Shoulder Issues? It’s not your rotator cuff, mate, but it could be your Spine….
Two of the biggest orthopedic pain points the general public in the last decade relating to pain are the shoulders and lower back. When this pain in a muscle or joint presents itself, the typical response is go right to the source. The low back hurts? You’ll be told to stick a ball on the erector for some relief. Shoulder hurts? It must be related to the rotator cuff, so YouTube will tell you to perform endless Cuban Rotations.
What’s funny is that the rotator cuff is almost always the scapegoat for shoulder pain, as if there is no other musculature that attaches itself there. Solely treating the source of pain will only get you so far in irradicating your pain, and will likely be a temporary solution. It’s of course more complicated to look at the body as a whole and see what other joints may be the root of the problem, but it’s also necessary for long-term pain allevaition and functionality.
The rotator cuff is almost always the scapegoat for shoulder pain, and it does not deserve the flak!
The body is resourceful and will adapt according to lines of stress. When we have repetitive movement or non-movements such as sitting, the muscles and other soft tissues remodel to become stronger in the direction of stress. While this sounds all well and good, long term repetition can create an imbalance of strength to weakness in joints resulting in loss of mobility.
This can be seen in the intricate relationship the thoracic spine has with the shoulder girdle and the lower back. When you take a joint by joint approach to the body, you can see that the lumbar spine was anatomically and biomechanically designed to be inherently stable. It has very few degrees of movement through extension, flexion and rotation before you get bone to bone restriction in the vertebral column iteslf. Additionally, the shoulder complex or scapula was designed to be stable as it relates to its position on ribcage. For the most part the scapula “floats” up against the thoracic cage, held in place by the 17 muscles that attach to it.
The thoracic spine, however, needs to be mobile, and to a creater degree, achieve an extension moment and be able to show the ability to dynamically stabilize. The thoracic spine should be able to bend, flex, extend and rotate to varying degrees, but often is the case with athletes and the general public alike, these motions get diminished over time from mis-use and sedentary postural demands. When a loss of thoracic spine mobility presents, the joints above and below must become more mobile and less stable to compensate for lost movement. What are those two joints you ask? The scapula and the vertebrae of the lumbar spine. Not exactly the place you want to be dumping unwanted mobility int0, is it?
The Key to Pain Free Shoulder & Spinal Movement?
Could it be said that creating a more mobile thoracic spine is essential in avoiding pain through the back and shoulder? Based on the mobile/stable joint relationship model it could be.
When there is a loss of thoracic mobility, the scapula has to alter the path of movement and the range of motion itself, sometimes to the detriment to soft tissue in the area. If the scapula is unable to move freely through elevation, depression, protraction, retraction, upward and downward rotation, poor biomechanics develop, which can lead to pain.
When the scapula isn’t moving optimally due a stiff thoracic spine, any attempts to do anything overhead is going to result in a compromise at the lumbar spine. What was once a stable joint, now has to have a degree of mobility in order to complete the task.
The fix? Incorporate these mobility drills into your next workout and begin to reduce your body’s pain levels and improve your spine’s mobility:
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Hello,
As some of you may know, Personal Training is my bread and butter, however I moonlight as a writer in my spare time.
Should you find this article, or any other article or presentation interesting, please consider donating a small amount by using the 'Donate' button linked.
Do not feel obliged to choose any particular amount, as all donations will be greatly appreciated and welcomed.
Moreover, I will send you a discount code for both Online Coaching and/or Personal Training in gratitude of every donation made, regardless of the amount donated.
Thank You,
Simon
