A Quick Fix for Shoulder Issues

Yesterday's (March 29, 2023) Drama

Normally, I would address such a story to my exercise audience, but since this might help everyone and it is very convenient to write it on this platform, I do.

My neighbors directly across the street are legal immigrants from Cuba. They are our good friends although only three of them (among ten in the household) speak English and we do not speak their Spanish.

Sergio, one of the young men therein who speaks English (moderately well, but not completely fluently), was working under his pickup when he began to scream. Hearing this, I asked if he was injured. He rolled out from under the truck and explained that he had incurred a horrible pain in his right upper back, apparently from exerting in an awkward position under the pickup.

Through the language barrier, I was eventually able to loosely suppose that Sergio’s pain was due to a severe muscular spasm about his right scapula. He would not allow me to palpate the area, and he recoiled when I briefly touched his shirtless skin in an attempt to rule out spinal damage. He assured me that the pain had nothing to do with his neck and that he had not suffered any overt trauma.

He became a bit more cooperative when I boldly asserted that I could fix his problem as he was desperate to resume work on his vehicle. I told him to go inside to clean the grease off and then meet me at my house.

Sergio entered my house, still wincing in pain. He volunteered that the pain level was about an 8 on a 10 scale (with 0 being no pain and 10 being “give me a gun to shoot myself").

I took him to my Florida room wherein I had the ladder set up that is pictured below. I gave him a pair of cheap work gloves and told him to hang with these instructions:

1. Passively hang. Do not try to lift yourself. Keep your head still and faced forward.

2. Use a neutral grip and with the inside of your elbows (cubiti) facing one another.

3. Gradually begin to lift your feet off the floor, but do not bear all your weight at first.

4. Hang (with as much of your bodyweight as you can safely tolerate) for 15-30 seconds. Then gradually let off the arms by taking over your bodyweight with your legs.

As expected, he was abrupt with lifting his legs. He bore all his bodyweight instantly. He hung for only about 10 seconds. He flexed his head back and forth. He let off abruptly. I failed to control him.

I then told him to stand still and to allow his body to settle as he appraised his pain.

A look of surprise and wonder came over his face. Smiling, almost laughing, Sergio remarked, “How is this possible? The pain is about a 2.”

After agreeing that it was truly miraculous, I told him to hang again but to keep his head still and to hang longer. He did but he insisted that moving his head was relieving and I only managed to curb the speed of his head moving a bit.

This picture was taken in November of 2021 when my arthritic shoulder (right, dominant) was at its worst. I was not able to hang with full bodyweight. I could not open doors with this arm. I could not sleep due to pain. I had to eat and drink with my non-dominant hand. And I was being railroaded to have a shoulder replacement. Now (March 2023), the shoulder is much better and useful. My sleep is rarely interrupted due to shoulder pain. And I can hang for a full minute although I now weigh 20 pounds more.

After regaining support with his legs and backing out from under the ladder, Sergio reappraised his pain. He could barely feel any. I then made several statements:

• If you had not done this traction and had, instead gone in your house, taken pain relievers and gone to bed, it’s probable that your shoulder area would have locked up for several days.

• You should now be able to resume working on your truck. If the spasm reoccurs, get back here immediately and hang again. We’ll do it throughout the day if we need to.

• Once you’re finished for the day—even if you do not have the spasm—you should hang one last time before going to bed.

I was with Sergio in the street when he finished his work. He said that he was going in the house to shower and would meet me back at my house to hang one last time before turning in. He never showed. I expected this. I’ve known him a while, and it’s his nature to not follow through.

I learned today that Sergio had indeed performed some hanging last night off the banister of one of his car transport trailers. Of course, I was not present to supervise.

Hanging Shoulder Traction

I first learned of this in 2019 from Gus Diamantopoulos. And Gus learned of this from retired orthopedist, John Kirsch. Kirsch’s book is:

You can easily find this book for purchase. "Shoulder Pain?" Also, his institute has many valuable testimonials: Kirsch Institute for Shoulder Research

Last year, I published my book, Shoulder Rehab, in which I strongly recommend Kirsch’s book and then explain his poor notions of shoulder exercise. Like with almost all doctors (especially orthopedic surgeons) and physical therapists, exercise is a subject in which they demonstrate incredible ignorance. For example: What Kirsch explains as an “exercise” (note his book’s subtitle) is an applied traction, not an exercise; He poorly explains the proper shoulder attitude (opposing cubiti) for hanging; He improperly places the hands in a weak, pronated grip; etc.

My book is available at: "Shoulder Rehab"

What I addressed for Sergio was not exactly a shoulder complaint… I addressed a spasm about his scapula, not the actual shoulder joint known as the gleno-humeral joint. However, the entire upper appendage (if we excuse the head as an appendage to the trunk) is a complex of a suspension within a suspension within a third suspension. I explain all this in Shoulder Rehab and—in agreement with Kirsch—underscores that there are extremely few shoulder complaints that are not remedied or solved by the hanging shoulder traction. Shoulder surgery is almost never required and I strongly recommend against.

But there are people who cannot perform this traction. Upper-body amputees are often out of luck for this simple and convenient trick. So are those with bad elbow and hand issues. For example, I can barely perform my daily hanging due to eight of my fingers being bandaged for eczema. This really cramps my style—not only for typing this article, but also for gripping the top of door frames when I cannot get to my ladder.