- Hey guys, I hope you are well.
Today I'm gonna answer the 20 most commonly asked type
of questions that I get asked about shoulders.
Now, the questions that I've been asked have mainly
to do with the video, "Understanding Shoulder Pain
"And How to Fix It," which I've linked just here.
So if you haven't seen that video already,
I suggest you go and watch it,
but all of these questions I'm answering
are more specifically based on
what I've been asked on that video.
So, I have sectioned each type of question
into a type of category.
So the first category is about stretching and exercising.
The second category has to do with the type of injuries
that you might get with shoulders or shoulder related.
The third category has to do with recovery or surgery,
and then the fourth category is just any other question
that I commonly get asked on that video.
Now, I'm gonna put the timestamps just here
so if a particular question relates to you
than skip ahead and just watch that one straight away.
Otherwise, just watch the video all the way through.
That's totally up to you but you're not gonna miss anything
if that question doesn't relate to you.
So, the first category has to do
with stretching and exercising.
Should I continue exercising if I'm feeling pain?
The short answer is no.
If you are feeling pain, then I suggest you stop exercising.
The chances are that you might have caused
your shoulder pain because of exercises you've done.
The most common exercises I see that damage the shoulders
are a shoulder press or a bench press, usually with a bar.
Now, those exercises are most commonly done
with a lot of weight.
Most people can't lift that weight
so what's happened is they've put too much tension
through the muscles and therefore a lot of strain
through the tendons causing a tendonitis.
So, if you are feeling pain, then stop.
Do these stretches help prevent pain
or do they help to solve the pain?
Actually, they can help with both.
It's always a good idea to make sure your flexibility
in any part of your body is good,
but with flexibility, you also have to make sure
you've got stability because, especially with the shoulder,
the shoulder is a very mobile joint.
You know, it's got loads of range of motion, movement,
so you have to make sure that you've got that stability
and the strength in those muscles,
so definitely stretching is a good idea to prevent injuries
and if you have an injury, stretching will help
as long as you're not overstretching
and causing more inflammation.
So a little bit of stretch pain will be fine
but if you start pushing it too far,
then it's probably not a good idea.
Should I stretch or will it make things worse?
Well, it depends on where you are with your shoulder pain.
Now I categorize pain into three phases.
The first phase is acute pain, or just pain in general,
the second phase is mobility and flexibility,
and then the third phase is to do
with rehab and strengthening.
So, will the stretches make your shoulder worse?
Well it depends on where you are in those three phases.
If you're in the acute phase where your shoulder pain
has just come on and it's really painful,
let's say seven out of ten, eight out of ten for pain,
then don't stretch.
If you've gone through a phase where the pain has gone down
and you're in probably that phase two
where it's uncomfortable, but it's not causing you
that inflamed, acute type of pain,
that's the phase when you should be stretching.
Now, will it make it worse?
Well it depends on what the problem is.
I would suggest you go and get your shoulder checked out
by a professional if you can.
Maybe get a scan if the professional thinks it's necessary.
If there is a tear, then potentially
you could make something worse.
If it's just inflammation around the tendon
or inflammation of a bursa or a muscle tear,
then the stretches probably won't make it that much worse
unless you really stretch it with vigor
and a lot of intensity.
So, if you're starting out with the stretches
then just start with a minimal amount of pain.
You should be able to tolerate it so it shouldn't be agony.
So a minimal amount of pain and see how you are
a day or two later.
If there is no pain a couple of days later
then you can carry on and keep trying.
You'll get used to how much
you should be stretching eventually,
and it's a case of consistency.
So you don't need to try overstretching the first go.
So see how it feels and then if it feels okay,
then you can continue and stretch a bit harder next time.
How long should you hold the stretches for?
Again, if you're starting out,
then I would suggest not holding 'em for too long.
20 to 30 seconds should be enough,
and you can gradually build this up over time
up to about 60 seconds per stretch.
If you feel pain or if it doesn't feel right, then stop.
If you start getting numbness or tingling in your hands,
again, then just stop and let that blood come back
into your hands.
Are there any alternatives to the band stretches?
Well yes, there are.
The bands are not that important.
The position that you're getting yourself into
is the most important thing.
So based on that video, if you see me
with my arm up in the air and leaning into it,
then you can use something like a doorframe or a bookshelf
but just change the angle and push your chest
and head down instead.
If your arm is behind you, then again,
you can be using a load of shelves or a kitchen counter.
