In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix shoulder
blade pain for good. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over a
very easy to follow three-part guide that may give quick
shoulder blade pain relief and hopefully get rid of it for
good. If you're looking to get the best results, go through
all three parts and put them together. So, with that being
said, let's get started and fix that shoulder blade pain for
good, right now! In the first part, let's focus on a big
cause of shoulder blade pain which are pesky muscle knots,
muscle spasms, and trigger point. The problem is it's a
very hard area to reach. So, let's make it easy to reach
with a very simple trick. I'm going to take a tennis ball.
You can also use something like a racquetball or even like a
soft dog toy, it doesn't matter, and place it in a pillowcase.
That way, you can throw it over your back and easily raise and
lower it to hit those hard-to-reach spots. You're
going to want to go next to a door or a wall. I'm going to
take the tennis ball and just lower it over that spot that
I'm having a lot of pain. From there, I'm just going to angle
my feet out slightly so my body is at an angle and then press
into that tennis ball until I feel enough pressure where it's
going to be able to do a nice self massage but not causing
any discomfort. From there, I just use my legs to roll up and
down just very very slowly. Let the ball glide over that muscle
spasm. I try to do this for about 10 to 15 seconds,
continually applying enough pressure in there to just
release that muscle tightness. From there, I just relax, take
a breather, and try to do this for about three to five
repetitions. You can also go side to side with it. You can
do circular motions, experiment with different motions. If it
feels like it's offering you a little bit more relief, do that
but let's take this one to the next level by really focusing
on the rhomboids across the shoulder blades. So, let's
apply enough pressure in there that it's going to cause that
self massage. From there, I'm going to take the arm on the
side that we're focusing on. So, I have my tennis ball over
that left shoulder blade and I'm going to straighten my arm
out like this and then just bring my arm back very very
slowly. What you're going to feel is the muscles around the
shoulder blades start to activate and this really allows
you to pinpoint tightness and get a little bit better of a
self massage. I go all the way back until I feel a very good
stretch into my chest and also my shoulder blade muscle is
activating. I try to hold this for about two to three seconds
and then from there, I'm going to do the opposite. I'm going
to come over like this and then just reach over my other side.
It hits the muscle just a little bit differently but I
try to do nice and slowly for about 10 repetitions and really
just focusing on trying to build pressure in there and
trying to stretch into it just a little bit more and then from
there you can raise and lower it to hit different spots as
needed. You can also do what is known as a wall angel, which is
a great postural exercise... so you'll get a massage and a nice
stretch at the same time. So take your arm out in front like
this bend your elbow at 90 degrees and then take the
fingers up towards the ceiling what we want to do is bring the
elbow back as much as we can until we feel those shoulder
blades activate. From there, I'm just going to raise my arm
up towards the ceiling very slowly. All the way up as far
as I can go. Hold this for about a second and then I'm
going to slowly come back down and take the elbow down towards
the floor. This feels really good but on each repetition, I
just try to stretch into a little bit more bringing my
elbow back reaching up towards the ceiling as much as I can
and then lowering it down towards the floor. Go through
all of those motions and really pinpoint spots that you need
and with any of the motions if you feel like it's helping you
out a little bit more at that point throw more repetitions in.
So in this part let's focus on getting rid of shoulder blade
pain for good by building mobility that is range of
motion in the upper back with some great stretching exercises
this first exercise is known as a figure eight it's a personal
favorite because it's easy to do you can do it anywhere and
it's going to put the shoulder blade region through all types
of movements that is flexing forward we're going to do
backwards extension. We're going to do leaning and we're
also going to do twisting rotation. That way, you can
pinpoint movements that offer you the most amount of relief.
Start at the edge of a chair with very good upright posture.
Take your hands, place them on the back of your head with your
elbows going straight in front of you. What we're going to do
is build into the eight by going into extension or
backwards movement like this for the top part and for the
bottom, we're going to build into flexion or lean forward.
So, let's start right at the middle of the eight and trace
the top part first. I'm going to try to take a big swing as
big as possible with my elbows, really form those loops and I'm
going to slowly work my way upwards towards the eight. Once
we get to the top part of the eight, we should really try to
focus on building into extension as much as we can
until we feel a deep activation in between the shoulder blades.
Hold this position right here for about two seconds and then
slowly start to come back down to the middle part. On the
bottom, we're going to do the same thing. Take a big loop for
that eight. Once we get to the bottom, what I'm going to do
from here is grip forward into my head and pull my body into
flexion just a little bit until we feel that activation of the
muscles in between the shoulder blades, hold this for a couple
seconds and then slowly start to swing back up. I'm going to
do this for about 10 complete repetitions focusing on trying
to make as big of loops as I can stretching into it as much
as I can with each rep repetition, always challenge
yourself and once you're done with that, what I'm going to do
is go in reverse. So, if we went this way the first time,
let's go in reverse and then repeat. Do this for about 10
repetitions. When you do all of this, you're going to notice
that one certain movement hits the shoulder blades the best.
It really just focuses on muscle tightness or joint
stiffness. Maybe it's going in this direction for me. What I'm
going to do is really focus on trying to build into that
motion a little bit more by adding more repetitions. I keep
doing that until I feel that muscle tightness or that joint
stiffness start to release but go through all of those motions
and focus on the movements that offer you the most amount of
relief. So, here's a great mobility exercise called a
scapular wall slide. Let's go next to a wall. I'm going to
start off in a lunge or scissored position with my
bottom knee side supported against that wall. So, make
sure that your shoulder is really flush against that wall.
