Desk Work (Shoulder Tightness and Pain Part 1)

This blog is the first in a 3 part series on the shoulders and will apply to almost everyone at some point in their lives.

Tight upper shoulders and neck are incredibly common and one of the largest reasons for people seeking Osteopathic treatment.

The reasons for this are numerous. If we spend too long at our desk - our shoulders and neck get tight and uncomfortable. If we’re stressed, it’s the first place we start feeling tension and discomfort. If you’re doing a lot of overhead activities at work, at home or in the gym its usually your shoulders and neck that start getting grumpy.

But why?

There are multiple reasons and I’ll try not to get too into the weeds on this one and I’ll keep it fairly principle based.

This blog will cover off the causes of shoulder pain and tightness as a result of desk work. The following blogs will cover off on stress and the final will address issues involving overhead activity such as impingement and pain.

In regards to desk work, sitting long periods, usually in front of a computer will have you reaching forward to use a keyboard or mouse. This will slightly rotate your shoulders inward and have them sitting forward. Sitting in this position for long periods of time means that the muscles at the front (your chest muscles and the muscles at the front of your neck) become shortened. This is a fairly passive shortening so you don’t really notice how tight they are until you try and stretch them or until your Osteopath starts working on them and you realise how tender they are.

Now, your body has to counterbalance the tension between the front and the back or you would simply tip over forwards, so your nervous system actively switches on the muscles of your mid-to-upper back, upper shoulders and neck. These muscles are not designed to be switched on to this extent, constantly, all day. So you notice that they feel really tight, achey, fatigued and generally uncomfortable.

Think of it this way. If I asked you to hold you phone in your palm, arm outstretched out in front of your body you could do it very easily. But what if I asked you to hold it there for 8 hours? Your arm would feel like it’s about to fall off within 5 minutes. This is a similar concept to what is happening in your upper back, neck and shoulders. Those muscles are designed to contract and release over the course of the day, not contract and remain contracted all day.

The job of your Osteopath here is two-fold.

The first is to relieve the tension through the muscles of the back, neck and shoulders to provide pain relief in the short term. This can be achieved through soft tissue massage, partnered stretching techniques, joint mobilisations and joint manipulations. The Osteopath is aiming to reduce tension in the system, mobilise any joints that are restricted and re-align joints of the body to correct asymmetries side-to-side.

The second role of the Osteopath during your consult is to stretch out the muscles at the front to remove the passive tension that is forcing your shoulders into that slumped, rounded position. There is no point simply removing the tension at the back, if you’re not going to address the cause, usually located at the front.

Your Osteopath can also advise you on corrections you can make to your desk posture to avoid becoming too slouched and rounded through the shoulders. Along with that, they can provide you with stretching exercises to increase the length and flexibility of the muscles at the front and even some strengthening exercises for the muscles at the back which have become elongated and weak.

If left unattended and “managed” simply with pain killers and anti-inflammatories, this upper back, neck and shoulder tension can become chronic, headaches may ensue and it will require a lot of work to get you back to feeling your best. Moral of the story here is to get on top of these issues early as they’re easily addressed in the short term but very difficult to make change if left for months to years.

This is an incredibly common presentation within our clinic, we are very good at identifying the root causes of this issue and it is best to get on top of it sooner rather than later to prevent metaphorical and literal headaches down the track.

To make an appointment with us at Osteopathic Movement:

Call: 0402 377 209

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Book Online: www.osteopathicmovement.com