Shoulder pain arises due to improper movement, bad posture, or an excess of tension. This can be very annoying, and sometimes we may resort to pharmaceutical creams without knowing that there are natural remedies to relieve shoulder pain.
First of all, you must know that shoulder pain is much more common than you may think. In fact, it often affects those who perform administrative work, as this study indicates.
How does shoulder pain appear?
The shoulder is a set of joints that join the arm to the torso. It consists of three bones (the humerus, shoulder blade or scapula, and clavicle). It also is made up of several muscles, ligaments, and tendons that give it stability and movement.
Due to the wide range of daily activities in which it’s involved, it’s easily susceptible to minor or major injuries. Shoulder pain may appear after ironing, washing, pruning the garden, intense physical exercise that requires moving the arms, playing sports without warming up properly, doing heavy weights, etc.
The most common shoulder problems
- Dislocation: Dislocation occurs when the tip of the arm bone is forced out of the shoulder socket. This can happen from overuse, sprains, or blows. When the ligaments, tendons, and muscles around the shoulder become loose or torn, dislocations can repeatedly occur, causing pain and instability if the arm is raised or moved forward.
- Bursitis: Bursae act as pads that reduce friction between muscles and bones. Overuse of the shoulder can lead to inflammation of the bursae, which causes pain and affects the performance of daily activities such as combing one’s hair or dressing.
- Tendonitis: Tendons are made up of connective tissue fibers and are responsible for linking muscles and bones. Tendonitis or inflammation of a tendon is usually caused by repetitive exercise without proper posture or may be associated with other injuries such as sprains.
- Fracture: Fractures result from a broken bone and usually occur due to falls or high-impact injuries, such as sports or motor vehicle accidents. They cause severe pain and inflammation.
- Osteoarthritis develops from progressive wear and tear of the joints and is often associated with muscle and tendon tears and infection. It manifests with inflammation, pain, and stiffness.
- Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in the joints and manifests with pain, swelling, redness, and deformity.
Natural Remedies to Relieve Shoulder Pain
Now that you know the major damages your shoulder can suffer, you’ll surely be wondering what you can do to relieve it.
The first recommendation is that you go to the doctor to receive a proper diagnosis. Then, when you know what you have, you can apply any of these natural remedies for shoulder pain.
1. Sage for shoulder pain
If you’ve suffered a sprain in your shoulder doing exercises, this is the remedy you need!
- First, crush three handfuls of sage leaves and boil them in ¼ liter of vinegar for 5 minutes.
- Dip a cloth in the mixture.
- Place it over the sprain as hot as you can tolerate, three times a day.
2. Menthol cream
If you like to prepare your remedies yourself, here’s a wonderful massage cream.
- Heat 170 grams of witch hazel, four teaspoons of lanolin, and six teaspoons of menthol in a water bath.
- Wait until the mixture has a creamy consistency.
- Remove from heat and let it cool.
- Use it to massage the shoulder joint and stimulate circulation gently.
3. Rosemary for rheumatic or arthritic joints
For those strong rheumatic pains, we propose this wonderful remedy.
- Add half a cup of rosemary leaves and half a teaspoon of clove oil to a cup of vegetable oil.
- Bring to a boil for 20 minutes.
- Let this mixture cool and strain it through a cheesecloth.
- You can use it as a poultice (using a cloth or cotton) three times a day.
4. Cayenne pepper for shoulder pain
Do you have an inflamed and sore shoulder? If so, you can carry out this natural remedy that will be of great help to you.
- Boil ¼ cup of vinegar and add cayenne pepper to form a paste.
- Spread this paste on a bandage, apply olive oil on the skin of the shoulder.
- Wear the poultice for two hours.
- In the end, rinse the remaining pepper well.
5. Lemon can help with arthritis
For arthritic pain, there’s nothing better than a cool massage with half a lemon. Its essential oils will help soothe your shoulder.
You can heat a little lemon if you want a much warmer massage. It’s a product that you surely have on hand if don’t have any of the other remedies.
6. Avocado
Believe it or not, avocado seeds are very effective to soothe the pain in the joint or shoulder muscles.
- To use them, pulverize two dried avocado seeds and mix them with warm honey to form a paste.
- Apply it on the shoulder with gentle circular massages.
7. Potatoes to prevent bursitis
Bursitis symptoms can be relieved with a little bit of potato. To use this natural remedy, you must follow the following steps:
- Grate a potato and add it to a cup of water.
- Let it sit overnight. The next morning, strain it through gauze.
- Drink this remedy before breakfast every day.
Remember that your shoulders need your care and require more than just these natural remedies. Do stretching exercises and sports with a proper warm-up and avoid heavy loads and sudden movements. This will give you healthy and strong shoulders.
