If you are suffering from pain between your shoulder blades, you should try to do some simple massage work and exercises to relieve the pain.
The first thing that you need to figure out is why your shoulder blades are stiff and painful. It could be that some muscles have been stuck in tension for too long and have developed what massage specialists call “habituated tension” and trigger points. These can be hard to get rid of, and they can persist for a long time – sometimes even years as you will sit in strange ways to try to relieve the tension, which will cause more problems in the long run.
It would help if you treated tension early on to avoid issues that become chronic. Some people will need to see a physical therapist or get massage treatments from an expert, but you can often manage and remedy the pain yourself.
Self-Massage to Relieve Pain
You can ‘knead out many of the knots and trigger points in your muscles. If you decide to try doing this, then you should remember the following:
– You must massage yourself every day until the pain is gone. If you do not do this, the pain will return.
It would help if you focused on the tender muscles because tenderness signifies that the power is too tight and needs to be released.
– If you are massaging muscle and it is not painful, the power is healthy.
Self-Massage For Your Upper Back
There are several muscles in the upper back, and if any of them are not operating in good balance, it can cause pain between your shoulder blades. One of the best ways to relieve pain in that area is to use a massage ball.
Place the massage ball on your back and roll it over each of your upper back areas, starting at the upper and inner space of your shoulder blade and then working on the scapulae and the lower area of the shoulder blade. Roll against a wall to control the pressure.
If you hit a painful area, then this is an area that you should be putting particular focus on. Dig deep and press hard to ensure you get deep into the tissue. If you can reach the painful area with your hands, you can use your fingers for a more targeted massage.
Exercises to Relieve Pain Between The Shoulder Blades
Massage is great for relaxing your muscles, but sometimes it is useful to stretch them out. Having strong, balanced, and supple muscles can be beneficial in terms of reducing pain.
Massage is one of the best starting points because it offers short-term relief. Once you have gotten rid of that short-term pain, though, you should consider longer-term treatments, including:
Posture Exercises
Poor posture is one of the most common causes of pain between the shoulder blades. If you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, you have probably struggled with shoulder pain or, even worse, pain in your upper back.
Doorway Stretch
The Doorway Stretch is a great stretch for loosening your chest muscles, improving your posture, and stopping pain from returning. It is a good idea to do this stretch several times per day:
To Stretch:
Stand in a doorway with your feet wide apart. Place your forearms on either side of the door, with your elbows raised to shoulder height. Lean forwards to feel a stretch in the front of your chest. Stretch so you can feel it, but not so much it is painful. Hold the time for 30 seconds, then release and repeat it thrice.
You can repeat the stretch with your elbows raised slightly more or lowered somewhat so that you can target different muscles.
The Shoulder Squeeze
Shoulder squeezes are good for strengthening the muscles around your shoulder blade to help you maintain good posture, even subconsciously.
To perform a shoulder squeeze, sit straight in your chair and bend your elbows to a 90-degree angle. Squeeze your shoulder blades downwards and try to force them together. Take care to make sure that your shoulders don’t shrug up at the same time. Hold this pose for 5 seconds, and then relax. Repeat this ten times. Aim to get comfortable doing three sets of this exercise in a row.
Yoga Poses
Some great yoga poses can help with pain between your shoulder blades. One well-known exercise is the cat/cow. In this exercise, you will flow between two postures. One where you arch your back like a cow and the other where you curve it like a cat. You begin the exercise on your hands and knees, with your hands in line with your shoulders and knees in line with your hips.
Keep your arms straight, and aim to arch your back upwards, as far as you can into the cat stretch – like a cat jumping away from a water bath. Then, after holding that stretch for 5 seconds, straighten your back and have a neutral pose for a second or two, then let your belly sink to the floor while you look up towards the ceiling in the cow pose. Hold that for 5 seconds. Repeat this flow five to ten times. Hopefully, the stretches should feel a little easier each time.
As you can see, there are many things that you can do to relieve pain between your shoulder blades. According to the folks at www.staminapro.com, you should aim to have good posture at all times and become pain-free in the long term. It will take some time to get used to holding good posture, but it will be worth it in the long term to protect your musculoskeletal health.
