How Chiropractic Care and Active Release Technique Can Help With Shoulder Pain
The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body. It is made up of a complex system of joints, muscles, tendons, and cartilage, and damage to any of them can cause pain. Shoulder pain can also be caused by damage or conditions in the neck, with the pain traveling to the shoulder.
Chiropractic care can be an effective treatment for shoulder pain. The main focus of chiropractic care is often on manual adjustments of the neck and spine to restore alignment, although chiropractic clinicians offer a variety of other techniques to provide care and support to the entire body.
In contrast, Active Release Technique (ART) is a treatment that focuses on restoring movement and reducing pain in the soft tissue. When muscles are overused or injured, this can result in micro-tears. Over time, these micro-tears can form into bundles of scar tissue, and this scar tissue can cause stiffness, pain, can trap nerves and decrease mobility. In ART, the clinician applies deep tension to the restricted areas while the patient moves from a shortened position into a lengthened position. This works to break up the adhesions and scar tissue, improve movement, increase blood flow to the area and reduce pain.
4 causes of shoulder pain that can be treated by chiropractic care and ART
1) Rotator cuff injury
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and tendons that hold the ball of the shoulder joint into its socket. Because of how mobile it is, and its complexity, most shoulder pain is caused by damage to the rotator cuff.
Chiropractic care can help to restore alignment in the shoulder joint. Combined with Active Release Technique (ART), which can be an effective treatment for rotator cuff injuries that are the result of damage to the tendons, movement can be restored to the rotator cuff and pain can be reduced.
2) Frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) involves damage to the capsule that surrounds the shoulder and can begin suddenly after an injury or can build up gradually. Over time, movement becomes more and more restricted until the shoulder is frozen in place.
A treatment approach that combines chiropractic care that treats the joint, ART to break up the adhesions, as well as exercise and rehabilitative care can help to restore movement to the shoulder and reduce pain (https://www.evansvillechiro.com/files/frozen-shoulder.pdf).
3) Biceps tendonitis
This group of muscles passes through the center of the shoulder so damage to this can cause pain throughout the shoulder. The bicep tendon can get caught in the deltoids and pectorallis, muscles and tendons, in which case ART can help to release the muscle and relieve pain (https://www.onyourmark.nyc/post/2016/11/20/active-release-treatments-for-shoulder-injuries-and-pain-relief).
4) Pinched nerve
Pinched nerves normally affect the back, neck, and shoulders and occur when too much pressure is applied to a nerve from the surrounding muscles, bones, cartilages, or tendons. This can cause pain, numbness, tingling, and restricted movement.
An approach that combines chiropractic care to restore proper alignment and ART to break up adhesions that could be pressing on the nerve can help to relieve the symptoms of a pinched nerve in the shoulder and help restore movement (https://santarosapainandperformance.com/treat-your-pinched-nerve-with-active-release-technique/).
Shoulder pain can be caused by a variety of different injuries and diseases. Chiropractic care can help to restore alignment and treat joint problems that are contributing to shoulder pain, and Active Release Technique (ART) can treat shoulder pain that is caused by scar tissue and damage to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Together, they can be a good all-around treatment plan that can help relieve the pain that comes from shoulder injuries.
Do you suffer from shoulder pain? Let us help you.
Call today to schedule your appointment