We use our shoulders and arms for countless tasks throughout the day, but these actions can become a little more difficult if we’re dealing with mobility restrictions or decreased flexibility in our shoulder joints. It’s not uncommon to lose some flexibility in your shoulders as you get older due to the natural aging process, but you can also work to maintain this range of motion by taking a couple simple steps to improve your shoulder health as you age. In today’s blog, we share some tips for maintaining flexibility in your shoulders as you get older.
How To Expand Or Maintain Shoulder Flexibility
Here’s a look at a number of ways you can work to expand your comfortable range of motion or maintain flexibility in your shoulder joint as you age.
- Shoulder Exercises – You’ll want to earmark some of your workout time for exercises that focus on improving the health of your shoulders. Keeping the supportive tissues and muscles in the shoulder strong helps ensure that the area can handle the stress you throw at it and slow down some natural cartilage degeneration. Rowing exercises and resistance band movements are great ways to carefully strengthen key parts of your shoulder that will aid in healthy movement for years to come.
- Stretching – Stretching is another way to carefully expand your comfortable range of motion. Stretching will help get muscles used to moving in different ways and keep soft tissues loose and flexible. Get in the habit of doing five minutes of arm and shoulder stretches when you get out of bed in the morning or before any arm-based activities to help these muscle groups stay loose and ready to handle the stress that’s to come.
- Yoga – Yoga is a combination of exercise and stretching, so it stands to reason that it’s a wonderful way to maintain mobility in your shoulder joints. Yoga will expand your flexibility in a number of joints in your body, and whole body flexibility makes it easier for individual areas of your body like your shoulders to stay flexible.
- Treating Small Injuries – One of the most common reasons why people develop shoulder restrictions is because they fail to care for an issue when it’s in its infancy. If you’re dealing with some mild shoulder discomfort, don’t ignore it, otherwise it could snowball into a major issue like frozen shoulder. Treating small problems with rest and targeted therapy exercises can help you fully recover from an injury and avoid bigger issues down the road.
- Physical Therapy – Physical therapy is a wonderful tool for expanding your comfortable range of motion in your shoulder, especially after an injury or surgery. Inflammation or scar tissue onset that are common after trauma to an area will be restrictive and decrease your natural flexibility, but physical therapy can target specific muscle groups and break up this scar tissue so that you can restore your normal range of motion. You can find helpful PT exercises online, or you can connect with a physical therapist or shoulder specialist for some individualized exercises.
- Avoid Smoking – Finally, if your shoulder joint isn’t getting healthy circulation as a result of damaged blood vessels caused by smoking, tissue degeneration can occur at a faster rate. Do what you can to kick your habit. Giving up smoking will be good for your shoulder joint health and your whole body.
We’re here to help in any way possible if you’re looking to increase flexibility in your arms and shoulders. Whether that means developing an individualized exercise routine or helping you overcome restrictions caused by an injury or surgery, we want to find the right solution for you. For more information, or for help with a different shoulder issue, reach out to Dr. Holloway and his team today at (865) 410-7887.
