Time to hang up the term impingement?
Shoulder problems are particularly common. It has been estimated that anywhere upwards of 30% of people will have shoulder pain sometime in their lives. Shoulder impingement syndrome might be something that you have heard in the past. The longstanding premise was that it was believed to be triggered by excessive contact between the acromion and the rotator cuff when lifting the arm overhead. However current advances in radiographic imaging have debunked that idea. A relationship between the anatomy of the shoulder, function, and pain has not been established and is not always present-(scapular dyskensia article coming!). Therefore, more emphasis should be placed in the role of degeneration and weakness in rotator cuff tendons as the primary culprit behind shoulder pain.
shoulder physiotherapy
The different clinical names such as: bursitis, calcification, tendinopathies, tears of the rotator cuff, biceps tendinitis, and/or tendon cuff degeneration the list goes on and on…. Things are now simplified and can now be classified under the term subcromial pain syndrome. Where does that leave us? Well that means if you have non-traumatic shoulder pain that worsens during or subsequent to lifting of the arm then you have subacromial pain syndrome -SAPS. And if you have SAPS then most likely than not you have a degeneration/weakness of the rotator cuff.
What now? How to get out of pain? There is continually mounting evidence that physiotherapy intervention focusing on strengthening and mobility exercises in combination with manual therapy as the most effective strategy in managing SAPS. Exercise therapy should be the priority due its effectiveness and overall health benefits.
Suffering from shoulder pain- Book an appointment with us today! Our PTs will make sure to give you the most evidence based treatment approach
Physio Summum Brossard
References:
Diercks, R., Bron, C., Dorrestijn, O., Meskers, C., Naber, R., de Ruiter, T., Willems, J., Winters, J., van der Woude, H. J., & Dutch Orthopaedic Association (2014). Guideline for diagnosis and treatment of subacromial pain syndrome: a multidisciplinary review by the Dutch Orthopaedic Association. Acta orthopaedica, 85(3), 314–322. https://doi.org/10.3109/17453674.2014.920991
Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy
Published Online:February 29, 2020Volume50Issue3Pages131-141
https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2020.8498
M. L. Reilingh, T. Kuijpers, A. M. Tanja-Harfterkamp, D. A. van der Windt, Course and prognosis of shoulder symptoms in general practice, Rheumatology, Volume 47, Issue 5, May 2008, Pages 724–730, https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/ken044
Papadonikolakis, A., McKenna, M., Warme, W., Martin, B. I., & Matsen, F. A., 3rd (2011). Published evidence relevant to the diagnosis of impingement syndrome of the shoulder. The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume, 93(19), 1827–1832. https://doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.J.01748