How to Manage Shoulder Pain

If you’re living with shoulder pain, it can be hard to figure out how to manage that shoulder pain. Ongoing discomfort in your shoulders can have a big impact on everyday life, from affecting the activities you normally enjoy to disrupting your sleep. Working out what treatments and strategies can help control the pain is often stressful and time-consuming too! That’s why we want to share our tips for better managing shoulder pain. By bringing together evidence-backed advice with empathy, we hope these insights will provide some comfort if you or someone close to you is dealing with this condition.

Understand what is causing your shoulder pain – a doctor can help with this
Experiencing shoulder pain can be discomforting and inconvenient, and it can be difficult to know exactly what is causing it.

Causes of Shoulder Pain

There are many possible causes of shoulder pain, including:

Rotator Cuff Injury: The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint. An injury to the rotator cuff can cause pain, weakness, and limited mobility.

Frozen Shoulder: Frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis, is a condition in which the shoulder joint becomes stiff and painful. It is caused by inflammation and tightening of the shoulder capsule.

Bursitis: Bursitis is inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs (bursae) that cushion the joints. When bursae in the shoulder become inflamed, it can cause pain and limited range of motion.

Tendinitis: Tendinitis is inflammation of a tendon, which is the tissue that connects muscle to bone. It can cause pain and limited mobility.

Arthritis: Arthritis is a condition in which the joints become inflamed and can cause pain, stiffness, and limited mobility. It can affect the shoulder joint as well as other joints in the body.

Shoulder Impingement Syndrome: Shoulder impingement syndrome is caused by the compression of soft tissue in the shoulder joint. It can cause pain, weakness, and limited mobility.

Manage Shoulder Pain

If you’re dealing with shoulder pain, we understand the discomfort and hassle it can cause. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treating shoulder pain, but there are a few steps you can take to reduce your pain levels and increase comfort.

Rest and Ice Therapy The first step for managing shoulder pain is rest. This means avoiding activities that require you to move your shoulder too much or put too much strain on it. You should also use ice therapy to reduce any swelling in the area and reduce inflammation. Apply an ice pack directly to the affected area for 15-20 minutes at a time throughout the day.

Stretching Exercises Stretching exercises can improve joint mobility and reduce tension in muscles. Begin slowly and only stretch to your comfort level. As you progress, increase repetitions or hold stretches longer. Avoid pushing yourself too hard to prevent further damage or increased pain.

Physical Therapy If rest and stretching exercises don’t alleviate your shoulder pain, consider physical therapy. It can help restore full range of motion in the joint and reduce inflammation with treatments like ultrasound or electrical stimulation. A physical therapist will also guide you through targeted strengthening exercises to improve range of motion and reduce discomfort.

Conclusion

Shoulder pain can be managed with proper treatment. Options include rest, ice therapy, and physical therapy to restore normal joint functioning. These treatments can alleviate symptoms and prevent interference with daily life activities. Find what works best for your individual needs to quickly relieve shoulder pain.

Difference between physical therapy and chiropractic care

Do you know the difference between physical therapy and a chiropractic care? We examine similarities and differences in this quick-read article.

Many patients do not know the difference between physical therapy and chiropractic care. They both treat same conditions and body parts. They both treat and manage pain and improves mobility without using medicine or shots. This article will guide you on how to choose between physical therapy and chiropractic care when you have pain and mobility issues.

Similarities between physical therapy and chiropractic care

First, let us see the similarities between these two professions. Physical therapist and chiropractor are licensed health care professionals. Both professionals keep their license active with continued education courses. Both primarily focus on treating pain with natural way without injections, shots and surgery. They both use hands on approach and manual techniques to fix the underlying issue causing pain.

Difference between physical therapy and chiropractic care

Next, let’s see the difference between physical therapy and chiropractic care. Physical therapy focuses on injured body part along with the adjacent body parts causing pain or mobility issues, so treatment approach depends on body movements and functions as a whole. Chiropractic care focuses on finding spinal and muscular malalignments that might be leading to pressure within nervous system and causing chronic pain. Physical therapy focuses on reducing pain and improving ability to perform daily activities in the pain free range. On the other hand, chiropractic focuses on achieving pain relief and fixing spine alignment.

