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I hurt my shoulder, and I'm looking at ways on how to prevent this in the future

2306 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  jthole
Last week I developed a slight swelling in the neck and my right shoulder, which was followed by a stinging pain in my shoulder (so bad that I couldn't even sleep). It turns out that I developed tendinitis (inflammation of a tendon in the shoulder), according to the doctor.

I am on pain killers and an anti-inflammatory drug, and have to see the doctor again next Tuesday. Earlier this week everything was so sore that he could only do a crude diagnosis. He is probably going to suggest another round of Diclofenac and Paracetamol and/or physical therapy.

So far, so good, but I suspect that it was partly caused by my sax playing. I have been playing baritone sax with a sling for years, but I recently got a new one (to low A). With this sax, and the sling, I guess that I have to rotate my right shoulder slightly more backwards to reach the keys. That's probably not the only cause (dressing too cold while riding my motorbike to work might be a culprit too), but I want to prevent this from happening again.

How are your experiences with using a harness for baritone sax, instead of a sling? Is this putting more stress on the shoulders, or does it distribute the weight better? I already found out that a harness makes my sax hang more in front of me than to the side, which probably is better for the position of my shoulder. However, with the sling, all of the weight is on my left shoulder, while a harness will put stress on the right shoulder as well.

Any advice, apart from taking enough rest?

Thanks!
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Hello Johan, sorry to hear about your problems.
I suffer of impingement myself and it is very painful. I have lived with this for several years now and it is not at all clear how I got it and a lot less how to get rid of it. Both my GP and my physiotherapist have been recommending exercises but I must say they don't do much to relieve the pain.
one of the big problems for me is my position during my sleep, if I lay on the side (both sides) I hurt my shoulders the only way not to do that is laying on my back but then I snore. I wake up from the pain almost every night and sometimes the only way to a good night sleep is to take pain killers before going to sleep.
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