Understanding and Managing Shoulder Pain in Physical Therapy

The Anatomy of Shoulder Pain: A Widespread Issue

Shoulder pain is far from rare, affecting an estimated 18% to 26% of adults. This statistic highlights the vast number of individuals who suffer from discomfort or limited mobility daily. The shoulder, with its remarkable range of motion, is a complex joint, but its flexibility also makes it particularly vulnerable to injury.

Physical therapy is often a lifeline in these situations. Think of a physical therapist as a skilled architect for the body, understanding the intricate relationships between the bones (humerus, clavicle, scapula) and the web of muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support them. Their expertise allows them to guide patients from pain to recovery, restoring both function and strength.

The Role of Physical Therapy: A Comprehensive Approach

Physical therapy is more than just exercises and treatments. It’s a comprehensive discipline that blends education, injury prevention, and rehabilitation into one. The goal is not only to alleviate pain but to equip patients with the tools to avoid future injuries. Physical therapy is as much about building awareness and adapting habits as it is about healing.

Acute vs. Overuse Injuries: Two Common Causes of Shoulder Pain

Shoulder injuries typically fall into two categories: acute and overuse. Acute injuries result from sudden, unexpected incidents that cause immediate pain, such as a fall or strain. Overuse injuries, however, develop gradually over time due to repetitive stress on the shoulder. Physical therapy addresses both types with a range of strategies designed to promote healing and prevent future harm.

Physical Therapy Techniques: A Toolkit for Shoulder Recovery

Physical therapists have an array of techniques to aid in the recovery and strengthening of the shoulder. These methods are carefully selected based on the specific nature of the injury:

– Ice and Heat Therapy: By applying cold or heat, physical therapists can control inflammation and promote healing. Ice is used to reduce swelling in the initial stages of injury, while heat helps relax tight muscles and increase blood flow after inflammation subsides.

– Manual Therapy: Using hands-on techniques, therapists can manipulate the shoulder to break up scar tissue, improve mobility, and reduce pain. This method enhances the joint’s overall function.

– Strengthening Exercises: Core to any recovery program, strengthening exercises are designed to target the muscles surrounding the shoulder. Building muscle support helps reduce the risk of future injuries. Here are three common exercises used to enhance shoulder strength.

– Joint Mobilization: Physical therapists use specific movements to increase the shoulder’s range of motion, ensuring that the joints work as they should.

– Electrical Stimulation: By using electrical currents to stimulate muscles, therapists can prevent muscle atrophy, manage pain, and accelerate muscle recovery.

– Taping: Techniques like athletic or kinesiology taping offer support to the injured area, promoting proper movement and aiding in the healing process.

Ergonomics and Activity Modification: Preventing Future Injury

A key aspect of physical therapy is prevention. Physical therapists assess patients’ daily activities and ergonomics, recommending adjustments that can significantly lower the risk of re-injury. Whether it’s modifying a workstation or changing posture habits, these small changes can make a big difference in shoulder health.

Customized Physical Therapy Plans: A Tailored Approach to Wellness

Physical therapy is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s a personalized process where the therapist collaborates with the patient to create a program tailored to their specific needs. The regimen is based on the severity of the injury, pain levels, and individual recovery goals, ensuring a precise and thoughtful path to restored function and resilience.

Taking the First Step: When to Seek Physical Therapy

Recognizing the right time to seek physical therapy is essential. If shoulder pain persists for more than a few days or interferes with daily activities, it’s important to consult a physical therapist. Early intervention can prevent minor issues from escalating into more severe problems.

What to Expect from Physical Therapy

Your first session with a physical therapist is a crucial step toward recovery. During this initial evaluation, the therapist will gather detailed information about your condition, assess the shoulder’s functionality, and develop a treatment plan designed to meet your specific goals.

Interested in scheduling an evaluation with one of our experts? Don’t wait—contact us today to take the first step toward relief and recovery!

One Quick Test of Shoulder Health

It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Maintaining a quadruped position (hands and knees) reveals a great deal about your upper body strength and preferred movement strategies. For these reasons, we use this position as a test and exercise within our sports physical therapy setting.

Even strong and muscular patients commonly assume a quadruped position with their shoulder blades pinched close together and deep lower back arch (belly button dropped towards the ground).