Along with above mentioned differences, there is one more difference which is related to the treatment approach both use to treat patients. When injury or illness affects strength, mobility, balance and endurance physical therapy mainly uses manual therapy techniques like myofascial release, deep tissue massage, instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization and other techniques along with stretching and exercises to reduce pain and improve mobility and strength and assist natural healing. Chiropractic care mainly perform spine manipulations and joint adjustments along with other manual techniques to allow the body heal naturally after any injury or illness or chronic pain.

If you are currently experiencing back pain or chronic pain, both physical therapy and chiropractic care could help you to manage pain and improve quality of life. It really depends on the type of treatment you are looking for. Use this information and perform some of your own research to make the best decision for you.

If you’d like to meet with a physical therapist in Malvern, PA, contact us today to learn how physical therapy can help you to manage pain.

About Potential Physical Therapy:

Our physical therapist designs a personalized exercise program and manual therapy techniques according to individual needs. We use an evidence-based approach to educate and treat you that speeds up your pain relief. We teach proper form of exercises and home exercise program for faster recovery. In most cases physical therapy will be enough to recover from lower back pain. Contact us today to learn more about our programs and how they can help relieve your pain.

Experience the difference physical therapy can make for you.

Schedule your call at (610) 249-0001

 

 

ACL injury rehab in Malvern, PA

ACL injury rehab in Malvern, PA

It is difficult to be knocked out of your favorite game due to injury.  This post will help those who no longer participate in the sports because of ACL injury. Understand how physical therapy plays important role in your recovery.

ACL injury can occur in two different ways:

In contact mechanism a blow to the outer side of the knee results not only ACL tear but also in MCL and medial meniscus, usually termed the “Unholy triad” injury; whereas in non-contact mechanism lower leg twists on a planted foot.

Common symptoms after ACL injury:

Knee pain or swelling that lasts for 48 hours, instability and popping or giving out while walking, inability to put weight on knee while walking, knee bending to guard injured area are the common signs and symptoms one may experience after ACL injury.

What do you experience after ACL injury?

In acute stage, knee cannot bear weight and the person needs assistance while walking; while in complete tear, there is instability, and the knee gives out while walking.

In cases of acute sprain or partial tears, conservative treatments are enough for return to a desired level of function as long as you are not returning to sports or high-level work activities.

Conservative treatment includes RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) followed by Physical therapy exercises after acute phase of healing.

Physical therapy exercises play important role after ACL injuries.

Whether or not you need surgery, physical therapy helps to regain normal ROM (range of motion), balance control, normalization of gait, strengthening of muscles that support and stabilize knee joint during functional activities.

Quadriceps and hamstring strengthening are crucial in ACL rehab exercises as it may help to avoid or delay the surgery. ACL rehab alone may be enough for elderly people, or those who do not want to return to sports or high-level activities. Also, research shows that pre-op ACL rehab gives positive long-lasting effects after surgery and speeds up surgical recovery.

Performing these ACL rehab exercises under an expert’s supervision is important to ensure that the exercises are appropriate and the progression is right for you; otherwise, you may risk your ACL recovery and end up with a weak supporting structure around the knee which could lead to an unstable knee and the re-injuring of your knee in the future.

Learn more about how can a physical therapist help in ACL injury recovery. If your knee pain persists after conservative treatment at home after injury, schedule an appointment with Potential Physical Therapy to start your care with specialist guidance.

Here are few strengthening exercises you may perform to strengthen the knee joint after ACL injury.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrAKJrh_QAY

https://www.facebook.com/Potentialphysicaltherapy/videos/556861075028356/?v=556861075028356

About Potential Physical Therapy:

Our physical therapist designs a personalized exercise program according to individual needs for your ACL injury. We use an evidence-based approach to educate and treat you that speeds up your recovery. We teach proper form of exercises and home exercise programs for faster recovery. In most of the cases physical therapy will be enough to recover from an ACL injury. Contact Potential Physical Therapy today to learn more about our programs and how they can help relieve your pain.

Call (610) 249-0001 with any questions and we will be happy to assist you.