Stress in shoulders meaning

Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics: Orthopedics

Can Stress Cause Shoulder Pain?: Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics: Orthopedics

Tension and tightness in your shoulders is common symptom of anxiety and stress. It's part of your body's fight or flight stress response or its way of preparing to confront or survive a perceived physical threat.

Fortunately, shoulder pain from stress responds well to yoga, stretching and other relaxation methods.

Can Stress Cause Frozen Shoulder?

Prolonged or increased levels of stress and anxiety can cause inflammation. This, in turn, may result in a stiff or "frozen" shoulder. Tension or stress can cause tightness when it gathers in our shoulders, and when this stress is sustained over a long period, it manifests as stiffness and pain.

If the cause of your frozen shoulder is anxiety, effective treatments will involve utilizing proven tools and techniques to address the stress in your life.

How to Ease Shoulder Pain Caused by Stress

Stretching is one of the most effective ways to relieve tightness or tension in your shoulders. A stretch called "thread the needle" can help ease tension in your shoulders, as well as in your neck and back.

To perform this pose:

Get down on your hands and knees and place your palms flat on the floor. Your knees should be under your hips and your wrists under your shoulders.
With your palm facing upward, slide your right hand over to the left side of your body. It should be in contact with the floor when you do this, and your body will rotate with the movement. Gently slide your left hand forward and sink down until your right shoulder is touching the floor as you look to the left.
Support your weight using your left hand.
Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds before returning to the starting position.
Repeat steps one through four on the left side.
Complete the exercise two to three times on each side.

Tips for Managing Stress and Anxiety

Developing stress management skills is one of the best things you can do to manage stress and anxiety — and, in some cases, alleviate shoulder pain.

Try reducing stress through techniques such as:

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
Meditation
Yoga
Breathing exercises
Physical activity and exercise

Find Relief for Shoulder Pain From Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics

If your shoulder pain doesn't improve with self-care techniques such as stretching, follow up with a shoulder specialist as soon as possible.

To schedule an appointment with one of our shoulder doctors at Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics, you can book online or call us at one of our Franklin or Nashville locations today.

Author

Nick Flory Nick is the Marketing Manager for Elite Sports Medicine + Orthopedics. He has been writing and reviewing medical content since 2018. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasflory/

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Tension in Neck and Shoulders From Anxiety: 5 Home Remedies

Stress or anxiety-related tension can lead to chronic pain in the neck and shoulders. Fortunately, this can be relieved with stretching or yoga, as well as relaxation and other stress management techniques.

Let’s explore several simple techniques to help release tension in your neck and shoulders, as well as some stress management strategies to help calm your mind and body.

When you experience a stressful event or a bout of anxiety, your muscles contract, sometimes forcefully. This is an automatic or reflex reaction. It’s known as a stress response or “fight or flight” response.

It’s your body’s way of gearing up to face a perceived physical threat that you’ll need to fight off or run away from. Along with muscle tension, you may also notice other physical symptoms when you’re stressed or anxious, such as:

a fast heart rate
quick, shallow breathing
cold skin
sweating

Although your body’s stress response is designed to help you deal with physical threats, your body responds in the same way when the threat isn’t physical. Your muscles may tighten up when you’re stuck in traffic, dealing with pressure at work, or watching the news.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), your muscles and other organs may only relax again once the perceived threat has passed.

If stress is ongoing — meaning the stressful situation doesn’t seem to have a clear end — your body may stay in a heightened state of readiness to face a threat. As a result, your muscles may stay tense and tight for much longer than they need to.

According to the APA, ongoing muscle tension in your neck and shoulders can lead to more serious issues like back and shoulder pain, body aches, and migraine and tension headaches.

Preventing stress-related neck and shoulder tension isn’t always easy to do, especially in today’s busy world. But, there are techniques and strategies that may help relieve muscle tension and ease pain and discomfort.

Here are five stretches and poses you can do on a daily basis to help relieve tension and tightness in your neck and shoulders.

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The neck stretch is a deep stretch that eases tension in your neck and helps improve your range of motion.

