26 May Shoulder Pain with Overhead Movement
Posted at 01:41h
in Uncategorized
Shoulder Impingement is the simple term for most shoulder pain when reaching overhead or putting on a bra. The pain is generally in front of the shoulder, down the side or in the back. It often feels more like a pinch when a certain range of motion is reached.
Impingement is caused by either inflammation or mechanical insufficiency. That is to say, the shoulder itself has been injured causing swelling. or it is not working correctly from a bio mechanical standpoint.
Either way the treatment is the same. We need to calm down the inflammation and then restore the biomechanics, in that exact order.
Here is what you want to focus on for the first phase of treatment…decreasing the inflammation: (Note that these are range of motion/stretching exercises…NOT strengthening. Strengthening an inflamed joint will NOT help you.)
- Avoid anything that causes a pinch or pain, even if its only a little. If putting a shirt on hurts, switch to a button down. If putting on a bra is painful, try a front close, etc. You get my meaning here. Anything that hurts is just prolonging the inflammatory cycle.
- Ice 15-20 min several times a day.
- Consider an anti-inflammatory.
- Use the range of motion you have. Don’t push into the discomfort at all but it’s important you use what you have. If you don’t use it, you lose it…this totally applies here.
- Stretch several times a day but for very short periods. This is better than going through a set of exercises for 30 min once a day.
Stretches should be done in the inflammatory phase and should be hand picked by your therapist depending on your presentation of symptoms.
After the inflammatory phase you can move in to strength training of the rotator cuff and shoulder blade muscles to restore biomechanics. Again, strengthening with bands, weights, balls, etc is NOT recommended until the inflammatory phase is in your rear-view mirror. Your therapist will be able to advise on what exercises are best. Please dont read the internet and just go for it on your own! Cookbook medicine my cause more harm than good.