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Shoulder Pain?
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by Keith Duerler,
Personal Trainer

In 12 years of clinical practice as a physical therapist and trainer, one of the most common injuries I have seen is shoulder rotator cuff impingement. The rotator cuff is commonly misunderstood. It is collectively a group of 4 muscles that wrap around the ball of the shoulder socket. Any alteration of shoulder mechanics from the various types of stresses that can occur to the shoulder can cause the muscle tendons to become compressed at the shoulder. This leads to inflammation, pain, and ultimately loss of normal use of the shoulder or arm. The most important thing to do is to not ignore any symptoms you feel. It is easy to think you can just rest or exercise your way through the pain and it will get better; however, this is the type of problem that can only get worse. Repeated compression over time can lead to actual tearing of the tendon and ultimately surgery. Symptoms you may feel include dull chronic ache, burning, or sharp pain--in the shoulder itself, down the outside of the upper arm (often even to the elbow), along the shoulder blade and even up into the neck. Sometimes you may not even feel pain, just a "heavy" sensation with your arm when you do activities such as overhead presses/movements. When you are working with your personal trainer, do not ignore these signs and make sure you tell your trainer what you are feeling. All of the trainers at Fitness Plus are highly trained and skilled with the ability to modify your workout routine to safely manage this problem.

Certain movements need to be avoided that are causing the impingement such as overhead presses and shoulder raises until the shoulder mechanics can be restored and the inflammation is alleviated. A high percentage of these problems are due to work where one sits at a computer a large percentage of the day. It is important to address office ergonomics to ensure your workstation is set up properly to help promote better posture. Also, exercise has to incorporate a large amount of strengthening the back muscles surrounding your shoulder blades as these are critical to maintaining/restoring proper shoulder mechanics.

I am pleased to now offer full physical therapy services here at Fitness Plus beginning in January. Physical therapy for these shoulder problems can be highly effective to alleviate the pain and more importantly ensure proper shoulder mechanics to prevent future injuries. Treatment in therapy can include ultrasound to promote blood flow to the injured area, iontophoresis to deliver a steroid effect to the injured area, joint mobilization to ensure full motion of the joint, and most importantly therapeutic exercises. I am happy to provide free consultations to discuss any problem you might be having with the shoulder or any other area.