From The Desk of Ann Arbor Chiropractor, Dr. Mike Tannenbaum, D.C.

I often have patients who complain of upper back pain and tightness and or forward rounding of their shoulders. Besides administering Chiropractic adjustments to help get rid of the pain and tightness and to improve the patient's shoulder posture, I suggest to these patients that they perform some simple stretches as part of their home care. These stretches can be especially helpful in reducing upper back tightness and loosening the chest muscles (pectoral major and minor muscles) that if to tight or much stronger then the upper back muscles may pull the shoulders forward.

These stretches are simple and are performed as follows: Standing in a open doorway place your arms out stretched on either side of the doorway with arms chest high and then lean onto the doorway feeling the stretch in your chest muscles holding the stretch 20 seconds and then rest for 20 seconds Repeat the stretching and then resting three times. Next, you should repeat this series of stretching and resting, but with your arms angled up so that your wrists are at head height. You should repeat these two series of stretches twice a day.

If these stretches cause shoulder pain you should discontinue the stretches.