Stand tall with your left arm at your side.
Place your right hand on your head with your fingers pointing to the left side.
Gently pull your head toward the right side until you feel a stretch in the left side of your neck.
Hold for 20 to 30 seconds and return to center.
Repeat on left side.
Do 2 to 3 times on each side.

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The neck release is a gentle way to loosen tension in both your shoulders and neck.

Stand tall with both arms at your sides.
Lower your head and bring your chin toward your chest.
Gently tilt your head towards the right side and pause for 30 seconds. You should feel a stretch in the left side of your neck.
Bring your head back to the center and lift to the starting position.
Repeat before changing sides.
Do 3 to 5 times on each side.

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Child’s Pose or Balasana is a well-known yoga pose that can help relieve neck and back pain. It’s also a gentle stretch that helps you relax.

Get on your hands and knees with your palms flat on the floor, wrists under your shoulders, and knees under your hips.
Sit back on your heels, lengthen your spine, and walk your hands in front of you. Make sure to hinge at your hips.
Fold forward and keep your arms extended in front of you.
Hold this position for 60 to 90 seconds. Focus on your breath while you release tension in your neck and shoulders.
Return to the starting position and repeat.
Do 2 to 3 times.

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The Cat-Cow or Chakravakasana is a yoga pose that allows you to stretch your back, torso, and neck, helping to release tension in these areas.

Get on your hands and knees with your palms flat on the floor, wrists under your shoulders, and knees under your hips.
Inhale and move into Cow Pose. Drop your belly towards the mat and lift your chin and chest. Look up at the ceiling. Open your chest and shoulders. Pause for a few seconds.
Exhale and move into Cat Pose. Pull your belly toward your spine and round your back toward the ceiling. You should be looking down at the mat. Pause for a few seconds.
Inhale and come back into Cow Pose and repeat the sequence.
Do 10 to 12 times.

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Thread the needle is a stretch that helps release tension in your back, neck, and shoulders.

Get on your hands and knees with your palms flat on the floor, wrists under your shoulders, and knees under your hips.
Slide your right hand (palm up) on the floor to the left side of your body. Your body will rotate with the movement, and your right shoulder will touch the floor as you look to the left side. Use your left hand to support your weight.
Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds and return to the starting position.
Repeat on the left side.
Do 2 to 3 times on each side.

Yoga is an excellent activity to help release stress-related tension in your neck and shoulders. In fact, one study found that 9 weeks of yoga resulted in pain relief and functional improvements in people with neck pain.

There are also some other strategies you can use to help relieve or prevent tension in your neck. For instance you can:

Apply a warm compress to the tight area.
Spend a few minutes doing a self-massage.
Soak in a warm tub, and add a few drops of aromatherapy oil for extra relaxation.
Adjust your workstation, so your computer is at eye level to avoid neck strain.
Check your posture while you’re at your work desk — keep your hips, shoulders, and ears in a straight line.

Get up and move away from your workstation for a few minutes every hour.
At night, use a pillow that offers good support for your neck, and is designed to keep your head and neck aligned.

We all experience stress. It’s almost impossible not to feel anxious or stressed at some point or another. But, just as your body has an automatic response to stress, it also has a built-in system to calm you down.

Known as the relaxation response, it helps you recover from the “fight or flight” response. It brings all your systems back to normal and returns your body to a calm, resting state. The relaxation response also helps protect your body from health issues related to the stress response.

There are a variety of skills and strategies you can use to help the relaxation response kick in. Here are some of them:

Stress management skills

Exercise and physical activity. Moving your body, even for 20 minutes a day, may help lower your overall stress levels and reduce tension in your muscles. If you can, get outdoors and take a brisk walk in nature.
Breathing exercises. Belly breathing, also known as diaphragmatic breathing, is one of the simplest ways to relax. Voluntarily controlling your breathing can signal your entire body to relax. With belly breathing, you breathe in deeply through your nose, allowing your belly to expand, and exhale through your mouth. Once you know how to breathe this way, you can use this skill often to help you relax.
Yoga. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, mind and body practices like yoga can help relieve stress, reduce anxiety, and boost your overall well-being. If you’re new to yoga, you may want to begin with a 10-minute restorative yoga session.
Meditation. Research has shown that practicing meditation may help reduce the inflammation response caused by stress, and also decrease anxiety. Start with 5 minutes of meditation at a time, and increase by a few minutes each week.
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). According to a 2013 study, PMR can help reduce symptoms of chronic neck pain. To do PMR, simply tense each muscle group in your body one at a time, and hold for 5 seconds. On the exhale, relax the muscles for 10 to 20 seconds before moving to the next muscle group.

