That’s right…what really frustrates you and bugs you about your shoulder right now? What are you scared of? What would life be like if you could only get rid of this niggling pain in the %$#@^. Tell me, I really want to know.
Why?
Because it will allow me to develop better posts, better podcasts and better content for my product series (in the making) to ultimate help you solve your shoulder problem, whatever that may be. Now it might be that your shoulder is stopping you from playing golf or making lifting above your head difficult. Your shoulder may even have stopped your dreams of a better body and a healthier life.
What ever it is, solving your shoulder problem is my purpose here so I need some insight into how you really feel about having a shoulder problem.
So please go do this survey for me, it will only take a minute.
Click here to take survey
Thanks so much. I look forward to your comments and building a great resource for you.
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All the Best!
Luke
The Shoulder Guy
It’s amazing how many people I see and have spoken to that have sustained a shoulder injury at the gym. Whether through a lack of awareness and education (usually no fault of their own), poor exercise selection, improper lifting technique and going too heavy.
I remember consulting to a young man with shoulder pain located about the AC joint on top of his shoulder after doing some heavy benching and dips. His symptoms were quite severe and upon observation of his shoulder X-ray I was alarmed to see that the end of clavicle (collar bone) had almost disintergrated.
He had pushed his shoulders too hard over time that his body had started to resorb bone (osteolysis) from the end of his clavicle.
This made me think and I will ask you now.
What mistakes are you making in the gym?
Could you be setting yourself up for shoulder failure, shoulder pain and time off an activity that you really love?
Do you know the TOP Ten Exercises to Avoid at the Gym?
Have you heard of “Safe Zone” Training?
Want to know how to be More Than Just Another Injured Gym Junkie?
Sep 10
6
Your lifestyle maybe the single most important influence on the tendon structure within your shoulder today. Right now what you are doing or not doing has an influence at the cellular level of tendon remodelling.
What this means for you is… if you are healthy and active stay healthy and active…if you are inactive, smoke, are stressed and eat poorly then make some BIG changes.
But at a word of warning…
Change your activity levels slowly and gradually.
Why?
Well, there is a growing evidence base that suggests that tendons don’t like change.
In fact they don’t like it at all.
So if you are thinking about starting a gym or aerobic program or perhaps thinking about playing tennis on the WiiFit then think again.
Your tendons will thank you.
The current guidelines suggest that we:
Aug 10
23
The International Shoulder & Elbow Conference (ICSES & ICSET) is back again and this year (2010) it is being held in Edinburgh, Scotland.
So why would I take my time and spend my money to travel all that way just to listen to some people I don’t even know, talk all day about shoulders and what’s wrong and how to fix em?
Good Question…
Well its a chance to learn and to confirm to me that what I do is at the very top level in the world. That way I bring the very best to the table every time I treat, talk about or educate my clients and other health professionals about the shoulder.
What’s more it makes me feel good and gives me the opportunity to travel and on this occasion get in some golf at one of the best golfing resorts in the world ..Gleneagles.
Not bad I guess for a Shoulder Guy?
Watch this space for some video of my travels when I return.
Cheers
Luke Van Every
The Shoulder Guy
Injections of steroid into the shoulder are an increasingly popular way of treating shoulder pain and inflammation. But how keen are you on the idea? Many shoulder pain sufferers aren’t keen on the idea at all and are often unsure as to what they actually do and what to expect as a result of having an injection.
I am hoping that the following article with help put your mind at ease through a better understanding of how and why steroids work to reduce your shoulder pain. However, unfortunately to ad insult to injury (pardon the pun), there is no clear significant evidence for the benefit of steroid injections for shoulder problems.
But my clinical experience and through the observation of literally hundreds of patients who have received injections whilst under my care, I have observed that the majority of patients have benefited from injections into the shoulder joint for a number of shoulder conditions.
The degree of benefit however is the great unknown factor here and difficult to predict. It is therefore important to accurately diagnose the shoulder condition and the potential reasons why an injection would be beneficial.
From my perspective, as a Shoulder Guy, I use injections where indicated both as a way of diagnosing a potential cause and location of symptoms and as a way of reducing pain and inflammation so that my techniques for improving shoulder strength, flexibility and function can be introduced on a relatively pain free shoulder.
If the injection is successful in reducing your pain and dysfunction then this provides you with a great opportunity to start the recovery process in less pain and can help speed up the eventual outcome of having no shoulder pain at all.
So how do they work and are they safe?
Corticosteroids are relatively safe, potent anti-inflammatory and pain modulating drugs with both systemic and local effects. The precise mechanism is not well understood but possible mechanisms include anti-inflammatory effects due to influences on local tissue metabolism and pain mediators and of course the possibility of a a placebo effect.
Injection techniques are now usually Xray or Ultrasound guided to hopefully increase the accuracy of drug delivery into the right spot.
Recent research (BMJ, 2010) reported that up to 1/3 of patients with shoulder impingement and moderate to severe shoulder pain will not respond adequately to 3 months of exercise therapy alone and may then require an injection. The study suggested that when shoulder pain was severe an early steroid injection coupled with physiotherapy provided good early results when quick pain reduction was focus.
Steroid injections can be used on a number of shoulder conditions including for example chronic rotator cuff tendonitis, biceps tendonitis, impingement with subacromial bursitis and AC joint degenerative joint disease.
Jul 10
27
Using the philosophy of the late and arguably great Dr Alexander I have considered his simple yet powerful observation that “use affects function”. Why this observation is so simple yet so powerful is because it can literally change your life.
Try this on for size.
Observe for just a moment…Right Now…how you are seated reading this, how your back is positioned, your shoulders, your elbows, your wrist and hands. What about the level of tension you feel in each of these areas.
From a shoulder pain perspective, the way you posture and use your body will impact greatly on how your shoulders perform and respond to the physical stress of daily life. In short, poorly postured shoulders result in misuse of the body which invariably leads to shoulder pain and dysfunction.
Simply by pushing (projecting) your sternum (central chest bone) outwards, your shoulders will naturally and effortlessly fall back into a more low energy position. This helps alleviate neck tension and ideally positions the shoulder blade for better rotator cuff activation. This allows you to use your hand (the tool) for a range of daily tasks without causing undue stress around the neck, shoulder and upper back regions.
This one step cure for shoulder pain is so powerful that if you practice this corrective technique for 5 mins in the morning everyday for 30 days and especially when you are loading your body at work, at the gym or when driving you will take a huge leap forward in getting rid of your shoulder pain once and for all.
All the Best!
Luke
The Shoulder Guy
Jul 10
19
“Clinical pearls are best defined as small bits of free standing, clinically relevant information based on experience or observation. They are part of the vast domain of experience-based medicine, and can be helpful in dealing with clinical problems for which controlled data does not exist”
What I have discovered over the years that best suits the shoulder in terms of maximising its strength, control and function has not been part of my mainstream physiotherapy education and experience. You have to go find it, experience it and take note what happens and lock that experience away until next time it happens. Sometimes it finds you when you start to ask directed questions of the subconscious mind. As you go on you start to see patterns developing and these patterns seem to bring about a predictable result.
Shoulder Rehab Secrets is a collection of my clinical pearls specifically related to the shoulder and how I can give people back what they have lost through shoulder pain by getting rid of it once and for all.