Shoulder joint discomfort and pain can restrict you from doing simple ordinary everyday tasks such as washing your hair, reaching into cabinets, doing laundry or washing the dishes. Perhaps you are no longer able to throw a ball with your kids or participate in any sports because of shoulder joint discomfort or pain. Common movements such as:
- Wear and tear from poor lifting mechanics and poor posture,
- Overuse without proper conditioning, like bench-pressing or golfing,
- Overhead activities, like throwing a ball or painting walls,
- Tackling sports, like football or wrestling,
- Repetitive movements like lift/holding a child; and
- Your dog pulling you with his leash
- Falling and breaking the fall with arms
Put you at risk for shoulder joint discomfort and pain and may lead to shoulder joint damage. If you keep pushing through these symptoms you may make the injury worse or even larger and it may begin to limit your ability to *reach behind your back to tuck in your shirt, *drive a car, or even *lift something simple like a grocery bag; or *throw a ball at practice.
Symptoms from shoulder injury can range from:
- general tightness,
- achiness,
- sharp pain with specific movements; and
- inability to lift the weight of your arm comfortably or at all.
People often say, “I thought my pain would just go away.” The reality is that most of the shoulder structures have little blood supply or are too chronically inflamed to heal themselves properly. The best thing you can do to avoid any further damage to the joint, is to come in for Physical Therapy and have your shoulder evaluated and treated.
We could describe the shoulder joint (glenohomeral joint) as a golf ball on a tee. If you imagine how unstable this could be, you can appreciate how hard the supporting anatomical structures must work to keep the “ball from falling off the tee.” The structures holding the joint together that offer passive stability consist of the labrum and a series of ligaments that encapsulate the joint. The very mobile joint of the shoulder requires many pieces of anatomy for stability. If one or more of the anatomical structures supporting the shoulder is compromised, it makes lifting the arm over head or carrying a bag of groceries quite difficult, and often times painful.
What could physical therapy treatment do for you?
- Fix your muscle imbalance
- Improve muscle endurance
- Loosen tight muscles and surrounding structures
- Retrain the neuromuscular component of body control
- Teach you how to perform repetitive movements correctly, like swinging a golf club or throwing a ball
- Correct lifting and movement patterns
- Improve joint mobility and alignment; and
- decrease pain caused by damaged structures by using manual hands-on treatment
Do not let your shoulder pain and discomfort keep you from participating in life!
Come see a physical therapist at Loudoun Sports Therapy Center and start your treatment today! CALLLoudoun Sports Therapy Center TODAY at 703-450-4300.
CLICK HERE for more on how physical therapy can help you.
Tags: physical therapy, shoulder, shoulder pain, shoulder injuries, shoulder discomfort, shoulder strain, shoulder pull
