Your shoulder was not built to work overhead eight hours a day, five days a week.

Electricians, painters, drywallers, and anyone else who spends hours with their arms overhead put constant strain on a small group of muscles called the rotator cuff. Unlike a one-time injury, this kind of pain usually builds slowly over months or years of repetitive motion.

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons that hold your shoulder joint in place and let you lift and rotate your arm. It is small compared to the job it does. Repeated overhead work, especially with tools or heavy materials, wears it down over time.

• Dull ache in the shoulder that gets worse at night

• Weakness when lifting your arm overhead

• A catching or clicking feeling during certain movements

• Pain that starts mild and slowly gets worse over weeks

Most guys in the trades push through this for way longer than they should, because stopping is not really an option when there is a job to finish.

A minor rotator cuff strain that keeps getting aggravated can, over time, progress into a more serious tear, meaning a much longer road back to full strength and work capacity. Catching it early is a much easier fix.

Chiropractic care can address joint restrictions and the strain that comes from holding your arms overhead for prolonged periods, which is often a bigger factor than people realize. Combined with red light therapy to reduce inflammation and speed up tissue repair, a lot of tradespeople see real improvement without needing to take significant time off work.

If your shoulder has been barking at you after a long day on the job, do not wait until you cannot lift your arm at all. Come see us at Kinetic Chiropractic in Pleasant Grove and let’s keep you working pain free.