In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix an uneven
shoulder for good. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. Have you stepped in front of a
mirror lately and just noticed that something is off with your
shoulders? Maybe one side looks high, the other one looks low?
If that's the case, this is a video that you're not going to
want to miss. I'm going to show easy exercises that can quickly
fix uneven shoulders. What usually causes this is a blend
of weakness and tightness in muscles that support the
shoulders and the shoulder blades. So, to make it easy,
I'm going to show a step-by-step guide it's going
to specifically target these muscles to get the best results
go through all parts go through all of the exercises as a bonus
they can all be done at home require no special equipment
and may give quick results some of these exercises maybe even
within 30 seconds, so with that being said let's get started
and fix those uneven shoulders right now for good so let's
start with a very easy way to help identify an uneven
shoulder this self test just stand in front of a mirror and
look at three different things. The first being the position of
your collarbones or your clavicles is one tilted up or
down. Also, look towards the top of your shoulder right here
is one raised up is one lower. The last being the upper
trapezius muscles which run from the top of the shoulder
into the side of the neck. For most people, it's going to be
pretty clear cut which side is high, which side is low but if
you are having difficulty, my best advice is when in doubt,
get it checked out by your local doctor or chiropractor.
With that being said, let's get started. In the first part,
we're going to focus on self correcting a high shoulder
which usually comes about from a blend of tightness and
weakness in muscles that support the shoulder and the
shoulder blades. When it comes to an uneven shoulder, doesn't
matter if it's high or low, always focus on strengthening
the weakness first and then stretching the tightness after.
With a high shoulder, usually what you see is weakness in the
muscles that depress or pull the shoulder down. This
includes the latissimus dorsi, the lat serratus anterior and
the lower trapezius muscles so here's a really easy
strengthening exercise that will target these muscles that
you can do daily it's called a scapular press down for this
one we just need something like a rolled up towel or you can
use a yoga block just roughly needs to be about two to three
inches you're going to start seated right next to a wall
have your whole backside flush against it so you want your
shoulders shoulder blades supported that way you can
really focus on dropping the shoulder down makes it a little
bit easier You're just going to take your towel or your yoga
block and place it off to the side that you're having a high
shoulder. So, let's say it's my right side. I'm going to place
my palm right on that object right there and then the other
hand just goes off to my side. Since we want to focus on
strengthening the muscles that go down, just press down with
your shoulder and your shoulder blade. With this one, you
really want to focus on driving through your shoulder blade and
press your hand downward into the towel into the floor. As
you do this, you're going to feel a lot of muscles start to
fire off to the side. This includes the serratus anterior
and that lower trapezius muscle. I like to hold this one
comfortably for about 5 seconds. I just relax and then
I repeat this one 10 to 15 times and with each repetition,
build into it just a little bit more and if it feels like you
have a little bit more energy, you can always throw in another
set or two. So, after we're done strengthening weak
muscles, we're now going to focus on stretching tight
muscles that might be pulling that shoulder up. Two main
muscles involved are the scapula and the upper
trapezius. Here's a really easy combination exercise you can do
throughout the day. So, I'm going to start with the upper
trapezius first which is a big muscle that runs from the top
of the shoulder into the side of the neck. You can do this
when standing or seated. Just have very good upright posture.
Whatever side that you have that high shoulder. Let's say
it's my right side. You're going to shrug that side
shoulder, the high shoulder upward as much as you can. When
you can't go any further, you're going to take your hand
on your other side then going to hook the side of your head
and now passively pull your ear towards the other side
shoulder. You should feel a deep stretch forming in the
neck. Once you feel that, hold this position. We're going to
take it to the next level by taking this high shoulder and
now shrugging it downward as much as we can. Almost kind of
like trying to pick something up off the floor with your
hand. As you do this, you're going to feel a deep stretch
form in the neck. You want to hold this one comfortably for
20 to 30 seconds. You're just going to relax and then on next
repetition, try to build into it just a little bit more but
you want to do this one three to five times. Next, we're
going to focus on the levator scapula which runs from the top
of the shoulder blade into the side of the neck towards the
back of the ear right here. This one is called the armpit
sniffer for good reason. So again, let's say I have a high
right shoulder. What you're going to do is turn your head
to look over the other side shoulder as much as you can.
