Left Shoulder Pain

This is a real condition. It’s from posture, yes. But it’s also caused by constantly counter steering against the grade of the road. Actually read that the average truck driver in a 10 hour day does the equivalent of 12,000lb of lifting by simply counter steering against the grade of the road. Keeping your left elbow as close to your body as possible helps, but only slightly.

 

Find a way to remind yourself to shift your body position on a regular basis. I do the same thing, leave my left arm resting so long it starts to ache, then aches for days after. Now, I constantly remind myself to move that stupid arm more and it is helping.

Another thing is to stretch. Stretch every single time you can. Not enough just to get out of the cab and walk around, really bend and start stretching out your muscles. Sounds obvious I know but I wasn't doing this nearly enough and now every time I get out of the truck or go to get back into it I try and stretch everything a few times. Makes a world of difference.

Something I found out riding motorcycles is that I can stay ahead of the pain by taking a little painkiller before the pain really gets to me but if I wait until I'm already hurting it is too late for a couple aspirin to really help. In your case, I'd suggest stretching, moving your arm and back around when you drive, and taking a couple painkillers before you start the long hauls. Be careful of making them a habit though, bad for your stomach and such.