In this video, I'm going to
show you how to fix rhomboid pain for good. Stay tuned! Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe
coming to you from SpineCare in St. Joseph, Michigan. In this
video, we're going to focus on fixing a tight and achy
rhomboid muscle, a big instigator of upper back and
shoulder blade pain. When this muscle becomes irritated and
strained, you tend to get a lot of pain below the neck
throughout the upper back and then off to the sides into the
shoulder blades. It usually comes about from tightness and
weakness in the rhomboid muscle. So, to make this easy,
I'm going to break this video up into two parts. In the first
part, we're going to focus on tackling tightness by
lengthening the muscle through great stretching exercises. In
the second part, we're going to strengthen the muscle, build
more stability, improve posture, take tension and
stress off the muscle to hopefully get long-lasting pain
relief. As a bonus, all of these exercises can be done at
home. They require no equipment and you may find get quick
rhomboid pain relief even in as little as 30 seconds. So, let's
get started and fix that rhomboid pain for good right
now. In this part, we're going to focus on getting quick
rhomboid muscle pain relief by lengthening the muscle that is
reducing tension and strain on it and I'm going to do a very
easy exercise that you can pretty much do anywhere. All we
need is a door frame. So, it's a two-part movement. In the
first part, what I'm going to do is kind of put my feet close
to the door frame right here. Take one arm that is on the
other side of the door frame, grab right into it for a stable
anchor point. Just really hook your finger into it. I'm going
to put my feet together and then I'm going to use my body
weight to lean away from that door frame. I want to keep
leaning away until I start to feel a very good stretch right
off to the side right here of those shoulder blades. What I'm
going to do from there is take my other hand, put it below
this arm right here, and then rotate my body away from the
door frame. Go as far as you can. So, we're leaning and then
rotating away. You'll start to feel a deep stretch into that
rhomboid muscle across that shoulder blade. It feels really
good. I try to hold this one for about 20 to 30 seconds.
Just do nice, low-controlled breathing also. Let the tension
out and from there, you're just going to relax. On the next
repetition, try to build into it even more. Try to do this
for two to three repetitions on both sides. From there, we're
going to take it to the next level by hitting the rhomboids
and the shoulder blades just a little bit differently. So,
face the door frame, put your toes right up against it. I'm
going to crisscross my arms like this where my thumbs going
to be pointing down and I'm going to grip right into that
door frame. From here, I'm going to place my hands roughly
about chest level. Tuck your chin towards your chest and the
movement from here is easy. We're going to just allow our
body weight to go backward like this. Kinda like taking my butt
away and down from the floor. Keep going down until you start
to feel a very good stretch in between the shoulder blades. I
really feel that it feels really really good. I try to
hold this one right here for twenty 30 seconds, again trying
to do nice slow control breathing. From there, I'm just
going to relax on the next repetition I try to stretch
into it even more you can repeat this three times you can
also experiment with different placements of your hands so put
them more towards your head level and then repeat this
you're going to notice that it hits the muscles just a little
bit differently so go all the way up go all the way down if
you feel like one certain position just hits that spot a
little bit better at that point throw more repetitions in. So,
here's a great upper back and shoulder blade opener that you
can do at the edge of a bed or a chair depending on your
height. We're going to start off on our knees. So, make sure
to put a pillow or towel underneath them for extra
comfort. I'm going to go over four different dynamic
movements that are going to effectively target the rhomboid
and just hit it at different positions so you'll be able to
lengthen that muscle much more efficiently than just a
one-dimensional static stretch. So, what I'm going to do is
bend my arms, put the backside of my arms flat on that
surface. My hands are going to go right on my shoulders just
like this. Let's tuck our chin towards our chest. The first
movement, I'm going to do a decompression traction
exercise. This is a pulling motion to help open up the
upper back and take pressure off the muscles and the spine.
So, I'm just going to lower my whole body kind of like taking
my butt down towards my heels. The more that we do this, the
more that you're going to feel a great stretch in the upper
back in between the shoulder blade go down as far as you can
once you hit a deep but comfortable stretch you want to
hold this one for 20 to 30 seconds. Just do nice slow
control breathing also, let that tension out. From here, we're
going to take it to the next level by putting in a cat cow
movement so this one I'm going to kind of like suck my stomach
upwards like this, tighten my core and then round my upper
back towards the ceiling. You'll feel the muscles get hit just a
little bit differently. I like to hold this one right here for
about three to 5 seconds then I'm going to go in reverse
allowing my stomach to relax go down towards the floor and also
let my chest go towards the edge of that chair or the bed.
