Your shoulders play an important part in your everyday life. It’s easy to take their function for granted until one of them is hurt. When a shoulder is in pain, it can be difficult to do anything that requires the use of your arm.

Many cases of shoulder pain are minor and are treatable at home. Here are four useful tips that can help you treat your shoulder pain:

1. Apply ice and heat

Cold packs and heating pads are excellent tools for soothing pain when your shoulder is hurt. You should start with icing first because heating your shoulder can make inflammation grow worse. Icing it can help reduce the inflammation until it’s safe to use heat.

Apply ice to your shoulder for about 10 to 15 minutes. Do this two or three times a day for a couple of days or until the inflammation has gone down. Then you can switch to applying heat to your shoulder to further help reduce the pain.

2. Get some rest

You use your shoulders for a lot of activities, so it’s easy to exacerbate the pain when you’re trying to get things done throughout the day. Pain is a sign of harm, though, so when you feel pain, you should stop what you’re doing.

You need to rest your shoulder and give it some time to heal itself. Some light stretching and exercising are necessary for treatment in many cases, but, otherwise, resting is always important.

3. Take some medication

Some people frown on taking pain medication because they don’t want to deal with the side-effects or don’t want to admit they need medicine to deal with the pain. None of this should stop you, though.

Over-the-counter medications can help reduce the pain and inflammation affecting your shoulder. You may also need medication for sleep if your pain is keeping you up at night.

4. Soak in an Epsom salt bath

Soaking in a warm Epsom salt bath has no proven medical effects, but it is soothing. Warm water and fresh Epsom salts can help relax stiff muscles and soothe sore joints.

Once the inflammation in your shoulder has gone down, it’s safe to enjoy a relaxing Epsom salt bath to help take your mind off the pain.

Treat your shoulder pain with physical therapy

Our physical therapists at Franklin Rehabilitation are skilled in many methods for treating shoulder pain. Whether you have a chronic condition or a sudden injury, we can help you. Contact our team today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment.