Top 3 Aches & Pains Faced by Dads

In celebration of Father’s day, we will be exploring more on the 3 most common musculoskeletal problems faced by Dads as often seen by our team of therapists.

The first musculoskeletal problem that is often experienced by men would be Rotator Cuff Overload. This is commonly experienced by men who go to the gym often as well as fathers who often carry their growing children. The rotator cuff is the set of 4 muscles that sits around the ball of the shoulder joint and allows the shoulder its extensive range of motion.

The Rotator Cuff tends to get injured due to upper body motions which involve lifting your hands over your head, such as carrying your child, pitching a baseball, swimming freestyle/butterfly stroke, serving in tennis and weightlifting. These activities cause the top part of the shoulder blade to pinch the rotator cuff muscles, causing Shoulder Impingement. Repetitive motion due to sports can overload the tendons of the rotator cuff causing the tendons to swell and get inflamed, resulting in Tendinitis.

How to prevent Rotator Cuff injuries

• Exercise your rotator cuff muscles to keep them strong and improve your range of motion.
• Be careful when you play sports like golf and tennis that use the same repetitive motions.
• Switch up your game once in a while. Stop whenever you feel pain.

Another common complaint faced by men would be sports-related injuries and strains. The most common sports injuries among men include Ankle Sprain, Groin Pull, Hamstring Strain, Shin Splints and ACL Tear.

How to Prevent Sports Injuries

• Remember to warm up before engaging in the activity. This would help to gently increase the blood flow to your muscles after being sedentary for the whole day, making you more flexible and decreasing the chances of injuries.
• Stop when you are fatigued: Muscle fatigue takes away all protective mechanisms and increases risk of injuries

The third most common complaint among men would be Low Back Pain. Men tend to suffer from Low Back Pain due to poor mechanics while lifting heavy objects such as furniture or weights at the gym as well as poor posture especially for those who work at deskbound jobs.

• How to prevent Low Back Pain?
  • Exercise the muscles in your abdomen and back
  • Start easy and try to do more every day: Get as much time moving around as you can. The more variety the better (Eg. Walking short distances, climbing a flight of stairs you usually skip out on, cycling, gym etc)