SHOULDER

 

Free muscles from constrictive tightness, pulling & grinding – restore fluid movement.

 

Problem:

At least 17 muscles pull on shoulder joint, tugging it in every direction. To keep this bio-machine moving smoothly shoulder bones & muscles must remain in their home locations (anatomically correct positions). Unfortunately, most people have slight mid & low back vertebral curvature problems (thoracic & lumbar arches) that continuously curl shoulders forward. Also, most shoulder muscles gradually contract tighter & tighter, no longer fully expand, become stuck in semi-cramped postures, often drop downward due to gravity, and become adhered in anatomically incorrect locations. Over time shoulders become a maze of adhesions (hardening), displacements & reduced mobility, eventually leading to pain that limits physical activity. Almost no adult shoulder is free of these problems.

 

Treatment:

Shoulder muscles & tendons must be loosened, de-adhered & moved back into their anatomically correct locations. To accomplish this, different parts of different muscles must be moved in different directions. This requires knowledge and experience. But the general rule is to find what feels too tight & hard, de-adhere it through rolling & shaking techniques, and then move it in the direction that tends to relax tissues the most. Often this means de-adhering & moving tissue several times, in several directions, since adhesions tend to layer tissues on top of each other at varying angles.

 

Benefits:

  1. restores natural gliding movement to shoulder.
  2. rotates shoulder into a more upright position.
  3. increases shoulder range of movement.
  4. increases shoulder stability, power & endurance.
  5. enables shoulder to function at maximize speed & agility.
  6. increases arm speed and strength.
  7. decreases friction that causes irritation & inflammation.
  8. makes major shoulder injury highly improbable.
  9. dramatically improves mobility of previously injured shoulders.

 

Notes:

     When shoulders are rolled forward (round-shouldered), upper arm bone (humerus) hangs slightly twisted in joint, causing muscle tendons to slightly twist, and muscle to become less supple & rope shaped. This reduces easy of movement, causing sticky scar tissue & calcium to build up and harden like glue, which further decreases mobility, until shoulder is effectively glued (adhered) in this forward-twisting posture.

     Over time, all the little twists, adhesions & displacements that constrict rotator cuff and joint capsule significantly reduce shoulder range of motion. Then one day, seemingly without any specific moment of injury, one’s shoulder is hurting, the doctor tells you it is inflamed and you must cease all strenuous physical activity for 4-6 weeks. You do, it helps, but doesn’t completely heal. Displaced, adhered, hardened tissues are rubbing against each other, grinding during physical activity, causing inflamation, and thus must be loosened, de-adhered & moved back into their anatomically correct locations or inflammation will never completely heal.

     Some muscles (inferior pectoralis, superior trapezius) slowly curl inward, into cinnamon roll type shapes, become adhered in this in-rolled posture.

     De-adhering top of trapezius muscle, the area that runs from neck to top of shoulder, immediately frees shoulder to drop down lower, reducing strain on shoulder, neck, upper back, alleviating one of the most common causes of headaches.

     Many painful shoulder injuries heal with time & therapy, others require surgery. If surgery is done, scar tissues will build up that need to be manually broken apart, or they will restrict joint movement. (This is why physical therapy is done so soon after people have surgeries; to restore suppleness and flexibility to all tissues, but also to prevent scar tissues from becoming too rigid and permanent.)

     Slumping, especially at desk or on sofa, is a form of continuous stretching & reforming of the body. Excessive slumping & overeating are the two great enemies of bio-mechanical health, enemies of healthy back posture.

     Sitting in front of a computer so much has created a world full of people with shoulder tension and pain. Jogging gets blood moving through shoulders, is an astonishingly good therapy for shoulders!

     Aging, normal aging, tends to displace tendons & muscles throughout the body, but especially in shoulders. Fluidification Bodywork can significantly reduce normal aging pains.