Archive for the ‘Stretches for your muscles’ Category
Happy Thanksgiving
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. I spent this year with my family following the first Turkey Trot I’ve ever experienced. I ran a 2.5 mile fun run with my cousin Corina. I felt great and I still ate my share in pumpkin pie.
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Stretches for pain between Shoulders
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
I’ve been observing a lot of Upper Cross Syndrome. Generally patients will come in with tightness or pain in the upper back and between their shoulder blades. After observing their posture, I see a pattern of imbalances in their muscles. There are two types of muscles, there are muscles which seem short, tight and adhesive and the muscles that have been overstretched out of their normal posture seem to contain more trigger points. In upper cross syndrome, the pectoral muscles, upper traps, levator scapula and neck extensors tend to be of the tight and shortened group. If you are sitting at a computer and lean forward, your shoulders elevate and your neck flexes backward, this could be a cause to this repetitive motion posture.
If you think you may have a slight forward head posture and Upper Cross Syndrome due to repetitive imbalences from your posture, you can try stretching to relieve your pain.
First of all stretch you pecs. Stand in the doorway and raise one arm above your head as you grab the door jam. Step forward into the stretch and you’ll notice a tightness across one side of your chest and into your armpit.
Next, stretch your Levator Scapula. Sitting in a chair, grab the back of your head with one hand as you look down towards the armpit of that same arm. You should feel a stretch on the opposite side of your neck.
Finally, stretch your upper traps. Extend both arms in front of your body and cross them. Keeping your hands crossed, press the backs of your hands together while depressing both shoulder blades down towards the floor.
Duration: Hold each stretch for about 10 to 20 seconds and repeat 2-3 times. You can do these stretches as many times a day as you need, or whenever you notice your shoulders hiking up into your ears.
If you have any questions about these stretches, feel free to contact me through e-mail or during office hours.
Tags: Stretches for muscles
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