If you’ve ever watched a baseball pitcher wind up to throw a fastball, you may marvel at how much flexibility and power is generated through the shoulder. The shoulder is a very dynamic and mobile joint. It is the only joint in the body that can rotate through nearly 360° of motion. Because of this you can have a wide array of problems to occur.

When people come to my office complaining of shoulder pain and tightness, one of the main causes of pain is muscle spasm throughout the rotator cuff muscles and of the supporting muscles and structures associated with it.

The shoulder has a little over 14 muscles that either move or stabilize it. Muscle spasm or an injury in anyone of these muscles can cause a cascading effect to the other surrounding muscles. An easy way to understand this (and a common analogy that I like to use) is by imagining a rope tied between two trees: As long as the rope is loose, there is play and the ability to move the rope. As soon as you tie several knots and create tension, the tension affects both sides of the rope and the trees they are attached to. A tear in the muscle could release the muscle spasms, reduce the strain on the muscles, and possibly give them the opportunity to heal. But if the muscles continue to stay tight, that tension can further tearing of the muscles, just like a partial cut in the rope tied to the tree: this will cause the rope to continue to break if the tension remains. Bottom line, we don’t want torn muscles!

We will be doing an updated video that we will post on Facebook and on our website to show you how you can treat your shoulder through exercise mobilization and releasing of muscle spasm. If you would like to receive updates on this post and similar future posts, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NeboChiropractic/

Live Well,

Dr. Milton Carroll DC