My right shoulder is lower than left

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Continue Learning about Shoulder
Why would one shoulder be lower than the other?
Why is my left shoulder higher than right?
How do you fix a dropped shoulder?

Uneven shoulders could indicate many different things. From scoliosis to a leg length discrepency. Although, in most situations it is indicative of simply a muscle imbalance in the upper extremities. I have found people that appear to have a shoulder jammed up into their simply because they sleep on that side, or possibly because they carry a heavy bag or purse or talk on the phone by leaning the head down to that shoulder. If this is case it could be an easy fix.

The first thing to do is to commit to doing things differently. Maybe start to sleep on your back or alteast rotate sides, get a smaller purse or bag (who really needs to carry around that much stuff anyway), and get a bluetooth or a hands free device to talk on the phone.

Once you have made the lifestyle change which is contributing to the problem, then you can begin a series of stretching and strengthening exercises to help correct the problem.

First stretch the side of your neck which has the higher shoulder by dropping the opposite ear to the opposite shoulder. You will want to hold this for atleast 20 seconds.
Then, you will want to perform strengthening of a muscle called your lower traps. This can easily be done by an exercise called "scaption raises", with or without dumbbells is fine. You will want to stand tall, turn your thumbs up and move your arms way from your body (at about a 35 degree angle) until they are all the above your head. You should look like a human "Y" at the end.
Another great exercise is a simple move. Called "scapular depressions". Imagine if you were trying to get up from a chair, you put your hands on the arm rests and push yourself up onto your feet. The part when you first push, concentrate on pulling your shoulder blades into your back pockets and squeezing them together.

Perform 2-3 sets with 15-20 reps of the above stretching and strengthening exercise for best result. Don't forget to contact your Dr. before beginning any exercise program for a thorough evaluation. If you are unsure of whether or not your shoulders are even consult a personal trainer for a movement evaluation.

Continue Learning about Shoulder

Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.

No – you should have uneven shoulders. There; that’s answered that and should make this the shortest blog ever written!

However, Google the same question and you get loads of rubbish spouted by some seemingly well qualified people. As an example, I found this one earlier:

“If your body is correctly aligned, your shoulders will be at the same height and facing forward. Uneven shoulders occur when one shoulder is higher than the other. This can be a slight or significant difference and may be due to several causes. Luckily, there are steps you can take to bring your body back into balance and alignment.”

They say: “…your shoulders will be at the same height and facing forward.” Now, this is evidently not what we see around us. Level shoulders are really rare. They are only ever seen in the odd few. And you have to ask, have the authors ever bothered to look? I suspect they have just accepted what they ‘believe’ to be true and never taken the time to check.

But why should one shoulder be lower than the other?

The most common reason for these ubiquitous uneven shoulders is rarely mentioned, but it affects nearly all of us.

You should have one shoulder lower than the other. This is normal. Why? Well, you will have one arm that is more powerful than the other. For nearly everyone, this will be your dominant hand arm. This will be the arm you’d use to drive a screw into anything really hard. To give it this additional power it must, nearly by definition, have more muscle in it. So, it is just a heavier arm. Over your life time this additional weight draws the shoulder down on that side and results in uneven shoulders. So, no one should have level shoulders – unless you are ambidextrous or have an underlying issue. So, you are to stop worrying about this and at once.

Are there any problems that can cause uneven shoulders?

Yes. And these are important, and we can check for them, but in comparison to the fact that you should naturally have one lower shoulder these reasons are really, really rare. The most common we see is as a result of connective tissue laxity and is explained here.

If you are worried let me know by commenting and I’ll give you my gem-like thoughts on the matter.

Why would one shoulder be lower than the other?

If a person maintains poor posture, their shoulders can become uneven, as some sets of muscles become tight, and others become weak. One example is rounded shoulder posture (RSP). RSP can cause the chest muscles to become tight and the shoulder muscles to become longer. Find tips on how to improve posture here.

Why is my left shoulder higher than right?

This could be due to over-activation of back muscles on one side as a result of low back pain, or actual discrepancy due to hip/pelvic bone structure since birth. Another example is pain and stiffness in the neck or tightness in chest muscles can create a pull on the shoulder putting it in upward or forward position.