Anything that's solid, anything that's gonna give you
a bit of resistance is absolutely fine,
so it doesn't have to be a band,
and a TRX also comes into that category as well
so you can use that too.
When using the massage ball, does it have to be
on the wall or can you do it on the floor?
Either is absolutely fine.
It doesn't have to be on the wall.
Whatever you feel is the most appropriate,
whatever you feel gives you the most benefit,
it doesn't really matter as long as you can get
enough pressure into those muscles.
Some of you asked about using the massage ball
and when using them in the back of your shoulder,
you feel pain around the front.
That is totally normal so don't panic about that.
That's basically where the muscles of the rotator cuff
come and attach around the front of your shoulder,
so when you press the ball into the back,
it's sending pain into that attachment point
so that's totally normal and don't panic.
How often should you do the band exercises
or the massage ball?
I would suggest do it every other day because,
especially with the ball, you're causing
a little bit more damage.
You're trying to break those muscles down,
so what you can do is end up with more inflammation.
If you're doing it every day, you could end up making
that shoulder pain worse so you need a little bit of time
just for that inflammation to calm down.
So I would suggest doing it something
like Monday, Wednesday, Friday,
and then take the weekend off, allow a little bit more
recovery time, and then just repeat.
So three times a week should be absolutely fine.
Should I use weights to strengthen the muscles?
Yes you should but you have to be at the right phase.
If you feel like your shoulder pain has gone down
and you've moved away from that acute phase
and you've gone through the stretches
in that "Understanding Shoulder Pain" video,
and now you need to start strengthening it,
then definitely check out my "How to Fix Shoulder Pain"
with this video here.
So category number two has to do
with the joint conditions themselves.
Cracking, clicking, and popping.
Are these anything to be worried about?
The short answer is no as long as it doesn't cause you pain.
Cracking could be something like
when you click your knuckles.
If you click it and you try and click it again
and it doesn't click, then that's probably a release
of air from the joint.
That's what we do as osteopaths,
that's what chiropractors do is joint manipulations.
It releases air from the joints so it allows more freedom
of movement through that joint.
If it is a repetitive click, let's say you're moving
your shoulder in a certain position
and every time you get to that same position
you feel a click, the chances are that could be a tendon
or that could be some sort of bony deposit
or calcification of a tendon.
Again, as long as it's not causing you pain
then it's probably nothing to worry about.
If it's causing you pain, do try not to keep putting
your arms or shoulders in that position.
And at other times it can be to do with tension going
through the muscle or the tendon.
If a muscle is too tight and there's too much tension
going through a tendon, then what can happen,
instead of it moving through a groove nice as it should,
sometimes it gets repositioned
so when you move through that range,
it just flicks back into that right position.
So that's essentially what the clicking
and popping and cracking is.
Can neck pain cause shoulder pain?
The short answer is yes, and shoulder pain
can also cause neck pain.
There's a couple of mechanisms behind this.
If you are in pain, the chances are
there's gonna be inflammation.
Inflammation will make the nerves around the area sensitive,
so that will then refer up into the distribution
of that nerve, so you could feel that up into your neck,
up into your head or down your back,
and likewise if there's a problem coming from your neck
and there's inflammation sensitizing the nerves,
then that can send pain into your shoulder.
It is possible that there's a compression on a nerve.
That could be coming from the vertebra itself
where the nerve root comes out of the spine,
or secondly that could be coming
from a muscle that's too tight.
If you get a treatment or massage,
that can relieve some of the tension coming onto the nerves.
I would suggest maybe get a professional diagnosis
before you just go to someone who doesn't know
what they're doing just to make sure
there's nothing sinister.
What about weakness or weakness and pain
following a dislocation?
Well, weakness and pain may not necessarily
directly be related to nerves, but what can happen is,
after dislocation the muscle might go into a spasm
a bit like a reflex.
If muscles have gone into a spasm,
that could be compressing a nerve
so that could be giving you some nerve weakness
or it could be a sensation of weakness
where the level of pain is just inhibiting the muscles
from working properly but again,
go and get a proper diagnosis for that.
Torn labrums, Bankart lesions,
SLAP tears and swimmer's shoulder.
Do these stretches, or can these stretches help
with any of those conditions?
I would say go and get a professional diagnosis
before you try any of these stretches.
If the problem coming from your shoulder is based
on tight musculature and you're not pushing your joints
too far, potentially you're not gonna do any damage.
If you are trying to push your shoulders too far into any
of these stretches, you may do yourself more damage.
So definitely go and get more of a professional advice first
before you start doing any of these stretches.
