Learn More About Your Shoulders

In my last blog I talked about my dilemma and my decision of no longer doing chaturangas, a yoga pose which starts out with the yogi in a high plank and coming down so that you are just hovering above the ground, in my yoga practice.   It is a pose that, when done incorrectly, can cause a number of shoulder pain and discomfort.  I was intrigued by what might be causing me my shoulder pain and what I can do about it without having to seek out medical attention since it has not been causing me any type of grave discomfort.  It has made me take a look at my shoulder further in depth.  It is quite funny, really, that even though I claim myself to be a "yoga geek" I never really spent time looking into my own shoulder musculature to see what was going on.  I just kept saying that, "there is something in there that doesn't feel right."  Talking to some of my other yoga cohorts, one suggested that maybe my pec minor and teres minor muscles may be to blame.  Spending some time in both of those areas have been really transformational for me and have given me a clearer picture of what muscles are truly working when  I move my arm one way or another or when hey just plain hurt.  I think it first helps to have a clear idea of what muscles are part of the the shoulder and how they work.

The rotator cuff muscles consist of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and the teres minor.  Those muscles are used to help move and stabilize the shoulder joint.  They also help to adjust the position of the humeral head (a bone of the upper arm) and the scapula or shoulder blade during shoulder and arm movement.   As you can see above, there are tendons and ligaments, which are not shown, that also support the structure of the shoulder and it tends to be at those sites where injury occurs.  The pain can either be acute or chronic depending on how the muscles have been injured whether due to a fall or just from repeated use of the arm or even old age.

Pain and spasms can occur that can limit the range of motion of the shoulder,  the muscles may no longer make smooth movements in the shoulder as it is being moved.  This means that you can no longer raise your arm overhead or when you move your arm, you hear some pops or cracks or it just feels gravely.  It may even be the case that there is fluid that has accumulated due to inflammation of the joint capsule.  Arthritis or a build up of calcium deposits may also be the culprit for limited range of motion.

Above is a picture of a rotator cuff tear in the supraspinatus muscles.  Most rotator tear cuffs occur in the supraspinatus and usually affect the tendon and not so much the belly of the muscle. Depending on the severity of the tear, you may have the option of taking care of it through some simple exercises.  It is important to keep in mind that most rotator cuff tears happen due to degeneration of the joint over time and not so much from sports injuries.

Thankfully, I don't not believe that I am suffering from a tendon tear but mostly a strain just from overuse  and tightness of some of my rotator cuff muscles.   Looking at these pictures may seem confusing to have the understanding you need to know what muscles in your shoulder are affected, but spending some time feeling around for each of those muscles will bring you some greater awareness.  What works for me is using my Yoga Tune Up® Massage Therapy Balls and palpating them.  You can use tennis balls at home if you don't have a YTU ball or even a racquet ball will do.  Placing the ball while lying in the ground or up against a wall in some of those shoulder joints may feel uncomfortable at first, but can provide a huge amount of relief if those areas are feeling stiff.  If there is inflammation, then the thing to do is rest the shoulder and ice it.  When you feel that the inflammation has gone down, then it is important to move it again.  When the shoulder is immobilized for a long period of time, then scar tissue and adhesion can build up and make the situation worse, movement is key here.