Bad Habits That Are Harming Your Shoulder
While joint wear isn’t an inevitable part of getting older, it’s common when you have a job that requires repeated motions or when you play a sport that puts ongoing strain on joints. You develop habits that may not hurt you day-to-day but over time can wear down components of the joints.
The shoulder is one of the most complex and flexible joints in your body, and it’s capable of great strength too. It is, however, vulnerable to certain bad habits that contribute to osteoarthritis and other degenerative conditions that emerge later.
When you have shoulder pain or mobility issues, contact Bahri Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Jacksonville. They’re shoulder pain specialists, ready to diagnose and treat your shoulder condition.
Common shoulder repetitive strain injuries
Shoulders are vulnerable to sudden traumatic injuries and wear-and-tear conditions that take years to develop. When we look at bad habits that harm the shoulder, it’s typically repetitive strain problems that are to blame.
The origins of repetitive strain injuries usually center around the mechanics of movement. For a baseball pitcher, throwing hundreds of pitches with poor form can accelerate shoulder wear. The same is true for a machine operator who repeats a movement hundreds of times daily with arms elevated.
Tendinitis and bursitis are two disorders that often result from situations like these. The medical suffix “itis” indicates inflammation, so these are problems caused by inflammation to tendons and bursa sacs. When inflammation happens, it can irritate nerve tissue, causing pain.
Repetitive strain can also lead to premature wear of cartilage covering the joint ends of the bone. This is what we know as osteoarthritis. Your shoulders contain two joints, each that can suffer from osteoarthritis.
Bad habits that harm your shoulder
To prevent or relieve the repeated strains on your shoulder, you must identify the bad habits within your game or workday that irritate the shoulder and its components. While this is not a complete list, consider these conditions and situations and compare them with your activities.
- Working with your arms elevated above shoulder height
- Downward pressure on a shoulder
- Reaching to use a computer mouse
- Power tool vibrations affecting the arm
- Contact stress from resting your hand or wrist on a hard surface
- Sweeping motions of the arm, such as scanning groceries at a checkout
- Lifting heavy loads
- Carrying heavy loads away from your body
- Poor computer station ergonomics
- Poor sitting and standing posture
- Sports participation without warmup
- Underdeveloped arm muscles
Playing or working through pain is another bad habit that can create long-term issues. Small rotator cuff tears can worsen if you don’t allow time for healing. Serious tears could require surgery if the damage becomes significant.
Schedule an examination at the nearest location of Bahri Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Clinic. You can reach the most convenient office by phone or through the online appointment request link. Your shoulders are too crucial to daily life to ignore when problems emerge.