The shoulder is the most complex joint in the body, and so is naturally susceptible to injury from time to time.
And injury means - shoulder pain.
Shoulder pain is terrible because we use our shoulders for so much without even realising it.
I injured my shoulder a while ago, and almost immediately began suffering from excruciating constant shoulder pain.
I tried asking my friends, I tried visiting the doctor, but all they said was "rest".
Luckily, I didn't give up.
I was not content to live with my shoulder pain forever, and you shouldn't be either.
I did a ton of research, on the internet, in libraries, talking to doctors, physical therapists, athletes, professional trainers and anyone else who knew anything about shoulder injuries, and all of them listed one thing as their top tip for treating shoulder pain effectively.
That one thing is: physiotherapy.
Now unfortunately, a professional physiotherapist might charge $100 or more per hour for treatment sessions, but you can actually learn a lot of these techniques and do them yourself at home.
Which is what I did, and I want to share some tips with you.
1.
Stretch your shoulder regularly.
Simple, basic stretches help to loosen the shoulder joint, prevent it from stiffening up, calm swelling, improve mobility and flexibility, and ultimately - relieves shoulder pain.
2.
Exercise your shoulder to strengthen and repair damaged muscles and tendons in the joint, which will reduce and eliminate shoulder pain because once the injury is healed, there's no damage for the pain to come from.
No injury = no symptoms = no pain.
The second top tip was using ice on your shoulder.
This has two effects - first it cools the shoulder and numbs any pain you might be feeling, without needing drugs.
Second, it reduces swelling, which in turn reduces pain and helps the body do it's job of healing any damage.
I used both these techniques with great success, and now my shoulder doesn't hurt a bit.