Keep in mind that as with any new skill, regular practice is the key. These practices may not work for you right away and that’s OK. But, as you use them over time, you’ll likely find that they help return your body to a calmer, more restful state.

Tension and tightness in your neck and shoulders is a common symptom of stress and anxiety. It’s part of your body’s way of gearing up to survive a perceived physical threat. In other words, it’s part of the “fight or flight” stress response.

Fortunately, muscle tension in your neck and shoulders responds well to several different techniques, including targeted stretching, yoga, and other relaxation methods.

However, if the pain in your neck or shoulders is severe, or doesn’t improve with stretches or other self-care techniques, make sure to follow up with your doctor.

what shoulders can tell

18+

If you want to understand a lot about yourself and others, you should learn to read not only by facial expressions and gestures. Sometimes it’s enough to look at the position of a person’s shoulders. And you can understand a lot!

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Qualities of a man

Body Oriented Psychotherapy

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From childhood, we all learned: the back should be kept straight. Our mothers explained this by saying that it is more beneficial for health - and, of course, beautiful. Growing up, those of us who have passed years of ballet, rhythmic gymnastics and music school forget about our posture, like most annoying parenting advice. But even in spite of this, we “have a lot of experience behind us”, “we lend a shoulder to a friend”, “we go shoulder to shoulder”, every now and then we “throw off our shoulders” something. The shoulder complex is always in sight, it cannot be hidden or forced to give a false signal. Nevertheless, it is he who remains the least studied in the science of non-verbal communication. What can shoulders tell about anyway?

V stands for vitality

The ancient Greeks were hardly knowledgeable about body language, but they certainly knew a lot about physical beauty and health. As emphasized by the British zoologist and ethologist Desmond Morris , author of The Body Language Bible, and David Givens , the American anthropologist, author of the book Sign Language is the Language of Love, it is the broad muscular shoulders, such as those of the statue of David, that symbolize strength and courage. Ancient Greek sculptures of a special type - kouros - depicted entirely young men with a V-shaped figure. “It is genetically determined,” says Morris, “that we attribute positive qualities to men with broad shoulders and narrow hips. This physique tells us that its owner is healthy and full of energy. Choosing such a man as a partner, a woman, as it were, receives biological advantages. At the same time, we see true femininity in emphatically fragile, weakly expressed shoulders, with all their appearance demonstrating the defenselessness of their owner.

However, talking about shoulders as an "attractive factor" is not entirely fair - not all men are born athletes, and the fragility of women is completely subjective. True beauty is determined by posture more than genetics. This term seems to be clear to everyone, but still ambiguous. From a physiological point of view, the primary task of posture is to protect the musculoskeletal system from overload and injury by aligning body segments and balancing muscles. However, we usually mean by this the bearing, the manner of carrying ourselves, the habitual and comfortable position of our torso, taken unconsciously. A person with a straight back and a high head in the eyes of others is more self-confident, successful, noble. The expression "royal posture" speaks for itself.

Harold Reilly , one of the world's foremost physiotherapists, has approached this issue globally. In his opinion, the history of the evolution of the human race can be told in terms of posture. Because as soon as the anthropoid got up on its hind legs and reached out
to the stars, it became a man. “From an anatomical point of view, good posture and a straight back are actually not quite natural,” says the specialist. “However, in human beings, the forces of evolution have always been directed upwards, which was expressed in ideas, ideals and posture. Man has developed an incomparable mastery of the hands and fingers - this happened as a result of replacing the natural horizontal posture, which supported the arrangement of the body's organs and the direction of the blood flow to the legs, with a vertical one. It not only ensures the direction of blood flow to the brain, but also enhances the supply of stimuli to it. Plus, it frees up your hands. The main thing that Reilly is sure of is that posture largely reflects our reaction to life.

