Shoulder Pain / Injury
Do you suffer from shoulder pain? Mike Gibbons, LMT, has massage therapy treatments specific to shoulder pain / injury.
People who have never experienced shoulder pain / injury simply cannot understand the misery involved in it. Pain in the shoulder can be so intense that it makes it difficult to sleep at night. It can be difficult if not impossible to sleep on your side, and in extreme cases, people feel the need to sleep sitting up. Trying to reach back (getting something out of the back seat of a car while sitting in the front seat, for instance) can become an impossibility because of the pain. Massage therapy can help relieve pain in the shoulder area in many instances. For an easy-to-read overview of shoulder problems (and schematic drawing), see: Shoulder Problems>Overview from The National Institutes of Health.
Causes of Shoulder Pain
The causes of pain in the shoulder area are myriad. I have a relative who injured her shoulder in England from simply holding a moderately-heavy watering can in an awkward position while gardening. She was unable to sleep on her side for a year, and unable to reach back or put on her own coat for two years. It really doesn’t take much to cause shoulder pain. If you have a great deal of pain in your shoulder when trying to raise your arm over your head, you may have adhesive capsulitis, which is commonly known as “frozen shoulder.” The pain from “frozen shoulder” can have an extremely negative impact your quality of life. Also, injuries to the rotator cuff, caused by overuse, are very common. People who perform heavy, repetitive tasks such as lifting overhead, or any type of repetitive motion using the shoulder quite often suffer rotator cuff problems at some point in their lives. There are also arthritic conditions that cause considerable shoulder pain, as can nerve impingement. There are many causes of pain in the shoulder – some of them, very serious. Please, first see your physician to determine the first course of action.
Massage Therapy for Shoulder Pain / Injury: More Information
An article in Massage Today, entitled, Massage Reduces Non-Specific Shoulder Pain and Improves Function, states that: “soft tissue massage is effective for improving range of motion function and pain … This demonstrated moderate improvements in active flexion and abduction ranges of motion, pain levels and functional scores.‘”
Dr. Christiane Northrup discusses at length her trouble with Frozen Shoulder in her article, What is Frozen Shoulder? > 12 Ways to Heal a Frozen Shoulder, and one of her suggestions is to: “Get a massage. Myofascial release massage targets the fascia. When the movement of the fascia is restricted it is impossible for you to move without experiencing pain. Myofascial release loosens up the frozen tissue which encourages a frozen shoulder to thaw.”
Massage Therapy Can Bring Relief to Sufferers of Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain can be anything from a nuisance to severe in intensity. Time is a key factor in the treatment of shoulder pain / injury. Over time, regular massage therapy has been shown to give relief to many shoulder pain sufferers, along with rest, gentle exercises, and pain medication, if necessary.