Protecting Your Shoulders

​The shoulder joint is the most mobile joint in the body. Allowing a full 360 degrees of motion on multiple planes. This allows the shoulder to be one of the most functional part of the body, but this comes at a price. Since the shoulder moves so freely it is also the least stable joint. Damaging the joint through injury, or wear that occurs over time, restricts your ability to function. Try these tips to protect the shoulder from injury.

Strengthen the Rotator Cuff
Strengthening the muscles surrounding the shoulder will decrease the likelihood of a shoulder injury. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles. I won’t bore you with their long names, but each one works together with the others to maintain your shoulder mobility and prevent injury. Their job is to keep the shoulder in the best position to prevent injuries. When these muscles are undeveloped they cannot perform their job and your shoulder becomes vulnerable. Holding low weight dumbbells manipulate the rotator cuff by moving your hand. This creates lateral and abducting movements in the rotator cuff that will strengthen the muscles.

Chiropractic
There exists a large amount of tissue, ligaments, and muscles that support the rotator cuff. All it takes is one of these elements to be misaligned and the whole delicate balance is off. This creates shoulder and often neck pain follows. Having a chiropractor make adjustments will relieve pain.
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Yoga
Yoga is not only a rapidly growing industry, but the benefits are growing as well. Yoga is versatile and can be used to strengthen, rehab, increase movement, and stability in your joints. Making this great for protecting or rehabbing a previously injured rotator cuff. Here is a great article by Yoga International that is specifically about understanding and preventing shoulder injuries via yoga.