By Collin Mahler
Think about this, what if the shoulder that hurts is actually your good shoulder?
Imagine this not so hypothetical situation:
– Your left shoulder is stronger, and more mobile than your right.
– Whenever you press overhead or hang from a pull-up bar, your left shoulder does more of the work.
– After months, or even years and thousands of reps in which your left shoulder is doing more of the work than your right, it begins to wear down.
– Finally, you end up in the physical therapist or orthopedist office with left sided shoulder pain.
– The physician examines the left shoulder (the one you complained about) and finds inflammation and mild spasm. The prescription is anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxers.
– You rest for 4-6 weeks, take the medications, and your pain goes away.
– Then you get back to regular exercise and your problem comes back, fast, and worse than ever before.
– Now you don’t know what to do so you think about changing your lifestyle completely.
Sound Familiar?
What if the shoulder that’s been your “bad” shoulder is actually your good shoulder? And what if because it’s your good shoulder it’s doing all of the work? And because it’s doing all of the work it’s breaking down?
Would that change how you think about fixing your shoulder problem?
Oh, and this isn’t just the case for shoulders. The same goes for your knees, ankles, elbows, even the left or right side of your back.
Maybe the reason it hurts is because it does all the work.