What you should know when shoulder tension is making your hands weak
There is something important to know when shoulder tension makes it hard to use strength in your hands: the cause is not always just one thing. If you look only at the neck or arms for the reason your hands feel weak, you may end up taking a longer path to recovery.
When you have difficulty using strength in your hands, you may be diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome or a cervical disc herniation. In both cases, the usual explanation is that nerves leading to the hands are being compressed around the neck or shoulders.
On the other hand, symptoms often improve when treatment is applied to the muscles of the lower body. Even when the complaint is the same—weakness in the hands—there can be more than one way to solve it.
The illustration shows someone pressing a button on a washing machine. The button is designed to respond when a little pressure is applied, but when it is pressed with the left index finger, a slight amount of force also appears in the left side of the abdomen.
It may look as though fingertip movements are performed only within the hand, but in fact the fingers work together with the abdominal muscles through the arm.
Because of this, if the body is out of balance—for example, if the pelvis is tilted—that effect can travel through the arms to the hands, showing up as difficulty gripping firmly.
You may already have tried many things, such as consciously moving your shoulders or stretching your arms and neck. If none of that has brought real relief so far, we recommend adding an approach to the muscles of the lower body as well. By improving the condition of the lower back and legs, which form the foundation of the body, you can expect a synergistic effect with the stretching you have already been doing.
To solve the problem of hand weakness caused by shoulder tension, it is important to reassess the whole body, identify which areas are not moving well, and begin stretching the muscles that are restricting movement—starting with the larger muscles first.
- Have been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome
- Are doing stretches for the hands and neck
- Have received treatments such as massage
The key to solving this problem is understanding your body’s habits.
We have seen that even movements that seem to use only the hands also involve muscles outside the hands and arms, including the abdominal muscles. That means that to identify the true cause, we need to examine the entire body in detail. This leads to an important question: how can we pinpoint the contributing area within something as broad and complex as the human body? This is where examination comes in. By combining several tests, we can narrow down the area that is contributing to the problem.
The illustration shows a test comparing toe length. From this test, we can read how the leg muscles are being used and where the pelvis is positioned. Ideally, both sides would be the same length, but here the big toe on the right foot is longer.
The strongest muscles in the body are in the thighs, and because they are so powerful, an uneven pattern of use can affect the feet, where muscle strength is weaker.
When the right thigh is tense, as suggested by the longer toe on the right foot, it pulls the right side of the pelvis forward. As a result, the abdominal muscles are also left in a pulled state.
In this way, uneven use of the lower body spreads throughout the whole body, and the problem eventually shows up in weaker areas such as the hands and neck.
Treatment record
Let’s look at the record of how the symptom of hand weakness improved step by step.
- Symptoms: Weak grip strength. Numbness appears in both hands when holding the steering wheel.
- Age: In their 50s
- Work: Long hours standing and frequent forward-bending.
- What they tried: seitai
If we put the course of events in chronological order, it looks like this:
- Hand weakness has been present for the past 10 years.
- Pain later developed in the lower back and knees.
- The person went to a hospital and received seitai treatment, but there was no improvement.
Various tests are performed to look for the cause. Each part of the body has a normal range in which it should be able to move. If a part cannot move as it should, or if it is difficult to move in one direction—up or down, left or right—that area may be contributing to the pain.
Examination results
The examination showed that there were parts of the lower body that were not functioning well.
This compares the length of the left and right feet.
Ideally, both sides should be the same length, but the big toe on the right foot is longer.
One possible reason is the thigh muscles, especially the quadriceps. Because these are the strongest muscles in the body, using them unevenly can affect the position of the pelvis.
Continuing to walk with poor balance gradually weakens the arch of the foot, and over time differences in toe length begin to appear. This is why such a pattern can make bunions more likely to develop.
This suggests a problem with stiffness in the right thigh. Next, we checked the thighs.
Although the person complains of pain in the hands and shoulders, we do not start by touching the neck or shoulders. There are two reasons for this.
① Inflammation worsens, leading to more visits
Massaging the arms or shoulders will temporarily improve circulation, so it feels good for a moment. However, the muscles causing the pain are inflamed, and pressing on them can make that inflammation worse. When that happens, pain continues all the time, making it impossible during treatment to tell whether the symptoms are improving or staying the same.
