Lots of people have had musculoskeletal injuries in different areas of the body at least once or twice or more in their life times. Shoulder injuries are quite often more common than the other types of injuries. These could be related to that fact that we use our arms and shoulders for almost everything – from writing, lifting things, exercising, you name it. Quite often the over use and too much activity can lead to shoulder injuries, or muscle injury affecting the shoulders. Frozen shoulder could fall into this category.
Underuse of shoulder muscle could lead to muscle flaccidity, which is a completely different issue – this can cause muscle wasting / atrophy in the area, leaving the muscles feeling weaker and weaker by the day, and this is something one should watch out for after a shoulder injury as doctors will usually recommend to rest your muscles, and the inactivity can make the muscles atrophy/ shrink.
Pain medication can quite often be highly addictive so it is very important to be mindful of the fact, and talk to you doctor if you are becoming addicted to it and feel that you cannot function with out it anymore, but here are a few natural suggestions on what you could do to heal shoulder injuries faster, depending on the severity of course:
1. CONTRAST HYDROTHERAPY
Contrast hydrotherapy is simply the use of hot and cold water towels / bottles / pads in an alternating fashion – for a few minutes every day. If the injury is recent, I would recommend application of a cold compress over the injury for a week or two, until the inflammation subsides, and then starting the application of hot and cold water towel / bottles / pads. You can use the hot water application for 3 minutes – but make sure you do not burn yourself. The temperature of the water should only be as warm as you can tolerate it. Following the hot water, apply the cold water towel / pad for 1 minute. Repeat the whole process 3 times. This process is great for improving the circulation to the injured area, and helps a lot of clear out inflammation.
2. ACUPUNCTURE
Yes… at our Toronto naturopathic clinic, I have found this to be one of the most beneficial therapies to help with pain, healing the injury as well as helping with the withdrawal from pain medications and addiction. Some may say its painful, and i say it really depends on who is doing the acupuncture and what method is used, and what type of acupuncture needles are used. The frequency will also depend on how recent the injury is and how much inflammation there is. I usually like to combine acupuncture and some natural supplements and homeopathic remedies, to see faster and effective results.
Like anything in life, healing injuries takes time, regardless of the type of injury, so the best thing to do while healing, is to take some time to relax and rest and enjoy that time for yourself. Try not to worry … I know its easier said than done, but having a positive attitude and trying to minimize the stress will go a long way to healing you faster.
By: Sushma Shah, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor, at the Nature’s Intentions Naturopathic Clinic.