Will this stretch fix everything?
This is not medical advice.
Orthopedic, from the waist up? I’m starting to think so. And this is all anecdotal experience.
I have this other very broad theory about the thousands of injuries that I have seen.
We have many structures in our bodies; bones, muscles, nerves, connective tissue, blood vessels, etc. They all need to pass through small spaces and joints. Picture a conduit of wires in building and constructions spaces, only on the inside of the building, running through the walls.
This is a vastly oversimplified idea, but we only have enough room for things to operate normally. When things aren’t “normal”, like the space taken up by inflammation, or deformation of bone, then we start to have problems.
These problems can be labeled as stenosis, impingement, tunnel syndromes, compartment syndromes, etc. These problems in turn decrease strength and range of motion, which just makes the problems snowball.
I once had a compartment syndrome diagnosis that illustrates this theory.
I was in a kick boxing gym, and mistakenly kicked my opponent’s hard knee instead of soft muscle (don’t do that).
What resulted was severe swelling of my lower leg. So much so that it cut off circulation and nerve control. The blood vessels and nerves need room to pass through the confines of the surrounding skin, or cylinder.
The swelling pushed on these tissues so hard, that I had drop foot for 6 months. The nerve was compressed, and I was unable to raise my foot. It came back eventually.
Body fat might nullify this theory, although we do see many more physical ailments with obesity, including foot neuropathy and sciatic nerve type problems.
Not just the shoulder
I’ve written about how this stretch helps decrease issues with the rotator cuff. But now I’m also seeing good results with neck issues.
My theory is that we were designed for hanging. Since most of us no longer hang from branches, many of our connective tissues between the spine and shoulder blades become too tight. This tightness in turn decreases room for important structures to pass.
Carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, and thoracic outlet syndrome would also likely benefit from this stretch pictured at the top of the article.
There are many stretches, but none as effective as body weight hangs. The shear amount of force is superior to examples shown above. Not saying it’s wrong, just pales in comparison to body weight.
Many people are unable to do a complete body weight hang, so the lat pull machine helps people mimic this stretch.
Some are claiming that the hanging will also help decompress the spine and decrease back pain. I like this theory, but have not always seen this happen in practice.
The other factor
The other reason we tend to have impingement of structures is that we are too weak. We do not have sufficient muscle tone to hold the joint together, or hold them in their original alignment. That’s why strengthening is also so effective at decreasing pain.