If that happens, it becomes impossible to judge improvement on the spot, and the result is often, “Let’s stop here for today and see how things go.” That means more visits are needed, which increases the burden on the client. That is not desirable.
② The cause is not where the pain appears
When problems appear in the hands or shoulders, the cause is often hidden far away in the lower back or legs. Rubbing the arms or shoulders may feel good, but it does not lead to a fundamental improvement.
In some cases, the muscles producing the pain are not muscles that should be loosened. If they are treated anyway, the condition may worsen the more treatment is applied.
For these two reasons, even though the person complains of pain in the hands and shoulders, we do not begin by touching the hands or shoulders.
Treatment details
Here we introduce the seitai treatment approach.
Treatment is also applied to the side without symptoms.
Symptoms do not always appear in both arms and both legs. But even if only the left hand is weak, we do not treat only the left side of the body. The same treatment is applied symmetrically to both sides.
This is because when a person moves, the body needs to be able to move equally to the left and right through a sufficient range.
Physical problems begin when the joints can no longer move left and right, or forward and backward, as they should. If movement remains easier in only one direction, or if movement is possible in both directions but the range is limited on both sides, that condition eventually spreads its effects throughout the body and appears as symptoms such as pain.
Seitai begins by helping the joints of the whole body move equally on both sides.
The person then tries again the movements that were painful during the examination before treatment. They confirm for themselves that the hand weakness, which had been their biggest concern, is gone. Strength has also returned to the hands when gripping motorcycle handlebars.
Although this person’s job is physically demanding, I still recommended daily stretching. That is because work rarely involves moving the entire body evenly and thoroughly. Most of the time, the job requires moving while maintaining awkward postures.
After explaining the stretching method, the treatment session is completed.
The neck and shoulders sit at the very top of the body, so they are easily affected by problems elsewhere in the body. Here, we answer a question that many people face when trying to solve this kind of problem.
To summarize the main points, there are two:
You may experience other symptoms besides stiff shoulders, such as headaches or nausea.
-The cause is not stiff shoulders, but an imbalance in the muscles throughout the body that causes stiff shoulders.
The important thing to remember is that stiff shoulders are only a symptom. They are not a cause of other symptoms in themselves.
Stiff shoulders are a sign of a problem occurring within your body. For example, if poor posture causes your arms to shift out of position, pulling on the muscles in your shoulders, it can cause stiff shoulders and pain. The cause is not in your shoulders.
Therefore, if you leave the overall balance of your body, which has deteriorated to the point where stiff shoulders occur, as it is, I believe that it will lead to other symptoms in addition to stiff shoulders.
Furthermore, because the shoulders are close to the neck, it is said that stiff shoulders can cause symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, depression, numbness in the hands, and difficulty using the hands. However, correcting imbalances found in the legs and hips can sometimes improve these symptoms.
If you are suffering from stiff shoulders, checking your entire body thoroughly to determine what is causing tension in your shoulder muscles will not only solve the underlying problem, but will also help prevent and resolve headaches, dizziness, and other vague symptoms.
The answer to the question, "What happens if you have severe shoulder stiffness?" is, "If your shoulder stiffness gets worse, you may experience symptoms other than just shoulder stiffness." The reason for this is that the cause is not the stiff shoulders themselves, but rather an imbalance in the muscles throughout your body that is causing the stiff shoulders.
Steps to solve the problem through seitai
The way we use our bodies today has been shaped over many years through play and sports in childhood, accidents, childbirth, and other life events.
If you are feeling pain, it is simply your body’s way of telling you that there has been a problem in how you have been using it up to now.
The first stage in solving the problem is to stop the pain. Once the cause has been identified through examination and treatment is given, the pain can be reduced. Only after the pain has improved are you ready to learn how to use your body correctly.
The second stage is learning proper body use. In this way, both the body and the brain are changed so that you do not return to your old condition.
Because physical pain is often related to daily habits, stretching and exercise become necessary. As with brushing your teeth, steady and consistent practice is important.
If you want to solve your pain, the first step is to stop the pain. Stretching and exercise come after that.
