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HOW TO SHOWER WITH SHOULDER PAIN

You never really appreciate just how many activities are aided by the shoulder until you have severe pain in that joint. Whether its a painful stiffness from a bruise, or the excruciating pain of tendonitis or bursitis, any attempt at movement can be agonizing.

So, you've seen your doctor and you're in a shoulder immobilizer to rest the joint and let it heal. But you want to take a shower. Now what?

Here is a simple technique that allows you to wash without pain:

1. Remove your shoulder immobilizer, gently allowing the elbow to straighten.

2. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RAISE YOUR ARM. You'll be sorry if you do.

3. Step into the shower, holding the grab bar. Let the hot water massage the shoulder.

4. Bend forward slowly at the waist, while letting your injured arm hang freely, and wash with the other hand. Same thing for drying.

It's important to bend all the way over, so your body is at 90 degrees and parallel to the ground. In that position, gravity does all the work and you open your arm pit with no muscular effort.

You can use this same technique to insert your injured arm into a shirt or blouse sleeve. Reapply your immobilizer, once you're dressed. Try it. Works like a charm, every time.