It’s that time of the year again for shoulder injuries. They always seem to happen more in the spring time, which is attributed to good weather, several months of weightlifting after the New Year and outdoors sports such as tennis and golf.
Shoulder injuries are complicated because of the anatomy and biomechanics. They almost always happen due to overuse or repetitive motion, which are soft tissue injuries of the muscles, tendons and ligaments. These injuries need a soft tissue treatment approach- Active Release Therapy, Graston, Massage combined with stretching and strengthening.
Types of shoulder pain
- Front
- Top of shoulder
- Radiating into the arm
- Backside shoulder pain
- Pain radiating to or from the neck
Common shoulder injuries
- Tendinitis or tendinopathy
- Shoulder strains
- Impingement
- Bursitis
- Rotator cuff tear
- Labral tear
- AC joint athritis
- Frozen shoulder
As you can see, there are many different types of shoulder injuries. Many have overlapping symptoms as well. The important thing is to get it checked out and diagnosed properly. We also recommend a course of therapy and rehab before ever getting surgery.
Tips for shoulder pain
- Posture is huge
- When your shoulders round forward this closes the space available in the joint and can lead to impingement and eventual tears
- If you are doing any chest exercises, and you spend any amount of time sitting at a desk during the day, you need to be doing 2:1 ratio of back exercises to chest.
- This will help reduce the forward rotation in your shoulders
- Ice the shoulder after the initial 48-72 hrs of pain
- Ice shoulder after use (end of day of work, working out, physical activity)
- Heat the shoulder if longer than 72 hours of pain
- Heat shoulder before any activity
- Scapular strengthening
