Why Your Upper Body Feels Constantly Tight (And What Actually Helps)

This week inside The My Body Hurts Club, we started with wrist and hand pain.

But very quickly, something became clear, it’s rarely just about the wrist.

Woman seen from behind holding her neck, illustrating upper body tightness and neck pain.

When women describe ongoing wrist discomfort, what often sits underneath is a bigger pattern:

Tight forearms.

Elevated shoulders.

A neck that never really switches off.

A jaw that clenches without permission.Ribs that barely move with breath.

The upper body is a chain.

And when one part takes on more load than it should, the whole chain adapts.

That’s not failure. That’s compensation.

The problem is, compensation works brilliantly, until it doesn’t.

Many women try to stretch harder or “fix” the painful area in isolation. But if the shoulder is braced and the neck is holding tension, the wrist never truly gets a chance to settle.

What often helps more is small, controlled movement across the whole chain.

Gentle loading.

Consistent repetition.

Breathing that allows the ribs to move again.

Awareness before intensity.

This is why I’m beginning to structure sessions inside the group around connected areas rather than isolated joints.

Because the body doesn’t work in pieces.

If your upper body feels constantly tight, wrists, shoulders, jaw, ribs, it doesn’t mean you’re broken.

It usually means you’ve been carrying more than you realised.

And that can be addressed, calmly, progressively, and without forcing.

If you’d like to explore this approach, The My Body Hurts Club is open and the replays are available.

Love,

Dawn xx

Sunshine Holistic Therapy