Ways To Help Prevent Shoulder Damage

Even though my shoulders are sore and damaged, they still have full range of motion and function. Considering my 39 years of travel, sports, and adventure, they have remained healthy far longer than many of my peers. I owe much of this resilience to the everyday tips I have learned from doctors and colleagues. If I had learned some of these tips sooner and if certain assistive devices had been available, my shoulders could be 100% healthy. Here’s what I’ve learned that has helped me and what I wish I had known or had on hand sooner.

To make your shoulders last longer, physical therapist and certified athletic trainer Erica Platil says it’s important to do daily exercises that keep your shoulder muscles in balance. Pushing a wheelchair develops a lot of muscle in the front, which over time can push the shoulders forward, so it is important to develop muscles in the back and between the shoulder blades to keep the head of the shoulder centered on the cavity thereof.

I learned this early on from a buddy who would roll up long inclines and ramps backward. I adopted this habit and could feel the burn in my upper back and the back of my shoulders, and I am sure this helped keep my shoulders balanced and healthy. Another way I found to work my back muscles is, when operating a handcycle or arm ergometer, to exercise the back part of the “pedaling stroke” (pulling backward) and relax my arms on the forward pushing part of the stroke. Today, my damaged shoulders feel considerably better after taking gentle 30-minute bike rides using this technique. Many shoulder balancing exercises can be performed at home with inexpensive Therabands (see “Preserving Upper Extremity Function: What You Should Know”).

“Listen to your body,” says Platil. If your shoulders are aching, rest them! This is much easier today with lightweight power assist units like the SmartDrive and SMOOV. For me, the SmartDrive has been a lifesaver and is something I’ve used more and more since I first tried one in 2013. Without it, my shoulders would have failed long ago. I wish the SmartDrive had been around decades earlier to allow me to rest my shoulders at the first sign of aggravation. If your shoulder is aggravated, maybe use a slide board and shower bench for a while so you can fully rest your shoulders until the inflamed tendons calm down – I wish I had listened to more advice a long time ago.

“Rest is also important, even if the pain is just in the muscles,” he says. “If you’ve done an intense workout and your shoulder is sore, using assistive devices to rest allows the micro-tears in the muscles caused by the workout to heal, which in the long run will build more muscle and should strengthen the shoulder.”

Evidence shows that a combination of the following can help with shoulders and overall health:

• Get enough sleep: Your body heals when you sleep.
• Watch your diet: Avoiding sugar and simple carbohydrates that turn into sugar helps reduce inflammation, because sugars feed inflammation.
• Listen to your body: don’t do things that hurt your shoulders.
• Adjust your sleeping position: Not lying on a sore shoulder benefits your shoulders and overall health.

From my anecdotes, keeping the weight down has helped me keep my shoulders strong. Even when they were painless and strong, I found it much easier to make position changes when I was thinner. As I get older, keeping my weight down is more difficult, but also very important.

Pay attention to basic biomechanics. Avoid lifting with outstretched arms as it puts tremendous strain on the shoulders, something I didn’t pay much attention to until I heard about a famous wheelchair racer who tore his rotator cuff simply lifting a garbage bag. with arm extended. Since then, I focus on keeping my upper arms close to my sides when I lift, so that I use my biceps and not my shoulders.

Other shoulder-preserving ideas fit into the “push smarter, not harder” category, such as making sure the wheels are properly aligned and, since it takes more effort to propel the chair when the tires are low, keep them at the maximum pressure indicated on the sides. of the tires. To do this, I keep a tire gauge and a portable high-pressure electric pump on hand (available online for $40 to $80) and check the tire pressure once a week. I also keep an eye on the alignment of the rear wheels to make sure they are not aligned or misaligned. If your tires seem to be wearing down much faster than normal, or if your new tires squeal loudly when rolling in a straight line, the wheels are likely out of alignment.

Finally, while it may feel great to drive a large or taller-than-normal 4×4 vehicle, the extra strain on your shoulders builds up over time. My shoulders prefer a car where the transfer from chair to car seat is about the same height. And since pulling puts less strain on your shoulders than pushing, I grab the top handle inside the door to pull myself up and into the seat rather than out of the wheelchair. When I get the chair into the car, it’s easier to tilt the backrest, brace my shoulder against the inside of the car frame, and lift the chair with a bicep curl rather than my entire arm.