The simple solution to neck and shoulder problems.

The simple solution to neck and shoulder problems

Most shoulder and even neck problems have the same simple cause. It is so simple it is almost invisible—if it didn’t hurt so much.

It is called impingement. When the scapula doesn’t move freely the head of the arm bone jams against outcropping called the acromion that reinforces the joint.

The shoulder joint is part of the scapula. So is the acromion. It’s ALL about the scapula. We will not talk about the shoulder here but will be specific and focus on the actual bones involved. This makes it tremendously simple and easy to understand.

The scapula actively moves itself up and down and across the back of the ribs. When it doesn’t—for example when we slouch, it gets stuck in placeusually up high near the neck, and because the scapula can’t rotate out of the way, the prominent ridge of the acromion blocks overhead movement by the arm.

Try it- bring you shoulders forward into a big slouch. Keep it that way and try to raise your arm. It won’t move up very far will it? Ben Kibler calls this scapular dyskinesis—meaning faulty movement of the scapula.

Why does the scapula get stuck? The slouch. When we slouch we focus on the neck and shoulder rather than the back, ribs, armpit and scapula. The simple solution to the slouch is to raise your hands regularly. Focus your attention and energy on the scapula and the armpit rather than the neck and shoulder when you raise or move your arms. The arm is anchored in the big mobile scapula on the back of the ribs. This is where you want to feel it.

There is more to it so stay in touch, but it starts with the big and sensitive scapula. You can feel this truth in your armpit, the sensory station of the upper extremity. The scapula forms the armpit. The armpit is the underside or sensitive inside of the scapula. This is it heart, it’s control center.

The shoulder is the problem. Don’t focus on it! Instead go within and go deeper. The armpit is the deep, hypersensitive locus of all our nerves, arteries and muscular attachments. It, not the dull and superficial shoulder, is the heart of the region.

This simple but profound inward shift in perspective is the solution to most shorter and neck problems. Bl

By knowing ourselves better on the inside we will discover many new resources for the problems that we face.