Shoulder and Elbow Problems

Osteopaths don’t just treat backs; shoulder and elbow problems are in our remit too. Sometimes patients develop these aches and pains through an injury or they pick them up through sports. Other times they might seem to come from nowhere. Your osteopath wants to get to the bottom of the issue, to solve the symptoms and reduce the chances of recurrence.

Shoulder Problems

The shoulder is built for movement, which means it sacrifices stability to an extent. The main joint is a shallow ball and socket, but there are other joints involved too. The collar bone attaches to the shoulder blade, which in turn articulates with the ribs. These three joints make up the shoulder complex.

Rotator Cuff Injury

The rotator cuff is a group of muscles that act on the shoulder complex to rotate the arm. This can be a tricky movement to get you head around- a good example of arm rotation is grabbing your seatbelt (external rotation) and pulling it across (internal rotation) to plug it in.

These muscles can be strained or even ruptured in an injury. Due to the role of the muscles affected, you can expect pain and weakness on rotation movements with this kind of injury. It is important to rehabilitate the muscles quickly to give them the best chance of healing well.

Shoulder “Impingement”

Impingement is a vague term for some shoulder injuries. A more specific term meaning the same thing is “sub acromial impingement”. This is more descriptive, mentioning the space in which the tendons are irritated. The acromion is part of the shoulder blade that sticks out, forming a joint with the collar bone. There’s not a lot of space around here, so if something becomes inflamed, it might not calm back down again on its own.

The problem with this term is that is refers to a number of slightly different problems. These include:

• Rotator cuff tendinitis
• Bursitis
• Calcific tendinitis

These do cause similar symptoms, typically pain when leaning or laying on that side, and aggravation from having your arm overhead. Repetitive overhead movements such as throwing or using tools overhead could cause this kind of problem.

More Shoulder Problems

There are other shoulder problems that your osteopath can help with too. Other muscular injuries, as well as ligament sprains or rehabilitation for a dislocation or post-surgery are within our remit. You can read our full post on Thoracic Outlet Syndrome here.

Elbow Problems

The elbow is not an area many patients present with. Although that’s not to say it’s not an area that can be problematic.

Elbow Bursitis

Bursae are soft sacs of tissue found all over the body. They sit between bones and tendons to prevent injury from the two rubbing together, but sometimes they can become irritated themselves. One example of this is “student’s elbow”: a swelling on the point of the elbow due to pressure, as if leaning on a desk. This can present as a lump on the elbow, which may be painful and limit the elbow movement. Your osteopath can help here by reducing load and pressure on the area to allow it to heal itself.

Elbow Sprains

The elbow is made of three bones, which means there are three joints, all moving in different ways. As a result, there are a lot of ligaments in the elbow. Their role is to limit movement to a safe range. If you carry out a movement beyond this, the ligaments may be sprained.

Sprains are categorised by their severity:

Lower grade sprains may be manageable at home with a cold pack and gentle movement. Grade three sprains will likely need some formal rehabilitation. These injuries will cause instability of the joint, almost certainly leading to compensation from neighbouring tissues. Your osteopath can help manage these compensations and help you with a plan for rehabilitation of the area.

More Elbow Problems

Other common elbow problems include Tennis and Golfers’ Elbow; read more here.

If you suffer from shoulder or elbow problems, make an appointment now.