You'll also want put a pillow or towel underneath your knee
for extra comfort. Let's have very good upright posture.
Straighten your arms like this and what I'm going to do is
whatever side is facing the wall, I'm going to take that
side's hand and put it against the wall. From there, I'm going
to do an arc-like motion, kind of like a windmill. I'm
going to slowly start to raise my arm up like this and as we
get to the top, I'm going to then turn and rotate my hand so
my palm is then facing it. I go all the way over like this
until I feel very deep activation of the muscles in
between the shoulder blades. From there, I'm going to take
the other hand right here, place that one against the
wall. This is how we're going to take it to the next level.
I'm going to make sure that my body including my chest right
here is supported against the wall and then, I'm going to
tilt my whole body away just like this as much as I can and
when you do this, it's going to really activate the muscles in
between the shoulder blades. Hold this right here for about
ten to 15 seconds. Just try to relax into it as much as you
can. Do nice, controlled breathing. From there, we're
just going to go in reverse very slowly. Go like this and
then you're just going to take that arm back up like this.
Once you get to the top, you're going to turn the arm so it's
back into the starting position but you want to do this one
nice and slowly for about 3 to five complete repetitions and
with each repetition, try to stretch into it just a little
bit more and we you're done on one side, switch to the other
to keep them both in balance. Without a doubt, if we want to
get rid of shoulder blade pain for good, we have to strengthen
everything in and around the shoulder blades. This first
exercise is what I call the shoulder blade pump. It's a
great daily exercise that you can do first thing in the
morning right in bed and it's really going to get the muscles
firing including the rhomboids. So, slide to the edge of a bed.
You want your shoulders head off the edge. What I'm going to
do from there is take my arms and then just place them
backward like this. Let's do an an initial head retraction.
That is driving the back of the head upwards towards the
ceiling until you feel a very good activation of the muscles
from the neck down in between the shoulder blades. From
there, what I'm going to do is angle my arms off just very
slightly, palm side up towards the ceiling and do a quick
pumping motion like this up towards the ceiling. You should
really focus on moving through the shoulder blades, the upper
back, and this real gets those muscles firing. I try to do
this for about 10 repetitions. From there, I'm going to go 45°
off to my side, rotate my arms so my thumbs are up towards the
ceiling and then, I'm going to repeat this process. Really try
to pinch your shoulder blades with this motion right here.
From there, I'm going to go right in front of me kind of
angling my arms off to the side and then repeating. From there,
let's do a postural exercise that's really going to take
this one to the next level. So, let's get back into our head
retraction right here I'm going to do what is known as a floor
angel. I'm going to bend my elbows at 90 degrees like this.
Let's drive the elbows up towards the ceiling as much as
we can. Again, trying to pinch those shoulder blades. From
there, I'm going to do a pumping motion forward like
this and then I'm going to do a pumping motion backwards and I
try to do this one for 10 complete repetitions in both
directions but go through all of those and try to do about
three sets. If you have a little bit more energy, you can
add in a bit more reps so instead of doing 10 to 15 reps
of three sets but it's just a great way to really focus on
strengthening the upper back the shoulder blade region and
really helping improve posture this unique strengthening
exercise is called the forearm door slider it's really going
to focus on the rhomboid muscles across the scapula we
just need a large pillowcase during the exercise I'm going
to keep my forearms parallel with each other, kind of like
forming the number 11. We don't want to create an A. Let's
go next to a smooth door or a wall. Have very good standing
upright posture. You're just going to place your forearms
right inside the pillowcase and then press it against the door.
Let's create initial tension into the pillowcase by driving
our wrist into the ends as much as we can. From there, I'm
going to push back with my head and upper back kind of like
driving my shoulder blades away from the door until we feel an
activation of muscles across the scapula. From there, we're
going to take this one to next level by gliding upwards with
the pillowcase raising our hands upwards towards the
ceiling this really activates the muscles in the between the
shoulder blade region reach up as much as you can from there
hold this for a couple seconds and then slowly come back down
on the next repetition challenge yourself even more
press into the pillowcase draw back as much as you can and
then lift up as much as you can you want to do this one nice
and slowly for about 10 to 15 repetitions and you feel like
you have a little bit more left in the tank afterwards, you can
repeat this for another set or two. So, I want to end this
video with a great strengthening and postural
exercise that you can do throughout the day that
requires no equipment. It's called the Shoulder Blade Lift
Off. Let's go next to a door or a wall. I'm going to position
my body where my feet are slightly in front of me so my
body is leaning into that door. We want our whole backside
flush against that wall or a door for support. I'm going to
then bend my elbows at 90 degrees them off to my side.
The movement is very easy. We're going to lift our whole
body forward so we're not trying to round our back into
this one but lift our whole body forward by pressing our
elbows into the door. When you do this, you should feel a very
good activation of the muscles in between the shoulder blades.
We're just going to relax from there. On the next repetition,
try to drive forward even more. Really challenge those muscles.
I try to do this one for about 15 complete repetitions. To
make this one harder, just your feet in front of you a little
bit more so you can lift off even further but it's something
you can do throughout the day to get rid of shoulder blade
pain and hopefully just get rid of it for good. If the
exercises helped you, please support us by giving this video
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any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll
get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks for watching!