Shoulder Pain Information and Resources

Here are some links to articles about shoulder pain that I hope you will find useful.

If you find links that don’t work, or have any links you wish to share, please use the comment form at the bottom of the page. Thanks.

These links are from my workshop on Assessment and Treatment of Shoulder Pain. Workshops are listed here

Books

Shoulder Pain? The Solution & Prevention – John M Kirsch, MD

Articles

High Prevalence of Superior Labral Tears Diagnosed by MRI in Middle-Aged Patients With Asymptomatic Shoulders

Orthop J Sports Med. 2016 Jan 5;4(1):2325967115623212. doi: 10.1177/2325967115623212. eCollection 2016.

How to Avoid SLAP Tear Surgery and Heal Your Shoulder Pain Conservatively

Patterns of motion loss in subjects with idiopathic loss of shoulder ROM

The internal rotation less than abduction less than external rotation pattern was demonstrated in 14 of 25 (56%) involved shoulders.

Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2004 Oct;19(8):810-8.

The Effect of Anterior Versus Posterior Glide Joint Mobilization on External Rotation Range of Motion in Patients With Shoulder Adhesive Capsulitis

“the individuals in the posterior mobilization group had a mean improvement of 31.3°”

J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2007;37(3):88–99. doi:10.2519/jospt.2007.2307

Shoulder Mobilization: Mulligan or Kaltenborn? Who is right?

Don’t Blame the Rotator Cuff – Erik Dalton Blog

Working with the sternoclavicular joint to relieve impingement at the acromioclavicular joint.

I’m blaming it on the AC joint! – Erik Dalton Blog

Calcific Tendinitis – Academy of Clinical Massage

Symptoms of Pain Do Not Correlate with Rotator Cuff Tear Severity

J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2014 May 21; 96(10): 793–800.

Published online 2014 May 21. doi:  10.2106/JBJS.L.01304

Structure is not Destiny – please don’t rush to freaking out about your x-ray, MRI or ultrasound — Greg Lehman

Shoulder Impingement Syndrome: Successfully Addressing the Number One Reason for Shoulder Pain

Subacromial decompression surgery for adults with shoulder pain: a systematic review with meta-analysis | British Journal of Sports Medicine

There was high certainty evidence of no additional benefit of subacromial decompression surgery over placebo surgery in reducing pain at 1 year following surgery

54% of the power comes from the legs and trunk

Biomechanical analysis of the shoulder during tennis activities. – Abstract – Europe PMC

Kibler, W.B. 1995. Biomechanical analysis of the shoulder during tennis activities.

Clin Sports Med, 14:79-85

Baseball Pitching

24% energy decrease from hip and trunk

requires 34% increase at the shoulder

to deliver the same amount of force

The Role of the Scapula in Athletic Shoulder Function – W. Ben Kibler, 1998

The American journal of sports medicine, 1998 – ajs.sagepub.com

Surgery or Physiotherapy

Exercise in the treatment of rotator cuff impingement: A systematic review and a synthesized evidence-based rehabilitation protocol – Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery

For people diagnosed with atraumatic partial thickness tears of the supraspinatus tendon involving less than 75% of the tendon, a graduated physiotherapy exercise program has been found as beneficial as surgery involving acromioplasty, or acromioplasty and rotator cuff repair.

Kuhn, J. Exercise in the treatment of rotator cuff impingement. A systematic review and synthesized evidence based rehabilitation protocol. 2009, J shoulder Elbow Surg, Jan. – Feb.

Can You Have a Rotator Cuff Tear and No Symptoms?

Headstand for Rotator Cuff Tear: Shîrshâsana or Surgery | International Journal of Yoga Therapy

International Journal of Yoga Therapy: 2006, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 39-47.

Yoga-Based Maneuver Effectively Treats Rotator Cuff Syndrome : Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation

Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation April/June 2011 – Volume 27 – Issue 2 – p 151–161

Shoulder Health: An Overview of Anatomy and Injury – On Target Publications

Muscle Energy for Sterno-Clavicular Joint

Tom Ockler, PT

New Concept in Rotator Cuff Retraining

Bahram Jam, MPhty, BScPT, FCAMT

Gentle thawing of the frozen shoulder: A prospective study of supervised neglect versus intensive physical therapy in seventy-seven patients with frozen shoulder syndrome followed up for two years – Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery

Diercks RL, Stevens M., J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2004 Sep-Oct;13(5):499-502.

Frozen Shoulder …Is Manipulation Under Anaesthesia a good option?

Arthroscopic capsular release versus manipulation under anaesthesia for treating frozen shoulder – a prospective randomised study

Intraarticular lesions in primary frozen shoulder after manipulation under general anesthesia

Novel Isometric Shoulder Exercises

Scapula Stability Exercises

https://www.strengthcoach.com/public/The-Posterior-Tilt.cfm

Rotator Cuff Pain and Sleepless Nights

Here is a very simple technique to help your shoulder pain clients get a good night’s sleep.

Rotator Cuff Pain and Sleepless Nights- pdf

Shoulder Arthroscopy – 1893

ArtiFacts: The Case of Jules Pedoux | SpringerLink

Reliability of MRIs

Variability in diagnostic error rates of 10 MRI centers performing lumbar spine MRI examinations on the same patient within a 3-week period

R Herzog, DR Elgort, AE Flanders, PJ Moley – The Spine Journal, 2017 – Elsevier

The Spine Journal, April 2017 Volume 17, Issue 4, Pages 554–561

MRI study of 31 asymptomatic subjects

Age 50+        72% had rotator cuff disorder

Age 40 – 49   48%

Age 30 -39    43%

Frost, P. Anderson, J.H and Lundorf, E. 1999.

Is supraspinatus pathology as defined by magnetic resonance imaging associated with clinical sign of shoulder impingement? – Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery

Abnormal Findings on Magnetic Resonance Images of the Cervical Spines in 1211 Asymptomatic Subjects

87.6% of subjects presented with disc bulging

Spine: 15 March 2015 – Volume 40 – Issue 6 – p 392–398

Ultrasound study on 51 men, aged 40 – 70, asymptomatic for shoulder pain

96% had some degree of moderate to severe shoulder pathology.

Sub acromial bursa thickening 78%

Acromio-clavicular joint degeneration 65%

Supraspinatus tendinosis 39%

Subscapularis tendinosis 25%

Partial thickness tear supraspinatus 22%

Posterior glenoid labral anomaly 14%

Girish, G., Lobo, L.G., Jacobson, J., Morag, Y, Miller, B. and Jamadar, D.

Ultrasound of the shoulder: Asymptomatic findings in men

American Journal of Roentgenology, 2011;97, 713-9.

http://www.ajronline.org/doi/abs/10.2214/AJR.11.6971

Self Care Exercises

Videos and pdf handouts of self-care exercises for the shoulder

Pectoralis Doorway Stretch – Massage Technique Library

Rotator Cuff Exercise – Massage Technique Library

Rounded Shoulder Exercise – Massage Technique Library

Shoulder Impingement Stretch – Massage Technique Library