Shoulder Injury Prevention While HikingShoulder injury prevention for hikers: sounds wacky? Don't you hike on your feet, and shouldn't foot or leg injuries be uppermost in your mind? Ah! You've never had a shoulder injury, have you? Otherwise, you'd know how a sore shoulder severely impedes your ability to hike any distance at all. After all, if you're hiking, you have a pack on (unless you're on a short trip, with just a fanny pack). And wearing a pack on a sore shoulder is NOT fun. Before we launch into how to prevent shoulder injuries while hiking, let's look at how your shoulder is put together. First, the bones. Your shoulder (pectoral girdle, where "gird" refers to "strength") has several bones cooperating to make a freely movable joint. Have you noticed how much mobility you have in your shoulder area, compared with your elbow or knee? But all of that mobility comes with a price: stability. You'll soon see how range of motion requires a shallow socket for bones, and asks a lot of the muscles trying to stabilize the joint. Your clavicle is a curved bone joining your breastbone (sternum) to the shoulder area. It sits somewhat precariously on a bony prominence on the shoulder blade (scapula). I know, it sounds weird, doesn't it? Your chest and your back are joined by bony associations. But how does your arm get into the picture? The shoulder blade also has a shallow bowl to receive the upper end of your arm bone (humerus). So when you put the whole thing together, you have an arm that swings freely from the trunk and upper chest. Now obviously the bones don't just cling to each other like Velcro. You have ligaments holding bone to bone, and tendons holding muscles to bone. And there's connective tissue between the bones, to provide a slippery frictionless surface for motion in the joints to happen without generating heat. Are you getting the idea that there are plenty of spots to create shoulder injuries while hiking? Think about hoisting that pack onto your back - which is your dominant hand/arm? More on hoisting later.... Muscles provide motion, and strength for lifting. There are lots of muscles in the shoulder area, coming from the chest, back, and neck area. Some of the bigger ones are obvious in people who lift weights: pectoralis major, deltoid, latissimuss....but there are others hidden beneath these big muscles that can complain if they aren't treated right. Impingement syndrome is the name given to the inflammation and pain from tendons that are pinched repetitively due to shoulder motions (think about spiking a volleyball, or the overused shoulders of a baseball player). Hikers can get into trouble with impingement from backpack straps cutting into the shoulder area. A properly packed pack goes a long way toward shoulder injury prevention for hikers. Put the heaviest things at the bottom, and avoid top heavy loads. Another trick to preventing shoulder strains is to pay attention when you are putting on or removing your pack. Grasp the pack with both hands, bend your knees, and swing the pack to your back, allowing your strong trunk muscles to help you. Don't dangle the pack out in space, asking your spine and arm to do extra work. And speaking of work, work on your upper body strength by weight training or exercises. You will be able to lift your pack easily, and will find putting it on much easier.
Be nice to your shoulders after a long hike. They helped bear the load of your pack, they allowed you to use hiking poles/sticks and accepted the long hours of swinging your arms, and they provided a nice landing pad for mosquitoes (!). Do a little self-massage when you get back to the trail head. At the very least, scrunch up your shoulders toward your neck and allow those overstretched muscle fibers to relax a little. Ah! Feels good, doesn't it? And if you're having headaches, it might be smart to work on your shoulders. Maybe the muscles are tight, and creating tension which shows up in your head. So shoulder injury prevention for hikers starts at home: go through your pack and be sure you need every item you plan to carry with you. Then pack your pack properly. At the trail head, do a few shoulder rolls before putting on your pack properly. Remove your pack whenever possible to give your shoulders a chance to "breathe". And trade shoulder rubs with your hiking buddies after the hike, or soak in Epsom salts when you get home. Sore shoulders take away from the enjoyment of hiking, and can cut into your trail time if you don't pay attention to what they are saying to you. One more idea: your sleeping position. Do you always fall asleep in the same position? Would it by any chance be on the side your shoulder happens to be sore? Investigate different positions, try different pillows (is yours too high?), watch how you wake up in the morning: where is your sore shoulder in relation to your trunk? Changing sleep position habits is a chore, but it might be useful to experiment with this idea in the interest of bidding your sore shoulder good-bye. One more "one more" thing: on which side do you routinely carry your purse? I had a chronically sore left shoulder until I realized that my heavy purse was always slung over that shoulder. I dumped half of my stuff out, switched shoulders, and eventually the pain went away. Convinced I was on the right track toward shoulder injury prevention, I bought a small bag that goes across my chest, and my shoulder feels great. So play detective throughout your day: when are you asking your shoulder to bear weight or work hard? You may have your own solution to shoulder pain! |