possibilities:

• Overuse or shoulder tendonitis
• Shoulder impingement
• Arthritis
• Bursitis
• Snapping tendon
• Frozen shoulder 
• Pinched nerve 

All of these conditions have the potential to cause shoulder pain and limited use of the arm.

4 Tips to Relieve Shoulder Pain

Suffering and dealing with ongoing pain isn’t an option.

That’s why we’ve come up with 4 top tips to help relieve your shoulder pain and help you recover faster.

Let’s take a look!

Rest

Believe it or not, if you keep forcing yourself to use the painful shoulder…. It’ll keep hurting!

It’s very important to allow the shoulder at least a day or two of rest, if not more, to allow it to calm down.

This doesn’t mean put it in a sling or treat it like a limp noodle, but don’t keep using it like normal if it’s hurting.

Ice

When you start having shoulder pain, there’s a very good possibility that some inflammation is contributing to your pain. In a case like this, ice is your best bet.

Ice the hurting shoulder throughout the day, as needed; however, take a break from the ice after using for 20 minutes max. 

Allow at least a 30-minute break before re-applying the ice to allow a little recovery time for your circulation and avoid a possible ice burn.

Position the Shoulder Comfortably

Keep the shoulder positioned as comfortably as possible. It should feel supported and a little elevated.

One key challenge to point out with shoulder pain is trying to sleep with it. What a nightmare it can be!

Try your best to keep something supportive under the entire arm on the painful side. A sleeping pillow is a great option for this.

The pillow can be positioned under the arm while lying on your back or your side. Make sure to try and avoid sleeping directly on the painful shoulder.

If you’re finding sleeping a big challenge, here’s an idea for a simple shoulder stretch to try before settling into bed.

Gradually Begin Moving Again

As you start to notice some improvements in your shoulder pain, resist the temptation to jump back into fully using it!

This is an easy way to re-aggravate and re-injure yourself. Then we’re back at square 1.

SLOWLY begin to re-introduce gentle movement and functional use back into your routine. 

Maybe instead of lifting that full stack of dishes into the overhead cabinets, you do one at a time for now.

Instead of trying to carry the full load of laundry, make a couple of trips with lighter loads.

When it comes to exercise, slow and steady wins the race. 

Be gentle with your movement, encouraging pain-free range of motion. As you begin to try and use weights and resistance again, start with a very low amount and gradually work your way back up.

Take-Home Points

The key takeaways here are: rest, ice, position comfortably, and gradually re-introduce movement.

Next time you’re having shoulder pain, give these a shot!

If your pain just won’t give in no matter what you try, make sure to give your doctor a call for a closer look.

The sooner you address your pain, the faster you’ll recover!