Shoulder Pain
76 year old Margret came in to see us
with right shoulder pain. A week earlier she had decided
to do some gardening. After pottering around for most of the day, she finished
off doing a little pruning using some shears. The next day her right shoulder
was quite sore. She decided that she had probably just over done it and that the
pain would subside with time. However, the pain just seemed to get worse and
began to spread, travelling down into the top of her right arm. She noticed
that she was finding it increasingly difficult to reach in to cupboards without
pain. Concerned, she made an appointment to see us at the Living Centre Clinic.
After taking a through case history and
performing several examinations of Margret’s shoulder, neck and upper back, we
were able to conclude that she had injured a tendon in her shoulder belonging
to the supraspinatus muscle.
The shoulder is a ball and socket
joint, like the hip. Unlike the hip, however, the shoulder has a great deal
more range of movement. The supraspinatus muscle is part of a group of muscles
called the rotator cuff. It is the rotator cuff group, along with some pretty
strong ligaments, which acts as the main support to the shoulder, necessary for
such a mobile joint. All the rotator cuff muscles and their tendons can be
prone to injury but unfortunately, the supraspinatus muscle is quite commonly
injured. The tendon of this muscle runs through a bony arch made up of the
shoulder blade and collar bone. As the muscle contracts, pulling the arm away
from the side of the body, this tendon moves through the bony arch. In
Margret’s case, she had over-used and strained the muscle but had not healed
well, causing the muscle to tighten and therefore the tendon to rub against the
bony arch resulting in its’ inflammation.
As osteopaths, it is important that we
understand why tissues have become injured. Margret’s upper back and lower neck
had lost their normal range of movement. If one part of the body does not move
well, other parts have to compensate for this movement. It therefore happened
that when Margret was using her shears, the shoulder had to compensate for this
loss of movement, resulting in a strain of her right supraspinatus muscle.
Some well thought out treatment, advice
and exercises saw Margret back to normal and the improvement in movement of her
back should help to minimise the risk of further or repeated injury to her
shoulders.
Sally Hunter BScOst.Med
REGISTERED OSTEOPATH
Wimbledon Osteopathy and Cranial
