Learn about treatments for shoulder pain used by Lift Clinic’s team of Vancouver physio, chiro, RMT and strength coaches!
This post will focus on treatments for shoulder pain used by Lift Clinic clinicians to help you fix shoulder pain and improve sports performance. One way that we measure your shoulder’s ability to reach overhead is with the “arms over head” assessment. Check out our previous post on shoulder assessments to learn more. Once we find the cause of your shoulder pain, the next step is to use hands-on treatment to get you started on beating pain for good.
This post is a continuation of our blog series on our full body assessment. If you haven’t already, visit our blog page to learn more about how we assess and treat other movements in the body.
For any given movement pattern, our treatment approach follows 4 primary steps:
- Assessment
Techniques used to test ranges of motion and find the root causes of limitations
- Reset
Hands on treatment techniques used to improve & restore limited range of motion
- Reinforce
Exercises or self treatments that help maintain the gains made from the reset techniques.
- Reload
Exercises that develop strength, resilience, and coordination for the desired movement pattern.
8 treatments for shoulder pain:
1) Pec STM
Soft tissue mobilizations (STM) help to desensitize muscles that restrict mobility through the shoulder. Massaging a tight pec (chest muscle) can improve external rotation in the shoulder and improve shoulder pain.
2) Subscapularis STM
The subscapularis is a rotator cuff muscle that sits underneath the shoulder blade. Massaging a tight subscapularis can also improve external rotation in the shoulder.
3) Lat STM
Massaging the a tight lat muscle can free up external rotation and flexion in the shoulder. Freeing up range of motion can help to treat shoulder pain.
4) Shoulder blade abduction mobilization
Here we are guiding the shoulder blade as we move into arm abduction. Abduction is the movement of moving your arms out to the side. This treatment technique is helps your shoulder blade move more freely and improves shoulder range of motion.
5) Upper back extension adjustment
This upper back adjustment helps to mobilize the vertebrae and the joints that make up your upper spine. This can help with thoracic spine extension, which is the movement of bending back with your upper back.
6) Upper back rotation adjustment
This upper back adjustment helps to mobilize the vertebrae and the joints that make up your upper spine. This helps with thoracic spine rotation, which is the movement of rotating your upper back.
6) Shoulder blade flexion mobilization
Here we are guiding the shoulder blade as we move the arm into flexion. Flexion is the movement of moving your arms upwards and forwards. This treatment technique is helps your shoulder blade move more freely which can improve shoulder range of motion.
7) Shoulder external rotation mobilization
Here we are guiding the shoulder into external rotation, which is the movement where the shoulder rotates backwards, as seen the picture to the left.
8) Dry needling
Dry needling can be helpful in restoring mobility through the shoulder by influencing the muscle, fascia, and nervous system. Relaxing these muscles helps to treat shoulder pain.
What's next?
Treatments for shoulder pain are a great way to alleviate pain and improve mobility in your shoulder. However, without proper maintenance through exercise, the results of these techniques will only be temporary. To lock in these mobility gains, you will need to perform reinforcing and reloading exercises.
On that note, stay tuned for the next post in the series: Arms Over Head Reinforce