This position is often utilized because it conserves energy and allows the body to be lazy. Compression from the lower and upper back is used to hold the torso up against gravity, instead of the abs and muscles involved with reaching. These strategies are common among folks experiencing back pain, shoulder pain and a variety of other issues.

The abs and muscles involved with reaching (for example, the serratus anterior) are essential components of athletic performance, running, walking and pretty much being a human being.

As these skills diminish, the risk of experiencing various injuries may increase.

The bear test is a great way to see if test your upper body strength and movement capabilities.

Think you have what it takes to pass the test? Give it a shot with this drill!

Photo Credit

“Polar bear” by tharendra is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

How to “Fix” Rounded Shoulders

As physical therapists, we often answer questions pertaining to “poor posture.” One of the most common reports from our patients in Bethesda and Chevy Chase is having “forward shoulders.”

The solution to this, which is often taught by other physical therapists, is to stretch the muscles in the front of the shoulders. The most common of these muscle groups is the pecs.

The logic goes something like this. “Your pecs are tight and pulling your shoulders forward. If you stretch them, your shoulders can move back and correct your posture.”

While this reasoning isn’t necessarily wrong, it is shortsighted. It fails to question why muscles like the pecs became tight in the first place. Simply stretching these muscles won’t correct the root cause of the issue.

The shoulder complex rests on top of the rib cage and the pecs attach to the sternum (ribs 1-7 attach to the sternum) as well as the ribs on the front of the rib cage.

As we breath in the rib cage should expand in 360 degrees and as we breath out it should do the opposite.

People with forward shoulders and stiff pecs often have difficulty expanding the front part of their rib cage during a relaxed breath in. This prevents the pecs from lengthening fully and often causes them to remain stiff, pulling the shoulders forward.

If you are looking to improve your posture and “pull your shoulders back”, the solution must include breathing exercises that emphasis relaxation and expansion of the chest/front part of the rib cage.

Here is an example from our YouTube page that illustrates this concept.

If you are looking to improve your posture or shoulder function, contact us now!

Photo Credit

“Orlando’s Poor Posture” by hewy is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Arm Care in Baseball is More Than Pitch Counts

The number of shoulder and elbow injuries in youth baseball pitchers is on the rise and we consistently see these injuries for performance physical therapy. In response, consistent efforts have been made to better monitor the amount of stress taken by pitchers after each visit to the mound.

For many years, this was done by simply limiting the number of innings an athlete could pitch and setting a specific number of rest days between outings. More recently, pitch counts have become the standard for tracking a pitcher’s workload. However, while this change is an improvement, pitch counts do not tell the entire story.

What pitch count fails to account for is the varying intensities between throws. For example, a throw at 100% effort has a very different intensity than a throw at 50%. This is why efforts have been made in recent years to more accurately track the intensity, or workload, of a pitcher while on the mound.

A Better Method to Track Stress: Workload

According to athletic physical therapy, a more reliable measure of stress is the acute to chronic workload ratio (ACWR). Acute workload refers to the average workload of a single day over the past 9 days, whereas chronic workload refers to the average one-day workload over the past 28 days.

Research by sports scientist Tim Gabbett has shown that spikes in acute workloads, such as quickly increasing pitch count to more than the body is used to, can increase the risk of injury.

Calculating Your ACWR

There are two main ways to calculate the acute to chronic workload ratio.

The first is to use a series of formulas using pitch count and a subjective rating of perceived exertion (RPE), ranging on a scale of 1–10.

Calculate acute workload by multiplying the number of high-intensity throws (around 70% of full effort or more) by the athlete’s RPE.
Calculate chronic workload by calculating the weekly acute workload average of the past four weeks.

Once you have the acute and chronic workload, divide the acute workload by the chronic workload to get the ACWR.

The second and perhaps much simpler method is to use wearable technology. For example, in recent years, technology has become available to track the stress on a pitcher more accurately after an outing.

Sensors such as the MotusTHROW can accurately measure the amount of force placed on an athlete’s elbow during each throw. This data can be applied to calculate the ACWR to safely and effectively determine when a pitcher needs rest or is ready for their next high-intensity outing.

If you’d like to learn more about keeping your son or daughter safe on the mound, our experienced athletic physical therapy and injury rehabilitation team in Bethesda can help!