What is the cause behind shoulder pain?

[madhat]

I've got right shoulder trouble and have moved on to 00 sized guitars- this has been a big help for me...

Probably the biggest contributor to my shoulder issue though- was sleeping position. I would sleep with my right arm extended under my pillow - this would cause a pressure and pinch. I now make an effort to keep my arm at or below shoulder level while I sleep and I have far less problems.
*now its my elbow area and some hand neuropathy lol - JOY!

good luck and keep on keepin' on!

madhat.

[musicman1951]

Of course you don't want actual medical advice from the forum, but I have had the same experience as many here - smaller guitar and pain goes away.

[Silly Moustache]

Age, yes, but posture and positioning is really the answer.

Three hour gigs? Heavy strumming? Why? Rationalise your style, and your delivery.

The Jumbo (!) that you are playing is pulling your shoulder away from the joint by a few inches - the amount of inches depends on how you have your strap adjusted - many have them too long stringing all the arm joints.

Look at your normal playing position and how you hold your shoulders, back, neck etc.

I have had shoulder issues, mainly due to broken collar bones etc., but in 2017 after losing as great deal of weight due to cancer treatment I found that I had right shoulder pain. The problem wasn't loss of weight but muscle tone.

I eventually convinced my doctor to refer me to the gym to regain my muscle tone and have had no problems since.

Listen to your body - if it hurts - you're doing it wrong.

[rstaight]

I have pain in my shoulder also from time to time. I play dreads, jumbos, and concert size. Along with the occasional electric.

What has worked for me is to rotate the guitar to the right. This allows my right arm to drop a little relieving stress on the shoulder.

[fngrpck]

I had a similar issue and suspected my rotator cuff. I thought I'd try some exercise on my own to skip the medical merry-go-round. I googled "rotator cuff exercise" and got a list of exercises and followed the routine. Using very light resistance and warming up the shoulder, exercising, and then cooling down with ice. In three weeks the shoulder felt good to go, no pain. I still incorporate the exercises periodically as a preventative.

I should say that I'm not a doctor but I play one when it comes to the simpler things.

[C-ville Brent]

This seems to be a timely post. I'm late 50's and been playing since the early 1980's, mostly dreadnoughts. I've been recently experiencing right shoulder pain. I've been rear ended by a pick up truck while riding a motorcycle and last December was in a head on collision with a sleepy driver so expected the cumulative effect of these and years of splitting fire wood had caught up with me. I also thought maybe it was rotator cuff related. Thank you fngrpck, I think I'm going to check out your suggestion to a similar sufferer and see if it helps.

[Birchtop]

If you are having repeated or continuous shoulder pain, go see a doctor. This is something you don't want to put off. I lived with that pain for many years, only to find out I was doing more damage to it. I had the shoulder all rebuilt, rotator cuff repair (torn), subacromial smoothing (also involving 1/4" bone tip removal), bone spurs removed, tendons reattached, arthritis cleaned out, and a bunch of other little things I can't remember or pronounce.

Doctor said he thinks a lot of it could have been prevented if I had seen someone about it 10-15 years ago.

The upside to all this? Because I had to keep my shoulder immobile for long periods of time, I took up finger picking and the love of acoustics bit me.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Sometimes after I play 3 hour gig I notice my right shoulder (I'm a righty)
feels a little sore and tired afterwards. Especially if I am doing a lot of high energy strumming. I play a dread (J45). What causes this? Is it the repetitive motion of the strumming or is it the thick dreadnaught body or something in my mechanics? I never tried playing a whole night with a thinner body guitar. That might be a worthwhile experiment.

Hi JB1

Standing the whole time?