Tuesday 10 June 2014

Shoulder sprain awareness

There are many ways in which you can incur a shoulder sprain. It can really get in the way with your everyday life. Simple things like carrying your backpack over your shoulders can create a lot of discomfort. It's not a major thing to be concerned about but it shouldn't be ignored either.

A shoulder sprain occurs when the ligaments in our shoulders suffer a tear or are extended beyond their capacity. These ligaments keep the shoulder bones in place. To be specific, it's when the glenohumeral joint is affected. The glenohumeral joint is where the shoulder blades, the bone and the humerus meet. A sprain occurs when there is a heavy blow to the shoulder causing a dislocated shoulder or a light trauma to the juncture. You can find more information at http://www.sprainedshoulder.org

A shoulder sprain can be caused by a forceful twist of the shoulder, a hard blow to the shoulder, using your arms to break a fall without bending them.

Before it gets worse, you must attend to the shoulder sprain. It you don't attend to it, it will aggravate the injury and interfere with your daily life. If it gets worse, you won’t be able to play any sports or do any vigorous exercise, cause problems with your balance, can cause loose joints and connective tissue disorders and decrease the strength in your muscles and ligaments.

You will be able to tell if it is a shoulder sprain if you find it hard to move your shoulder, raise your arms, have pain in your shoulder, have swelling in your shoulder or have any inflammation in your shoulder area.

You can get an x-ray, MRI or an arthrogram to check if it really is a shoulder sprain.
To treat it, rest your shoulder as much as possible, 3 to 4 times a day, apply an ice pack for 15-20 minutes. Do this for a few days.

When you have received a shoulder sprain, gentle exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles can be beneficial. If you want more flexibility and strength, putting your shoulder through a rehabilitation regime of gentle exercises can really help.


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