how to overcome shoulder pain
A 25 year old surf lifesaver and avid outdoorsman, who for confidentiality reasons will be called Tom, sought help with his right shoulder following years of niggles and flare ups. For Tom this meant that each time he tried to progress with exercise it resulted in a week or two of shoulder pain that impacted all aspects of life.
Push ups became a swear word and something to be avoided at all costs.
Given how long the issue had persisted Tom was not hugely confident that his shoulder would fully recover and concerned that further imaging and even surgery might be necessary.
A thorough review of Tom’s history in combination with an assessment of his shoulder and upper-body revealed that his main issue was a long-head of biceps tendinopathy. At it’s most basic this means:
a weakened tendon that is more easily irritated with pushing, throwing and lifting activities.
In fact, using our hand-held dynamometer (a strength testing machine) Tom’s right shoulder was 45% weaker than his opposite side. When assessing push ups, he developed pain and fatigue causing him to stop at 5 repetitions.
The assessment provided all the information necessary for Brad, one of our physiotherapists, to put a management plan together. The plan consisted of some manual techniques early on to provide pain relief before progressing into an exercise programme (5-weeks in duration).
Over the 5-weeks of rehabilitation Tom worked with Brad in our on-site gym to perfect exercise technique and progressively build strength.
At the end of this period Tom had made drastic improvements, able to do 15 push ups on his toes without pain (up from 5 on his knees with pain) and doubled his strength performance on the hand-held dynamometer, meaning the difference between sides was only 5% (previously 45%).
Ultimately, Tom was able to restore full function of his right shoulder
abolish pain and exceed what he thought possible without injections or surgery.
He has continued to build strength and endurance across his whole body in the gym so he can continue doing what he loves and saving lives at the beach. Good work Tom!
Take care
Brad Williamson
BSc Physiotherapy (Distinction)
Strength and Conditioning Coach
