Aching shoulders

[TungBB]

My shoulders have been aching terribly lately. So much that I have trouble sleeping at night. I think it is partly due to bad posture when breastfeeding and also lifting and playing with my baby.

Do anyone have similar experience? I am thinking of seeing a doctor or a masseuse to relieve the pain. Any idea who should I see? Any recommendations?
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[elle]

I found the physiotherapists and others at The Body Group to be very helpful with similar problems. The sessions I attended with them consisted of a combination of assisted stretches, massage and them teaching me small exercises to do at home to help strengthen certain muscles and remedy the problem long term. Overall found their approach to be very helpful and a long term fix rather than short term relief.

http://www.thebodygroup.com/

 

[TungBB]

Looks good. Thanks Elle. Will check it out
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[Obiwan]

Remember to always engage your core, especially when you have to reach and carry, bend and lift etc. Also remind yourself to lower your shoulders and not have them hunched up towards your ears. Small changes like these make a huge difference. Otherwise you could end up having a bad back too

 

[nicolejoy]

I had that and did pilates to help. I go to Posture Plus which is covered by my medical insurance as it is run by physiotherapists and it did wonders for me. If I'm extremely tight, I have a massage first (at the same place) to loosen things up, but if I just feel that I need strengthening, I do the pilates...

 

[TungBB]

Thanks for the tip! I never realized that my shoulders are up! Will try to keep them down.
Pilates and massage sounds good but it will be hard to go for it as there will be no one around to look after my baby.
Unfortunately, I have no life as my whole day revolve around my baby
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[shwetakhanna]

Even I had the same problem with my left arm and shoulders, could not not go for massage as i was the only one looking after the baby. There is a chinese medicated oil at watsons called Woodlock. Used to massage that on my shoulders 2-3 times a day and it worked well. Give it try, might work.

 

[Obiwan]

Massages only give temporary relief unfortunately. You need to be very conscious of your body and keep reminding yourself - lower shoulders, shoulders back (you can feel your back muscle contract), back straight (dont slouch), engage your core BEFORE lifting. Many times a day, do neck exercises - 3 simple but effective ones are (a) tilt your head to the left and look up into the sky (alternate side), (b) lean your ear towards your shoulder (alternate side), (c) bend your head down and look towards your armpit (alternate looking towards the other armpit). Do these as often as you can remember, it makes a huge difference. If your shoulder is very very tight, you can also apply heat pad first before stretching.

When I was in Matilda they taught me to not hunch over the baby when feeding, it is very very bad for the shoulder. You sit back and find a comfortable position for yourself first, then you engage the baby.

Sorry if my description above is not good, hope they are helpful.

If you have time to go out, Pilates is good and I find what works really really good for pre and post natal pains and aches is gyrotonic. You will feel like a new person after each session

 

[nicolejoy]

When I started, I too had no helper - but my back pain was getting serious enough that I HAD to do something about it. I persuaded my hubby to watch the baby once a week during his lunch hour and I dropped the baby off with him and then went and picked her up afterwards.

Alternatively, I've never tried them, but there's plenty of "pilates videos" etc that you could try. The problem is, though, that an instructor is very helpful in telling you what position you SHOULD be in for doing those exercises. If you do them alone, you may be doing them incorrectly...

 

[Biggie]

If you can find time to try out a couple pilates lesson, maybe on weekend when husband can watch baby, then you can follow pilates videos online. I used to do prenatal ones with videos.
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