All too often these days we are seeing people of all ages present to our Core physiotherapists with shoulder pain for seemingly no reason whatsoever. There has been no known injury and the pain as well as lack of movement appear out of the blue.
When shoulder pain shows up in this manner it is very important that the physiotherapist do a thorough history and physical examination to rule out any underlying health issue or disease that may present as shoulder pain. The Core team of physiotherapists are trained to do exactly this. Once it is determined that there are no issues that may be showing up as shoulder pain the physiotherapist must now get to the root of the physical cause.
The overwhelming majority of the cases we are finding are due to chronic postural stress from both the head and shoulders sliding forward. During this pandemic people of all ages are much less active and are spending much more time on their computers and phones. As the shoulders round forward, the group of rotator cuff muscles become stretched and lose some of their ability to properly control the internal motions of the shoulder joint. Day time motions, particularly at or above the shoulder height, and night time sleeping postures can become very painful.
Physiotherapy treatment for non-injury shoulder pain involves reducing inflammation and pain with soft tissue therapy including hands-on techniques, electrotherapy, ultrasound and laser therapy. The most beneficial component of care is to teach the patient how to restore their correct posture so that the rotator cuff is allowed to function the way it is intended to do and to give strategies for proper ergonomic computer use and strategies for phone usage. Once the posture has been addressed then exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff group of muscles can be introduced. The Core physiotherapist may also enlist one of our chiropractors to restore proper function to the upper back and neck as both areas may be a resulting cause and /or effect.
Mom was right. Sit up straight and keep your head and shoulders back. This can help you avoid having to see one of The Core physiotherapists for non-injury shoulder pain.