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Direct connection

For a long time, psychologists and physiotherapists have studied the influence that various factors have on the shoulder complex - negative thinking, emotional shock, the environment. Their findings are not exactly surprising, but make you think. The most beneficial effect for the shoulders is positive thinking and creative action. On the other hand, negative thoughts and adverse circumstances can not only depress the mind and soul, but also affect posture. The connection of a straight back with a sense of danger and a decadent mood is well known to psychiatrists and psychologists. It is no coincidence that such epithets as drooping, discouraged, depressed, broken, downcast, hunched over - all describe, first of all, a sluggish posture. And on the contrary, when we hear good news or achieve success in one area or another, we unconsciously “straighten up”, walk straight, proudly raising our heads. Being a stooped winner is as strange and ridiculous as being sad with good posture. It is not difficult to check this: it is enough to consciously straighten your back, raise your chin high and think about something bad or make yourself upset. And then do the same, but with lowered shoulders and head - the difference will be obvious. The whole trick is to learn to straighten yourself in moments of weakness and apathy, to bring this habit to automatism, and also to be more attentive to others - to notice the state of the shoulders, what mood a person is in, and act in accordance with the received non-verbal information.

In addition to poor posture due to professional postures and the habit of inattention to daily life, we must also take into account factors caused by adverse reactions to the environment: frustration, malaise or negative thinking with the so-called absent gaze. The way we walk, stand and sit betrays us. Fortunately, usually a person counteracts most of the negative influences and straightens up again - as far as he is used to. However, some negative factors have a more lasting effect and may cause certain changes in posture. The specialist calls our defensive posture “turtle neck”: the shoulders are rounded, the head and neck are pressed into them - this is how we reflect the blow. Another characteristic position is the figure of a defeated person. He loitering, hunched over and hanging his head, he seems to be irresistibly drawn down. The older we get, the more we begin to hunch over, as if demonstrating to the world our defeat in this life. Therefore, it can be argued that while we keep our posture, we remain young and purposeful - both externally and internally.

A shell for each

The relationship between the structure and dynamics of the body, as well as the psychological characteristics of the personality, was studied and described in the most detail by the founders of body-oriented psychotherapy - Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen . Reich strongly emphasized the unity of body and mind, always included problems related to the human body in his psychotherapeutic research, and subsequently developed the concept of "characteristic shell". The psychologist paid special attention to the chronic energetic blockages at the physical level that we use to eliminate or minimize unfinished emotional experiences. He called these defense mechanisms “character armor”, or “muscle shell”, referring to chronic muscle tension that isolates a person from unpleasant emotions.

Another important concept of body-oriented therapy is “the ground under the feet”, or “grounding”, which means energetic contact with the ground, a feeling of support, which provides stability and the ability to move. "Grounding of feelings" is, first of all, contact, awareness and lack of blocking of the bodily manifestations of these feelings, - explains psychologist Irina Malkina-Pykh . – The opposite of “grounding” is “suspension”. It is said that a person is in limbo when he is involved in an emotional conflict that paralyzes and prevents him from taking any effective action to change the situation. In such conflicts, two opposing feelings arise, one blocking the expression of the other.” According to the specialist, posture or the position of the upper body is one way to see the "suspension" physically. There are several general states of such “hanging”, but the most common is what Alexander Lowen called the “hanger” type: the shoulders are raised and resemble a square, the head and neck are tilted forward, the arms dangle, not fixed in the joints, the chest is also raised, as if the body and the truth hangs on an invisible hanger. “Raised shoulders are an expression of fear,” says Irina Malkina-Pykh. - If this is the usual state of a person, it means that he maintains a pose of fear, which he cannot get rid of - he simply does not realize his fear. The situation that caused it is already forgotten, and the emotions themselves are suppressed. These habitual postures do not emerge from a single experience—they imply long-term insecurity. The specialist continues the thought of Harold Reilly: “The position of fear is compensated by moving the head forward. A person, as it were, counteracts the threat, or at least tries to look out for it. Although this posture is actually a denial of fear, it says, "I don't see anything to be afraid of."

