To you who think, 'Maybe it will never heal.' Joint pain can change just by changing how you move.

Table of Contents

① Is that pain really just 'due to age'?
② There are unknown rules for joints
③ Rolling and sliding. When these two break down, pain is born
④ The cause of your shoulder not lifting might not be the shoulder
⑤ What happens when the rotator cuff slacks off
⑥ The 'jamming' sensation in the hip joint works the same way
⑦ The real reason why stretching alone doesn't make it better
⑧ Just two things you can do starting today

① Is that pain really just 'due to age'?

My shoulder won't lift. My hip joint feels jammed. Pain shoots through me every time I move a little.

Even when people go to the hospital and are told, 'It's just age-related,' many people actually give up on it.

But, I want you to listen for just a moment.

Is that pain really caused by aging?

Having faced body movement and pain for many years, I have realized that much of chronic joint pain comes from 'movement habits' rather than 'aging'.

If you know the mechanism, you can change your approach. Let me start by talking about that.

② There are unknown rules for joints

Many people think of 'joints moving' as a simple movement like a door hinge.

But in reality, it is much more precise and delicate.

Inside a joint, bones don't just bump into each other to move; there is a proper 'order' and 'balance'.

If that order is even slightly off, the burden concentrates on specific areas. That accumulates and becomes chronic pain.

It is more accurate to say 'the way it moves has gradually broken down' rather than 'it hurts even though I haven't done anything'.

③ Rolling and sliding. When these two break down, pain is born

There are two elements to joint movement.

One is 'rolling,' and the other is 'sliding'.

When these two occur together in a balanced way, the joint can move smoothly without strain.

However, if one is missing, the movement gets stuck, and the load begins to concentrate on a part of the tissue.

That repetition is the true identity of 'why it hurts' and 'why it never heals'.

Pain is born from misalignment. Just understanding that will change how you look at your body a little.

④ The cause of your shoulder not lifting might not be the shoulder

There are many people who suffer from chronic shoulder pain or the inability to lift their arm.

And most people think, 'My shoulder is bad.'

But in fact, the cause is often the stiffness in the armpit (axilla).

When you lift your arm, the head of the humerus slides backward as it moves. However, if the armpit is stiff, this backward sliding becomes difficult to occur.

As a result, the bone moves as if it is bumping upward, the range of motion narrows, and pain occurs.

'Shoulder pain = a shoulder-only problem' is not true. Just knowing this changes the direction of your care.

⑤ What happens when the rotator cuff slacks off

Here, an important player appears: the rotator cuff.

I think many people have heard the name but wonder, 'What does it actually do?'

Simply put, it is a group of muscles that play the role of pulling the bone head into the center of the joint.

Because of this 'pulling in,' rolling and sliding occur correctly. If the rotator cuff is not being used well, the position of the bone head shifts, and 'impingement,' where shoulder tissue gets pinched, becomes more likely to occur.

People often say 'my shoulder is weak,' but 'it is not being controlled' is more accurate.

Rather than a muscle strength problem, waking up the muscles that aren't being used comes first.

⑥ The 'jamming' sensation in the hip joint works the same way

Many people have worries like 'my hip joint feels jammed,' 'it hurts when I squat,' or 'I can't sit for a long time.'

The mechanism can be thought of in exactly the same way as the shoulder.

First, the flexibility of the buttocks is important. If the area around the hips is stiff, the sliding of the hip joint is hindered.

And the other key is the iliopsoas muscle. When this muscle works properly, the bone head is kept in the correct position.

'Softness' and 'pulling-in power'—only when these two are present does normal movement return.

No matter where it hurts, the direction of the answer is always the same.

⑦ The real reason why stretching alone doesn't make it better

'I stretch every day, but it doesn't get better at all.'

There are many people who feel that way. But that doesn't mean stretching is bad.

Joint movement is established by a set of these two things:

• Softness (loosening of muscles and the area around the joint)
• Pulling-in power (the work of muscles that keep the bone head in the correct position)

Just making it soft doesn't return the bone head to the correct position. Conversely, even if you only do muscle training, if stiffness remains, the movement won't change.

If you lean toward one or the other, it might not get better, and the movement might even break down. The honest truth is that 'both are necessary'.

⑧ Just two things you can do starting today

There is nothing difficult. First, try to be conscious of just these two things.

• Properly loosen the stiff areas

Try focusing on the 'area around' the painful joint. For the shoulder, the armpit, and for the hip joint, the area around the buttocks are often overlooked.
• Gradually wake up the muscles that aren't being used

Try turning your consciousness toward muscles like the rotator cuff or iliopsoas that you 'know exist but aren't moving'.
When you have been living with chronic pain for a long time, I think there are times when you might think, 'Maybe it will never heal like this.'

But joint pain is often not 'broken,' but just 'not moving well'.

By knowing the mechanism, you might be able to face the body you had almost given up on once again.

I would be happy if this article could be the trigger for that.