By Eu Hooi Khaw

LIFTING a heavy object, painting your house or playing badminton may cause soreness to your shoulder. Sitting hunched over your computer for hours, driving long distance and generally bad posture can result in a stiff neck and shoulders.

A common cause of shoulder pain is soreness of the tendon of the rotator cuff (the part of the shoulder that helps circular motion). It could also come from the subacromial bursa (a sac of fluid under the highest part of the shoulder), resulting from lifting your arms while playing a sport or to carrying a heavy load.

The rotator cuff, which keeps the shoulder steady as the arm moves, is made up of four muscles that surround the arm bone. This cuff keeps the shoulder steady as the arm moves.

Computer-related injuries such as Repetitive Strain Injury, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Cumulative Trauma Disorders have become IT occupational hazards. The blame has been placed primarily on factors inherent in the workstation design that contributes to tissue microtrauma (wear and tear).
Active rest, special range-of-motion exercises, even resistant training with weights may be recommended, if a doctor has determined it's not a serious injury.

Try this simple exercise: Bend over and rotate your shoulder in large circles so as to avoid the serious complication of rotator cuff injury, as in a frozen shoulder. Then use light dumb-bells in resistance exercises, graduating to resistance training with free weights or weight machines.

You can also perform the Alexander Technique which teaches you how to improve your posture and perform all your usual activities without unnecessary tension. It can be applied to sitting, standing, walking, lifting, speaking - to whatever you do during your day. There's a whole manual written on it by Richard Brennan.

Massage, acupuncture and reflexology may also be resorted to for shoulder pain, but this means taking time off to make appointments and spending money.

If you don't want to bother about doing exercises, taking painkillers, massaging your shoulder and neck with medicated cream and lotion or using a searing hot (and painful) capsicum plaster, try wearing a shoulder cover with back support made from a special Texenergy fabric woven with copper, zinc and silica fibres.

I have been wearing this garment that covers my shoulder up to my upper arms, and stretches a little up the neck for the past week, while working at the computer. It makes me sit up a little straighter (no slouching!), and actually helps relax my shoulder, as I go about my computer work.

I have worn it under a shirt and gone shopping, and while glancing at my reflection on a glass window, notice that my back is a lot more straighter.

Another good side-effect which the garment unintentionally brings is the uplift it gives to your breasts, and a nice cleavage too, as there is band underneath it. So you may wear a softer bra, without underwire!

The pain that I usually get from sitting too long at the computer is gone. In time, I hope my fat upper arms will be slimmer, and the skin smoother.

This is because of the microcirculation that is boosted from the combination of the copper, zinc and silica fibres in the active fabric called Texenergy Dol which the shoulder cover is made of. It gives the benefits of electro-magnetic effects when in contact with the skin, helping to get rid of fat and cellulite.

Copper and zinc provoke biostimulation to restore microcirculation and help remove accumulated liquids and fat. Copper is a good conductor of heat, and stimulates a micro-current when worn. Silica protects the skin by keeping it naturally healthy.

Twenty years ago, a bodysuit made of this Texenergy fabric was tested in hospitals in Italy for pain therapy, initially for pain in the hips and back.

Then its slimming effects was detected, as well as its ability for getting rid of cellulite.

This Italian range of active pain relief garments, which also includes long socks, knee guards, ankle bands, elbow bands, foot covers, gloves and muscle warmers, aid in various painful pathologies, treat localised edema and inflammatory arthropathies and help the wearer recover joint functionality. They are available from Panmedic Sdn Bhd in Petaling Jaya.

Driving long distance always results in shoulder pain for me. I can't wait to test this shoulder cover on a journey back to Ipoh.

In the meantime, I have been a couch potato wearing it, and I feel good.

The New Straits Times/Asia News Network

This story was first published in The New Straits Times on July 21, 2008.