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The Health Brief

The move that goes across your chest, not over your head

Thirty to sixty seconds, three times, twice a day. Sitting in a chair.

3 min read

Move it Monday

I could not reach the top shelf for most of one winter. I could still reach across my chest.

The first thing a bad shoulder takes is the reaching. Top shelf, seat belt, back pocket… the second arm of a coat.

And the first thing most of us try is forcing the arm up anyway. Straight up, past the sore part, teeth together.

Today goes the other way. Across the body, not over the head. It takes a minute and you do it sitting down.

Why across and not up

There is a gap at the top of your shoulder. It sits between the ball of the arm bone and a shelf of bone above it, and it stands about half an inch to two thirds of an inch high.

Tendons run through that gap. A slippery sac runs through with them, there to stop the rubbing.

Fine engineering, until something in there swells… and then the gap is the problem.

Raise your arm and the gap closes down.

So the pain does not build the higher you go. It comes in a band. Somewhere around 70 to 120 degrees of lift is the sore stretch, and past it a lot of people find it eases again.

Forcing the arm straight up drives the sore part through the tightest point, over and over. Going across the chest does not.

The move

Sit up in a chair with your feet flat. Let the sore arm hang for a moment.

Bring it up in front of you to about chest height. Elbow soft, not locked.

Now reach the other hand across and catch the sore arm just above the elbow. Above the elbow, not at the wrist.

Draw it gently across your chest. You are after a stretch in the back of the shoulder, around the blade. A pull, not a pinch.

Hold it for 30 to 60 seconds, then let go. Three holds… then the same again later in the day.

And keep breathing. Holding your breath tightens the whole shoulder, which works against the thing you are trying to do.

Where that count comes from

The 30 to 60 seconds, three times, twice a day is not mine. It is the stretch dose out of a Swedish trial, and we will spend Wednesday on the rest of it.

Two honest notes before you start. That trial showed its exercises in a video instead of writing them out, so the timing here is theirs and the positioning is the standard version of the stretch.

And the stretch was one of six exercises in that program. I have not found a trial of it on its own… so treat today as the easy end of something bigger, not the whole of it.

 

Do this

Sitting. Sore arm up to chest height, elbow soft. Other hand above the elbow, draw the arm across your chest. Hold 30 to 60 seconds. Three holds, twice a day.

 

Do not do this

Do not grab the wrist and lever the arm across, which turns a shoulder stretch into a pull on the elbow. And do not push up through a sharp pinch overhead to prove you still can.

 

One more thing that costs nothing. Next time you do reach up, turn your thumb toward the ceiling first. Plenty of people find the same reach comes easier that way, and it is free to find out.

When to stop and call your doctor

A sore shoulder that eases as it warms up is the ordinary pattern. Go and be seen if you cannot lift the arm at all after a fall. The same holds if the shoulder looks out of shape, or the arm has gone weak quickly. Or if the joint is hot, red and swollen. Numbness or pins and needles down the arm counts too. One pattern is not a shoulder at all. Pain in the shoulder, jaw or left arm that comes on with effort is a heart symptom. Not a shoulder one. Treat it as an emergency.

Here is to a shoulder that lets you reach,
Walt

One useful thing a day

Start with tomorrow morning.

A stretch, a sleeping position, a heat trick for a stiff hour. Short enough to read with your coffee. If one does not fit, skip it. The next one might.

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