When you do this, you'll just notice that again the muscles
get hit a little bit differently. Three to five
second hold and then I want to do a nice fluid motion of this
right here for about 3 to 5 complete repetitions. From there,
we're going to focus on thoracic rotation to build
mobility so I'm going to keep one arm flat on here but the
other one is going to raise up and I'm going to rotate my
body, my whole back, arm, and head upward towards the
ceiling. Go up as far as you can. You're really going to
feel the shoulder blade muscles including that rhomboid start
to fire. Hold this one for about 5 seconds. From there,
you're just going to relax and then repeat it on the other
side. The last movement we're going to do is called threading
the needle. It's also a rotational movement that hits
the muscles just a little bit differently. So, take one arm
off, bend the elbow roughly at ninety and then turn your body
in the opposite direction. So, my right arm is reaching all
the way towards my left. Once you feel a deep stretch, hold
this one for 5 seconds. Come back, relax, and then repeat it
on the other side but try to do this whole complete cycle for
about three to five repetitions and with each repetition, try
to build into it just a little bit more. If you want to get
rid of rhomboid muscle pain for good, you have to strengthen
everything in and around the shoulder blades. This will help
build stability, improve posture taking tension, and
stress off the rhomboids. So, what I'm going to do is start
off with a very easy exercise. This is known as a scapular
push up. It's kind of like a push up but we're just going to
move through our shoulder blades. So, I'm going to start
off on a floor just like this. My forearms are going to
support my upper body weight. I put my hands together like
this. Have my forearms in a V shape. You might want to put a
towel or pillow underneath your arms too for extra comfort. So,
I'm going to show the beginner position and then show a little
bit more challenging one after that. So, just kind of bend
your knees, put your body up like this like you're going to
do a push up but what I'm going to do is pinch my shoulder
blades and allow my chest to go down towards the floor. Try to
allow the chest to go down as much as you can really pinching
those shoulder blades to activate those muscles. When
you feel that, try to hold this one right here for about 5
seconds. Now, we're going to do the opposite. We're going to
lift up on the chest and also the upper back towards the
ceiling. This will open up the blades this time around hitting
the muscles just a little bit differently. Again, try to hold
this one for about 5 seconds. From there, you're just going
to relax, take a breather, and try to do this one right here
if you're able to for about 10 repetitions and with each
repetition, really try to build into it and move through those
shoulder blades. If you want to make this one more challenging,
just go into a push up position. You'll have a lot
more muscles at that point starting to fire including the
core muscles and it's just a little bit more challenging. If
you want to take this to the next level, we can do what is
known as a dolphin press. This one really helps build
stability into the shoulder blades and the shoulders. So,
what I'm going to do is get into this position right here.
Kind of like a plank, and just kind of walk my legs like this.
Again, I'm supporting my body weight on my forearms. Let's
tuck our chin towards our chest. The movement is pretty
easy. What I'm trying to do is drop my head towards the floor
and lift my butt up towards the ceiling at the same time. When
you do this, you'll feel a ton of muscles fire across the
upper back, shoulder blades, and off to the side. I try to
hold this one for about 5 seconds. I'm just going to
relax and then I'm going to repeat this one if I'm able to
for about 10 to 15 repetitions. Again, with each repetition,
try to build into it just a little bit more. My muscles are
really firing on this one but if you feel like you have a
little bit more energy, just throw in another set or two.
Here's a rhomboid muscle strengthening exercise that
you can do throughout the day. It's not only good for getting
quick pain relief but it will also help upper back posture.
We just need a smooth wall or a door. I'm going to put my whole
backside flush against it. My feet are going to be angled out
in front of me. Let's have our legs roughly hip width apart.
Put all of your body weight on your heels during this
exercise. So, what I'm going to do is just squat down a little
bit until I feel my leg muscles engage and also my glutes. I'm
also going to try to tighten my core just a little it. The
first movement is known as the shoulder blade lift off. I'm
going to bend my elbows at 90 degrees, put them off to my
side, press them into the door. The movement is pressing with
our arm strength into the door to lift our body forward. So,
we're not trying to round our back with this one. When you do
this, lift your chest forward, pinch your shoulder blades in
the back. You'll feel a ton fire including into the chest
muscles in between the shoulder blades. I try to hold this one
comfortably for about 5 seconds. From there, I'm just
going to relax, take a breather. I try to repeat this
one up to 10 times and with each repetition, try to build
into it just a little bit more. Always challenge those muscles.
What we can do to take this one to the next level is a postural
exercise called a wall angel. Really helps open up a tight
chest. So, I'm going to get back into my original position
right here. I'm going to bend my elbows at 90 degrees. Take
them straight back towards the wall. From there, I'm going to
turn my hands up towards the ceiling. If you have a lot of
chest tightness, you'll probably find that you can't
get your elbows all the way back. Just wing them back as
much as you can during this exercise and hopefully through
repetition, you'll gain more flexibility but you're just
going to wing your elbows back as much as you can until you
feel the chest activate and you're really trying to pinch
those shoulder blades in the back. You're going to raise
your hands up slowly towards the ceiling. When you can't go
any further, hold this right here for a couple seconds. From
there, you're going to slowly come back down. From there, you
can take a breather. On the next repetition, try to build
into it more. Wing those elbows back, go up, and hold that for
a couple seconds. You can do this for 10 to 15 repetitions.
Here's a strengthening exercise that you can do right in bed. I
call this one the shoulder blade pump. It's going to focus
on dynamic movements to really target the rhomboid and other
muscles that help support the upper back and shoulder blades.
Start off lying on your stomach right at the edge of a bed.
What I'm going to do is a head retraction. That is just taking
the back of my head upward towards the ceiling. So, I'm
not trying to round it backward or forward like this. You
should feel a gentle activation of the neck muscles going into
the upper back. From there, what I'm going to do is scoop
forward until my shoulders are off the edge of that bed. Have
your arms straight off to your side, palms up towards the
ceiling. We're going to do a pumping motion. So, we're going
to just keep our arms straight and then pump our hands upwards
towards the ceiling as much as you can. You want to hold this
for about a then you're just going to relax and then you're
going to repeat this pumping motion right here for about
five to 10 repetitions really focusing on feeling those
muscles engage in the upper back from there we're going to
attack it at a different angle so go right off to your side
like this roughly about 45degrees this time around the
palms are going to be down towards the floor and again I'm
going to repeat this process you'll notice that the muscles
just get it a little bit differently from there I'm
going to go right in front of me arms angled off to my side
and then I'm going to repeat this one from there I'm going
to go into what is known as an angel so I'm going to bend my
elbows roughly at 90 degrees wing my elbows up towards the
ceiling as much as we can and then strain our arms out in
front of us hold this position right here for about a second
or two and then slowly come back and try to do this one
right here for about five repetitions from there just go
in reverse and repeat you can do this whole cycle right here
for 3 to 5 complete repetitions. If the exercises
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