How Can You Improve Shoulder Stiffness? Causes and Our Recommended Treatments

Do you feel discomforts like a somehow heavy shoulder, or a painfully stiff neck?

Shoulder stiffness is a concern many people carry in daily life — so common it’s sometimes called a “national ailment.” This article details common situations where shoulder stiffness occurs, improvement methods, and our recommended treatments.

Shoulder Stiffness Is a “National Ailment” That 70% of People Are Said to Have Experienced

Shoulder stiffness is now something that could be called a “national ailment,” troubling many people. According to one survey, over 70% of people overall have experienced shoulder or neck stiffness. It’s especially common among the working generation in their 30s and 40s, with daily computer work and smartphone use considered one contributing factor.

Reference: Press release from the Japan Recovery Association

Our bodies are naturally structured to place strain on the neck and shoulders, so continuing the same posture for long periods, or worsening circulation from stress or coldness, makes muscle fatigue prone to accumulate. Since it’s a familiar discomfort many people experience regardless of age or gender, care and prevention are important.

What Are Common Situations Where Shoulder Stiffness Develops?

Shoulder stiffness is one discomfort that tends to occur even during your everyday life without you noticing. Causes vary — extended smartphone or computer use, a stressful lifestyle, lack of exercise. Those with a habit of maintaining the same posture should be especially cautious, as they’re prone to developing shoulder stiffness. Here we introduce four common situations where shoulder stiffness develops.

While Using a Computer, Smartphone, or Playing Games

When absorbed in extended computer work, smartphone use, or gaming, you tend to unconsciously maintain the same posture. During this time, the neck and shoulder muscles stay constantly tense, and worsened circulation makes shoulder stiffness more likely to occur. Also, overusing your eyes affects the muscles around the neck too, potentially worsening stiffness further. A forward-leaning posture places strain not just on the neck and shoulders but on the back too, making fatigue prone to accumulate. Being mindful of taking frequent breaks, and lightly rolling your shoulders or moving your neck to loosen muscular tension, is important. Reviewing the distance to the screen and eye-level height is also effective for preventing shoulder stiffness.

Many Opportunities for Stress or Tension

There’s a deep relationship between shoulder stiffness and mental state. When you feel stress or tension, your shoulders unconsciously tend to tense up. For example, when feeling pressure, or in situations like speaking in public, don’t you find your shoulders hunched or your breathing becoming shallow? Continuing this state keeps muscles stiff, eventually leading to poor circulation and causing shoulder stiffness. Also, reduced sleep quality from stress becomes a cause of insufficient fatigue recovery, potentially worsening shoulder stiffness. Consciously creating time to relax, or loosening your feelings through deep breathing and stretches, has a good influence on both mind and body.

When Lack of Exercise Stagnates Circulation

Continuing a lifestyle without much body movement reduces muscle flexibility, and circulation tends to worsen too. The shoulder area is a part prone to being affected by lack of exercise, since it’s not usually moved much. When circulation stagnates, waste accumulates more easily, felt as heaviness and stiffness in the shoulders. Just incorporating light stretches or walking softens muscles, becoming prevention for shoulder stiffness. Those centered on desk work in particular should try standing up once an hour to move their shoulders, or being mindful of moving around their shoulder blades. Even without intense exercise, small accumulated efforts make a big difference to your shoulder condition.

Continuing to Use Bedding That Doesn’t Suit Your Body

Sleep time is naturally an important time for resting and resetting the body, but if your pillow or mattress doesn’t suit your body, it can conversely burden your shoulders. A pillow with the wrong height creates an unnatural neck angle, keeping the shoulder and neck muscles tense. Also, a mattress that’s too hard or too soft makes turning over difficult, or fails to properly distribute body weight, so strain tends to concentrate on the shoulders. If you feel your shoulders heavy or your neck painful upon waking, reviewing your bedding is recommended. Only with quality sleep can shoulder stiffness move toward improvement.

How Can You Improve Shoulder Stiffness?

To ease difficult shoulder stiffness even a little, we recommend warming your body and correcting your posture. Here we introduce methods for improving shoulder stiffness that you can do without strain.

Thoroughly Warm Your Body to Promote Circulation

To ease shoulder stiffness, first thoroughly warming your body to improve circulation is key. When cold, muscles are prone to tensing, and circulation stagnates too. Warm your body gently from within by slowly soaking in the bathtub, or incorporating warm beverages. Applying a warming sheet or a hot towel to your neck and shoulders is also effective. Warmth helps loosen muscles more easily, gradually easing the taut sensation. If you often spend time in air-conditioned rooms, using an extra layer to avoid chilling your shoulders, or consciously moving your body, can also help prevent shoulder stiffness.

Review Your Computer and Smartphone Use Time

Focusing on a computer or smartphone screen tenses your shoulders, unknowingly placing strain on your neck and shoulders. To improve shoulder stiffness, first review your usage time and develop a habit of taking frequent breaks. Even just 2 to 3 minutes once an hour to roll your shoulders, or standing up and lightly moving your body, makes a difference. Also, when using your smartphone, be mindful of not letting your gaze drop too low, bringing it as close to eye level as possible to reduce strain on your neck and shoulders.

Correct Your Posture

Poor posture is one cause of shoulder stiffness. Continuing a hunched or forward-leaning posture places excess strain on the neck and shoulder muscles, making stiffness more likely. To improve shoulder stiffness, first try reviewing your posture.

When sitting, it’s important to keep your back straight, relax both shoulders, and keep them in a natural position. Those who do a lot of desk work should also adjust their chair height and monitor position to work with unforced posture. It may be difficult to be mindful at first, but making it a habit will make your body feel more comfortable, and your shoulders will feel lighter too.

For Improving Shoulder Stiffness, KADOMORI’s Treatments Are Recommended!

For those troubled by difficult shoulder stiffness, KADOMORI’s treatments are recommended. Our salon provides treatment tailored to each individual’s bodily condition, enabling fundamental improvement. Here we introduce KADOMORI’s treatment content.

Whole-Body Treatment

Our salon’s Whole-Body Treatment values not just loosening the shoulders, but balancing the whole body. We take posture photos during counseling and carefully check bodily distortion caused by daily life and work. Afterward, we combine hand technique and needles tailored to each individual for treatment. Its characteristic is thoroughly checking where the cause of shoulder stiffness lies, and aiming for fundamental improvement by directly approaching the muscles and bones. We’ve received happy feedback like “the discomfort I’d been troubled by for so long has eased.”

Scalp Correction

Shoulder stiffness and fatigue are actually deeply related to scalp condition and hormonal balance too. In our salon’s Scalp Correction, we regulate autonomic and hormonal disruption with needles while thoroughly removing sebum from pores with dedicated hair-growth equipment. As the scalp environment becomes healthier, it’s a happy point that not just hair-loss prevention but hair firmness and body also return. Also, as scalp tension loosens, stiffness around the face and shoulders tends to ease too. Why not regulate both mind and body together with our salon’s treatment, which addresses beauty and health at once? Please feel free to consult us.

Troubled by Shoulder Stiffness? Consult KADOMORI!

This article has detailed common situations where shoulder stiffness develops, improvement methods, and our recommended treatments.
Shoulder stiffness is a familiar concern many modern people carry. Causes vary — overusing smartphones and computers, stress, lack of exercise, unsuitable bedding — but improvement is possible by reviewing your habits.
If you’re currently troubled by shoulder stiffness, please consult KADOMORI. When you feel self-care alone isn’t enough, please experience our salon’s specialized treatment.