Painter's Shoulder: How to Avoid It!
It was a major setback when I was forced to stop painting my home office for several days due to severe shoulder pain. This was a significant setback for me because I was nearly finished.
The funny thing is that my husband and I just painted our living room, kitchen, and dining room together. It took us a few weeks because we had to work around our work schedule and the drying time. My husband did most of the paintings in difficult to reach areas, particularly those close to ceilings, so I didn’t have to do heavy lifting and painting at the same time. Even then, I climbed a ladder to paint the corners and edges and didn’t have any severe pain or difficulty, so I was certain I could paint my home office alone over a weekend because the space to cover is much less.
However, this was not the case this time. First day of painting, I spent four hours painting walls, corners, and edges below my eye level and a quick first coat to cover most of the wall. The second day, I spent roughly the same amount of time, but I concentrated on areas above my eye level, which needed extension poles. I didn’t notice anything unusual except muscular soreness from the day before. But, the next morning, I woke up with muscle aches that were worse than the day before. Left shoulder ache started that evening and lasted three days, waking me up in the middle of the night.
Then I realized what I did differently this time than the prior. Since I was painting with my husband, I took more breaks and constantly moved from one wall to another, so I spent less time doing the same motion. I underestimated the amount of physical labor required to paint even a small room and set a wrong goal of completing it in two days. So, now I’m still sitting in my temporary office space, a tiny room with a bunch of random things around, writing this blog as feeling the discomfort still lingering in my left shoulder. Hopefully, I am learning from my mistakes as I write this and do better next time. What can you take away from my mistake?
- Healthline explains about Shoulder Impingement including symptoms, causes, how it is diagnosed, treatment options, recovery time, and exercise do’s and don’ts.
- MedicalNewsToday shares a few exercises that a physical therapist might recommend to help heal shoulder infringement. However, they recommend consulting with medical professionals to discuss treatment and avoid pushing your body too hard while it recovers.
- Ability Rehabilitation offers 4 Effective Exercises and Stretches to Relieve Shoulder Pain. They noted that if shoulder pain is left untreated, it can become a chronic problem that can affect your normal daily activities such as getting dressed, carrying small items, or even combing your hair.
- This short questionnaire about shoulder pain by Net Solutions helps you to rule out if the source of your shoulder pain is the neck problem, followed by exercise plans to get rid of the pain by restoring function.
- Dr. Katie Clare shares several home exercises you can do to improve different shoulder problems you may have with her short videos on Pinterest.
- Shoulder Pain Explained provides a visual diagram that shows shoulder problems and the exact locations. They also explain what each shoulder problem means.
I dislocated my left shoulder as a young child and again in my 20s while swimming. And with more home-related DIY projects, the greater chance of pain coming back often. Now, it’s time for me to add some of these shoulder exercises to my self-care routines. Do you have any pain or injuries from home-related DIY projects? How do you handle them?
