How to Prevent a Shoulder Sprain or Strain When Playing Sports
The shoulders are a key part of any athlete’s overall performance. Whether you’re a novice tennis
player, a professional boxer, or you simply like to spend time at the gym, there’s probably not a day that
goes by where you’re not using your shoulders. However, shoulders are a surprisingly easy body part to
injure, and one of the most common ways to do this is with a shoulder sprain or strain.
The shoulder joints are one of the most complex joints in the body, with multiple muscle groups,
bones, and ligaments all intersecting. Pair that with how much athletes tend to rely on their shoulders to
give stability and mobility to their movements, and it becomes plain to see why a shoulder injury can be so
serious. There are a number of ways to prevent a shoulder sprain or strain, helping to avoid the pain and
downtime that comes along with such an injury. With that in mind, here are five tips on how to prevent a
shoulder sprain/strain or other shoulder injuries when playing sports.
1. Proper posture
It’s true: one of the best things you can do for your athletic performance is your posture in your
everyday life. Posture might not seem like a big deal compared to what you’re doing while actually
playing your sport, but it’s actually the first step to keeping your shoulders in good shape and avoiding
injury. When we sit and stand with poor posture, the shoulders are usually the first thing to end up out
of place.
We have a tendency to let our shoulders (along with our neck and head) slump forward against gravity if
we’re not mindful about our posture, and if this is left unchecked for long enough, it can actually reduce
the amount of space in the shoulder joint. Also called the subacromial space, this area in our
shoulders allows extra space for muscles, ligaments, and cartilage. If the space for these body parts is
constricted, they won’t be able to perform properly, and could lead to an injury in the future.
2. Work on shoulder and back strength
Another great way to protect yourself from shoulder sprains and injuries is to strengthen the
surrounding areas. When your body is protected by strong muscle tissue, it’s harder for things to move
out of place during a normal action, since the vital tissues in your joints are better supported. The
shoulders are particularly unstable as joints go, so you really can’t go wrong by working on your strength
in this whole area. Rowing, pull-downs, shrugs, pull-ups, and many more exercises can all help to
strengthen the back and shoulders, which will not only improve your game as an athlete, but protect
you from injury as well.
3. Don’t forget recovery time
When we’re always focused on pushing ourselves to the limit in the name of performance, it can be easy
to forget something as vital as rest. The truth is, even if you’re doing everything right when it comes to
taking care of your shoulders, you could still suffer an injury if you’re not taking time off to recover. All
athletes should value rest and recovery time just as much as practice time, and this is even more true for
sports that involve a lot of shoulder activity. These include:
Baseball/softball
Volleyball
Golf
Swimming
Tennis
Field events (eg. discus, shot put, etc.)
Football
If you’re feeling muscle strain or ligament sprain in your shoulders after a game, meet, or practice, there
are a few ways to treat it so you can avoid it turning into a sprain next time. Ice is one of the best ways to
lower swelling, as well as many over-the-counter methods such as ibuprofen and anti-inflammatory
medicine. Doing this combined with resting your shoulders allows the tissue time to heal, as well as
leaving the subacromial space nice and open from any swelling, allowing you to perform your best next
time.
4. Stretch it out
You can think of great athletic performance as being built on a foundation of a few key principles:
nutrition, strength, rest, and of course, stretching. Sometimes, compared to more exciting activities like
strength training and practice, stretching can fall by the wayside. However, it’s one of the most important
things you can do to prevent serious shoulder sprains and strains during sports.
When you consistently stretch before playing your sport, you give your muscles and ligaments extra
flexibility and mobility, which is especially useful for an easily misaligned joint like the shoulder. You can
find a few shoulder stretches online that are great for anyone, but a physiotherapist can recommend some
others that specifically target the parts of your shoulder that see the most use in your particular sport.
5. Learn the mechanics of your body
One of the easiest ways to injure a sensitive joint like the shoulder is by improper movement during
sports. Depending on your activity of choice, you probably do a number of shoulder-centric moves:
throwing, swinging, lifting, pressing, just to name a few. If you don’t fully understand the mechanics of
your body as you do these things, you’re likely to experience an injury sooner or later. Understanding
how your body works as you perform these motions can be a huge help in preventing injury, since it
allows us to stay mindful of our body’s abilities when doing them.
When you do something like an overhand throw, or swinging a golf club, every component of your
shoulder joint should be working in harmony. Understanding how your anatomy works for each part of your
sport can be invaluable for preventing injuries, but it can be quite a challenge as well. Finding a qualified
coach or trainer who understands anatomy, body mechanics, and how all this fits into your sport of choice
is a great first step to mindfully preventing shoulder sprains, strains, and injuries.
Understanding the need for shoulder sprain/strain prevention
Anatomy is a very complicated subject—even more so when you consider the different ways our bodies
behave depending on the sports and activities we’re doing. When you’re focusing on eating right,
strength and cardio training, getting enough rest, stretching, and focusing on being the best you can
possibly be at your sport, learning the ins and outs of your shoulder’s mechanics can be overwhelming.
That’s why working with a physiotherapist is such a good idea for any athlete looking to protect
themselves from injury.
At Triumph Physio and Wellness, we have collective decades of experience in treating and preventing
injuries for athletes of all kinds. The shoulders in particular are a body part that see lots of activity across
exercises and sports, and so we always make it a priority to ensure the health of this vital joint.
Contact us today if you’d like to get started on improving your performance!
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