Can a bursitis go away?
So first of all a bursa is a fluid-filled sac
that goes between two structures that slide over each other.
The purpose of that is just to allow that free movement
so it doesn't cause any friction,
doesn't cause any inflammation.
"Itis" suggests there's inflammation,
so a bursitis means that the fluid-filled sac,
the bursa, has become inflamed and probably swollen.
This is what's gonna cause a lot of people pain
especially when they're coming up into abduction
into this range here.
So a bursitis will go away but it will take time.
You can get injections for bursitis
but I don't know personally how effective they are,
so I would definitely suggest you speak
to a orthopedic consultant or your doctor
or another therapist who knows more
about injections than I do.
With a bursitis though, as long as you can keep
your shoulder moving in a pain-free range,
movement always helps to reduce inflammation
as long as you're not taking it too far
and doing more damage.
So move your shoulder as much as you can
but don't move into any positions that cause you pain
and eventually that bursitis will go away.
So the third category is to do with your recovery.
How long will it take to recover
and how long until I see any result?
Well, it first all depends on how damaged your shoulder is.
So I can't answer that.
Generally speaking, shoulder problems
that have tendonitis can take between six to 12 months.
Obviously it depends on where you are with those phases,
so pain, tightness and then strengthening.
What I will say is that the more you put into it,
the more effort you put into it,
the more consistent you are with stretches,
the more dedicated you are to doing what you've been told,
the more likely you are to get that shoulder better
in the quickest amount of time.
So if there's an acute pain,
potentially it could take a week or two.
If it's something more serious such as a tendonitis,
you're looking at months.
How long would you know if the stretches are helping?
I would suggest give the stretches a try
for at least three to four weeks.
Be consistent with them and if there's no change,
then maybe you need to look for an alternative,
but you certainly will not see any changes
in less than three to four weeks.
Can shoulder pain ever fully go away?
Yes it can, as long as whatever's causing
the pain is reversible.
So if it's something like a tendonitis,
a bursitis, a torn muscle, then yes the pain can go away.
If there's something bony causing you pain
such as bony deposits or calcification of tendons,
then you're probably looking at more
of a surgical intervention, but I've seen people
that have had surgery with calcified tendons
or calcification around the bones or the joints,
I've seen those people make a full recovery.
So, speak to an orthopedic consultant.
Definitely try the more holistic approach first.
What I mean by that is the more, physical therapy route
before you try a surgical intervention.
Will chiropractic or osteopathic adjustments solve
my shoulder pain?
Probably not.
Most of our manipulations are based on the spine.
You can adjust the shoulder, you can adjust
the acromioclavicular joint, but the problems that I see
with shoulders come more from the tendons,
more from the muscles rather than spinal.
So it's worth a try, but what I would say is,
don't expect manipulations to make a full recovery
for your shoulder.
The chances are whatever's going on in your shoulder
is coming from the shoulder
and not higher up as the primary.
So it's probable that it's a tendon or a joint
the labrum, a bursitis, something that's actually going on
in your shoulder, so I would suggest massage,
stretching, possibly acupuncture, and then as a secondary
try the osteopathic adjustments as well.
So the fourth category is more of an off-topic questions
that I get asked.
The first question is, can I connect for a consultation?
Yes you can.
I can do remote consultations via Skype.
If you do want a remote consultation,
you can email me at info@precisionwellbeing.co.uk.
Also it depends on where you are around the world.
If you're in the United States,
the laws about osteopathic treatments is slightly different
because an osteopath in the U.K.
is different to United States.
Now in the United States,
osteopaths are prescribing physicians.
We in the U.K. don't prescribe medications.
If you're looking for advice, if you're looking
for exercise prescription or stretches,
then I can offer that no matter where you are
around the world.
And lastly, can you film other body part videos.
Yes I can.
I'm currently thinking about doing a neck one
and an elbow pain video.
If there's anything that you want to see
about any other body part, please let me know.
I know a lot of you have found the shoulder girdle model
that I used in one of my previous videos very helpful.
If you like the anatomy style education first,
also please let me know because then I know
whether to explain things in more detail
or just give you the prescription
of exercises and the stretches.
So let me know what you guys want
in terms of more videos about other body parts.
Anyway guys, I hope this video has helped you.
If it has, please give it a thumbs up.
Let me know how it has helped you
in the comment section below, and if you haven't already,
please consider subscribing.
And guys, stay safe, and I will see you soon!
(peaceful earthy music)