Written by: Dr. Colin van Werkhoven PT, DPT, CSCS
Suffering from shoulder pain? Physical therapy mobility and strength exercises can help improve range of motion and help handle the demands of daily life. FX Physical Therapy offers hands-on treatment to reduce your symptoms with soft tissue work, joint mobilization, and advanced exercises.
Physical therapy management of shoulder pain is not only cheaper than other medical alternatives but sometimes a faster return to activity. Even if surgical options are required, pre-hab exercises improve the time of recovery after the operation.
Here are some ways our FX Physical Therapy team treat shoulder pain!
Mobility
Having good mobility throughout the thoracic spine sets up the shoulder to perform at the highest level possible. If your mid-back cannot move in flexion, extension, and rotation your shoulders are going to take a lot of stress they do not need to when performing activities. Here are some of our favorite ways to mobilize your mid-back:
Upper Back Foam Roll: Recommendation: Perform for 1-2 minutes
Click Image below to access videos
Cat Cows: Recommendation: Perform 3 sets, 10 reps in each position
Strength
After you have mobilized your mid-back it is time to strengthen your back and shoulders to improve your performance. The mid-back musculature has been shown to have a great benefit on long term shoulder health, posture, and strength for activities like carrying, pushing, and pulling objects. The exercises are shown below also offer rotator cuff strengthening, shoulder stabilization, and movement control. Combining back and shoulder training together allows us to offset the nature of having an anterior (chest) dominant position most of our day that pulls our shoulders forward which lead to limitations in range of motion of the back and shoulders. These exercises will help counteract this position and put the stress of daily life on the larger muscles that do not get tired as quickly.
Prone on Bench Y: Recommendation: 3 sets, 12 reps
Prone on Bench T: Recommendation: 3 sets, 12 reps
For a customized therapy plan to address your specific needs – Call our team today at 443-595-7798 or click here to request an appointment.
