Why would the shoulder complex effect the neck and neck pain? Some muscles that attach into the shoulder attach up to the neck. For example, the trapezius attaches from the base of the skull to the top part of your shoulder. Another example is the levator scapula which attaches at the top middle part of the scapula and goes up to the base of the skull. Shoulder position plays a role in neck pain because if you were to hike up that shoulder and hold it for an extended period, the muscle will get tight and tired and does not like to continually contract for extended periods of time and will pull at the attachment points mentioned prior. The other extreme would be if you are hunched over. Now you are stretching the muscle out for long periods and muscles don’t like to be stretched out for long periods either. A couple examples would be for those sitting on a computer all day, you will stretch out your arm that uses the mouse for extended periods and pull on those muscles going into the neck or you lean on the chair handle and your shoulder hikes up and gets closer to your ear. Same explanation for mountain biking, you don’t want your shoulders shrugged up high. The neck and shoulder play back and forth with injuries and moving well and if one doesn’t move well the other will likely start to get worse too.
Make an appointment to get your posture checked out and the tools that can help you improve that position. You can email us here.
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Tahoe’s Premiere Sports Chiropractor
