Shoulder Pain

By Mike Kriz PT, DPT, OCS, CFMT and Tiffany Kriz, PT, DPT, CHC

Imagine you are playing a round of golf and have to stop at 13 because your shoulder won’t allow you to finish your swing and every shot is pushed or sliced. You can’t raise the racquet to the height you want so your serves and overhead volleys have lost their zip. Driving a car for more than 10 minutes creates a nagging ache in your shoulder no matter what position your hands grip the wheel. You cannot lift a short stack of plates into a kitchen cabinet because of shoulder pain. Does any of this sound familiar? These are just a sample of the reports that we receive from our clients every single day in our office in Bonita Springs.

Most alarming is the number of people who accept the level of discomfort or pain that begins to alter their daily activities and recreation but who do nothing about it until they can no longer participate in those activities. We often hear “Oh, I thought it would just go away” or, “I didn’t think it was that serious until it worsened”.

Consider this, a body part or region of the body that does not move well and may cause pain with movement is like a wheel out of alignment on a car. Tires may wear unevenly and then, as time passes, the front-end components of the car begin to wear and with it increases the cost of repair. Some time ago a famous advertising campaign for Meineke muffler shops proclaimed, “you can pay a little now or a lot later.” There is a cost associated with more severe dysfunctions of the body because, generally, they require more treatment.

We will provide the following example to further illustrate this concept. The head of the humerus (the ball of the ball and socket joint of the shoulder) is often found to be “off axis”. In the efficient state, the ball of the humerus sits in the center of the socket of the shoulder blade (glenoid fossa). We may refer to this in the car terminology as being “out of alignment”. When the arm is moved the ball of the humerus rolls and glides in the socket efficiently remaining in the center of the socket. When the soft tissue structures surrounding the joint or muscular control of the motion are inefficient, the ball can roll slightly outside of center causing pinching and limit the full mobility of the motion without pain.

We are experts at identifying movement dysfunctions whether those dysfunctions are painful or not. We often see those labeled as train wrecks meaning that the complexity of the symptoms are so severe that seemingly no one can correct them. We like to avoid these scenarios and take care of things before they become untenable. Please call us if you have any questions.

Contact Kriz Physical Therapy Today!
27180 Bay Landing Drive, Ste. 7
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
(239) 992-6700
krizpt1@gmail.com
www.krizphysicaltherapy.com