Book excerpt: The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body. It enjoys an amazing range of motion; it can rotate 360 degrees and can extend upward, sideways, across the body, outward, inward, every which way. That makes it the most useful joint we have, and, not surprisingly, we use it the most. Lifting, pushing, pulling, throwing, catching, hugging: the shoulder experiences more motion than any other joint. So it is perhaps not surprising that, sooner or later, it becomes overtaxed—fatigued. After all, as with anything, if you keep applying the same pressure over and over, the strength and stability of the structure being pressured will wear down. That’s what happens to the shoulder, and when it does, it’s not only painful; it can also stop you in your tracks, limiting your ability to do even simple things you’re used to doing. The truth is that if you’ve never felt any kind of shoulder pain whatsoever, the chances are good that as you grow older, you will. Our bodies tend to lose muscle and bone mass as we age, and we become more susceptible to the aches and pains that may result. But neither the weakness nor the pain is inevitable. The shoulder can be fixed, and the pain can go away. First, there’s a fix that cures the weakness and ends the pain. But there are also things you can do to prevent injury or strain in the first place, so that you never have to lose the strength, stability, and range of motion of the shoulder at all. Fix My Shoulder explores the anatomy and function of the shoulder, methods of preventing pain and injury, and treatments for healing that anyone can implement for better shoulder health and function.