It is the connection of the body with the hands that speaks of a good adaptation of the individual to reality - the ability to establish contacts with his own kind, to protect his interests, but at the same time - the ability to share, experience the joy of mutual contact. With mental fragility, too strong emotional vulnerability, there is no connection between the hands and the body - they "live" separately. Alexander Lowen saw the reason for this in the strong tension of the shoulder joints - the shoulder girdle in such people seems to be "frozen" and takes a limited part in the movement of the hands.

Since psychic and bodily phenomena are considered equivalent, rigidity on one level implies the same rigidity on the other. Therefore, the first step in body psychotherapy is a deeper awareness of oneself, an understanding of what we are doing, what we are thinking

Reading on the shoulders

Highly raised shoulders in combination with a slightly stooped back and retracted chin - helplessness, fear nervousness, insecurity.

Protruding shoulders - a feeling of weakness and depression, an inferiority complex.

Freely dropped shoulders - a sense of confidence, self-control and situation.

Shoulders laid back - determination to act actively, strength, enterprise, but at the same time - overestimation of one's own capabilities.

TEXT: Julia Sivakova

Shoulder muscle imbalance - treatment, symptoms, causes, diagnosis

Muscle imbalance is quite common in people, even in world-class athletes. The muscles in the front of the thigh (quadriceps) are quite often stronger than the muscles in the back of the thigh. And the upper trapezius muscles are usually stronger than the lower trapezius. The anterior deltoids are stronger than the posterior deltoids. They develop, as a rule, the muscles that a person sees and they are in front. The shoulder is a classic example of the part of the body that people try to develop first. Not surprisingly, 30% of all strength training injuries occur in the shoulder joint.

The muscles of the shoulder can be divided into two groups:

Flexors and extensors, and they include the deltoid muscle, supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles, small and large round muscles, subscapularis muscle The deltoid muscle has the most complex and diverse functions. The deltoid muscle consists of three bundles
Anterior deltoid - located in front of the shoulder, lateral deltoid in the middle of the shoulder and posterior deltoid in the back of the shoulder

Data from a bodybuilder study showed that the strength of the anterior deltoid muscle could exceed that of ordinary people by 5 times. And the lateral deltoid muscles could be 3 times stronger. At the same time, oddly enough, the posterior deltoids were only 15% stronger.

The muscle imbalance between the anterior and posterior delts can be partly explained by the emphasis on exercises that engage the anterior delts and the absence of exercises for the posterior delt.

The coordinated work of the shoulder muscles allows you to perform the necessary movements and maintain the stability of the shoulder joint. A violation of the interaction of the muscles that stabilize the shoulder with the muscles that perform movements is called muscle imbalance of the shoulder. This disorder creates problems with movement, as the muscles responsible for movement are stronger than the muscles responsible for stability and this leads to instability.

In most cases, muscle imbalances can result from repetitive movements. The most common is excessive strengthening of the muscles of the internal rotator of the shoulder against the background of a weak development of the muscles of the external rotator. The internal rotators are strengthened with chest and back exercises, while the external rotators are rarely worked. This results in an imbalance of the rotator cuff muscles and damage to both the rotator cuff muscles and the tendons. This imbalance can be corrected with specific exercises to strengthen the external rotation muscles.

Causes

Most often, an imbalance of the shoulder muscles occurs due to repetitive movements with an uneven load on different muscle groups. In addition, shoulder injuries can be the cause of shoulder muscle imbalance. Also, damage to the tendons and ligaments or prolonged static loads, poor posture can also contribute to the development of an imbalance in the muscles of the shoulder. For example, in professions associated with prolonged sitting (office workers, drivers working at a computer), there is often an imbalance in the muscles of the shoulder. While the inner rotators are tucked up, the outer rotators are in a stretched state and progressively loosen as a result of sitting posture and support. In such cases, it is necessary to stretch the internal rotators and strengthen the external rotators with exercises.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

Imbalance of the shoulder muscles is usually manifested by symptoms such as pain, burning in the shoulder area, fatigue, decreased range of motion in the shoulder. The presence of such symptoms allows the doctor to suspect the presence of an imbalance in the muscles of the shoulder. To exclude organic changes in the shoulder, instrumental examination methods, such as MRI, are prescribed, especially if there is a suspicion of damage to the rotator cuff.

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