The other day I was lifting my chubby cheeked son and I felt a sharp pain in the front of my shoulder. This was the start of something that I feared. Biceps tendinitis! Like I discussed before, tendinitis is just inflammation of a tendon because of repetitive stress. How did this happen? Your bicep tendon is a very long tendon that can be felt at the front of the shoulder. This tendon attaches to your biceps whose main purpose is to bend the elbow. Because this tendon is so long and is attached to a very strong muscle it is very susceptible to injury. The common signs of biceps tendinitis is pain when touching the front of your shoulder, pain when lifting your arm, pain when stretching your arm back behind you. When lifting and carrying children, heavy car seats and diaper bags; its very common to place too much strain through the shoulder rather than through elbow. Obviously, it is impossible to avoid these activities so what can we do to decrease our risk of injury?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biceps#mediaviewer/File:Gray411.png
How do we avoid this?
1. Try to use a baby
carrier when hold your child for extended periods >10mins.
2. Pay attention to
posture when lifting your child. Keeping your shoulders back keeps your
shoulder in a better mechanical positions and decreases the amount of strain on
your biceps tendon.
3. Keep your child
close. As stated in our last post, keeping your child as close to you body as
possible will also benefit your low back.
4. Do not lift with your
shoulder but from the elbow.
How do we treat this?
1. ICE ICE BABY.
Applying ice to the front of your shoulder before bed for 20mins will help to
decrease inflammation and decrease overall pain.
2. Continue to avoid
painful activities.
3.
Strengthen your shoulder. This should be directed by a PT.
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