Red Shoulder: Why Do Techies Have Chronic Shoulder Pain?

Tuesday, August 23, 2011, 11:56

Do you have chronic shoulder pain at all times of the day and night? Let me guess you must be a software engineer! Perfect. Causes of shoulder pain are many but these days its a bit of a occupational hazard. We all have shoulder blade pain once in a while when we are tired or we've had a strain. But did you know some young professionals particularly from the I T industry are plagued by chronic shoulder pain that refuses to go away?

It is common incident these days to see 30 something men and women complain of severe pain in their shoulders. What could be the causes of such shoulder pain at this young age? Red Shoulder is what they have. It not any common ailment that goes away in a jiffy but an almost permanent disorder that will trouble you for the rest of your life.

Symptoms of Red Shoulders:

A nagging pain in the shoulder blades that travels down your spine.
Weak back that gets catch very easily; even if you just standing up after a long time.
A blinding shot of pain every time you pick up something heavy.

Causes of Red Shoulder Pain: Chronic Shoulder Pain

Laptop bags: that is your culprit. Techies proudly say that their whole world is in the laptop; they can work from anywhere. But with that facility comes the compulsion of carrying the heavy laptop bag everywhere. You will see that standard black bag everywhere in cinema halls, on vacations etc.
Traveling: A young guy riding a bike with a huge laptop bag on his back is fairly common sight for all of us. Some of them are traveling very long distances everyday. What does that weight do their poor backs?
Sitting Positions: This is common to all working professionals who are compelled to sit upright constantly 9 hours in a day. If you don't sit in the right posture then chronic shoulder pain is on its way.
Stress: anxiety, stressful lifestyle and work tensions is a common cause of all our health issues these days.

Why is Red Shoulder Dangerous?

It is a lifestyle disorder and it will not go away with medication. You can pop pills if you want but that won't help in the long run. It is also impossible to bring in a drastic lifestyle change without affecting work.
The pain can be blinding sometimes and make you blackout. If you are traveling or worse driving it could be fatal.
Red shoulder eventually leads to Spondylitis which means you will have to wear a dog collar for the rest of your life.

What Can You Do?

Yoga is a your savior in this situation unless you have the option to quit your job which most of us don't.
Hit the gym, not occasionally as you do but regularly.; do some shoulder and back strengthening exercises.
If your office has a cab facility then don't ride a bike to work.

Don't make the mistake of ignoring chronic shoulder pain.