So, I'm turning to look over my left shoulder. When you can't
go any further, going to hold this position take your hand
hook the back of your head now passively pull your chin
towards your armpit as you do this again you're going to feel
a deep stretch top of the shoulder blade into the side of
the neck possibly even towards the ear you want to hold this
one comfortably for 20 to 30 seconds on the next repetition
try to build into it just a little bit more three to five
times in the second part we're going to turn our attention to
self correcting a low shoulder which again comes about from a
blend of we and tightness in muscles but to keep it simple,
remember that a high shoulder and a low shoulder are
opposite. So, whatever was tight or weak in a high
shoulder is going to be the inverse on a low shoulder. So,
what we need to do is focus first on strengthening muscles
that raise that shoulder up. Here's a really easy
strengthening exercise that you can do daily. It's called a
shrugging lift off. We're going to go next to a smooth wall for
this. So, for this one, we're going to target that upper
trapezius and that scapula muscle. We're going to start
facing the wall and then just kind of shrug upward like this
with both sides. When you can't go any further, just hold this
position. What we want to do next is keep the high shoulder
locked. This one's not going to move and all the rest of the
movement is going to come through our low shoulder. So,
what I'm going to do is slide my fingers upward really
reaching towards the ceiling. You want to scoop your shoulder
blade upward as much as you can. As you do this, you're
really going to feel that upper trapezius muscles to fire. You
want to hold this one comfortably for 5 seconds.
You're going to relax and then you're going to repeat this one
10 to 15 times and with each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more. If you want to take this one to
the next level, you can do what is known as a lift off which is
really going to engage those muscles a little bit more. So,
shrug upward as much as you can but what you want to do is
scoop your shoulder blade backward. Again, moving through
your shoulder blade and lift your hand away from the wall.
Those are really going to get challenge to stabilize this
movement. So, give that one a try holding for about 5
seconds. Afterwards, I also like to experiment with
different positions. So, instead of going straight up
with it, angle your arm off slightly towards your side and
then repeat. You'll notice the muscles get hit just a little
bit differently. So, go through different angles. If one just
feels like it's addressing more weakness, at that point, throw
more repetitions in and if you would like to take this one to
the next level start using something like a dumbbell or a
weight because the more weight resistance that you use, the
more strength you should gain. In the final step, we're going
to focus on stretching tight muscles that are pulling that
shoulder down. This includes the latissimus door side, the
lats, and the lower trapezius. Here's a really easy
combination stretch that you can do throughout the day. We
just need something like a door frame for this but you can also
use a squat rack. Again, I'm going to show what to do if
your left is your low shoulder. So, whatever side that you have
a low shoulder, you're going to take your hand on that side and
grab overhead on the door frame. Really try to reach up
as high as possible. You're then going to put your legs
together and then lean away from the door frame with your
body weight. You're going to feel a really good stretch form
in the lats. So, you should feel it pretty much from the
bottom of the armpit right here off to your side and then
towards the back. Usually feels really really good but go as
far as able to and then we're going to take this one to the
next level by now rotating our hips through our waist towards
the door. This will intensify that stretch. When you can't go
any further, now try to lean away from the door once more.
This will really hit those lats. I like to hold this one
for 20 to 30 seconds. I relax. So, let's go through this one
one more time. I'm going to lean away. I'm then going to
rotate towards the door and then lean away one more time. I
try to do this one three to five times. Next, let's focus a
little bit more on the lower trapezius. For this one, we're
going to do a reaching slump stretch. So, again, if it's my
left side that I'm having issues, what I'm going to do is
slump forward and away from that side kind of like a nice
fluid motion. So, just take your hand and slump down and
reach away just like this. You should start to feel a stretch
form over the inside of the shoulder blades towards the
middle back. When you can't go any further, take your hand on
the other side and grab your elbow and passively pull a
little bit more to fire that lower trapezius. Hold this one
comfortably for 20 to 30 seconds. You're going to relax
and then you're going to repeat this one three to five times.
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