Making a Difference to Shoulder Pain

Most of us take our shoulders for granted when they’re in a happy place and moving freely.  Most of us have also had a shoulder issue at least once in our lives.

Shoulder pain can interrupt sleep, limit our everyday activities, get on our nerves & wear us down.  Impingement in the shoulder girdle can also cause headaches and lead to more serious issues such as frozen shoulder, bursitis or rotator cuff injury.

Reducing the 'scare' factor of a shoulder injury

Sleepless nights and ferocious pain can sometimes be alarming. The good news is there are effective ways to address underlying shoulder problems leading to relief from pain and freedom to move again.

Celebrate the shoulder - it’s a heavy lifter!

The shoulder joint is the only joint in our body designed to move in every direction.  Think about this for a minute – in everyday movements our shoulder moves forward, upward and backwards.

To enable the shoulder to move in all directions, the ligaments that hold the upper arm bone (humerus) in the shoulder socket are relatively loose - they’re not doing much stabilizing.

So what’s stabilizing the shoulder joint if the ligaments aren’t? You’ve probably heard the term “rotator cuff”.  This refers to four muscles attaching from the shoulder blade to the upper arm bone (humerus). They surround the upper arm bone like a sleeve or ‘cuff’.  These muscles are designed to relax so the shoulder can move freely in all directions, they're also designed to contract when needed, to stabilize the shoulder.

Finding a way through shoulder pain

I've had a lot of success working with shoulder issues, including frozen shoulders. 

One client had been told by various professionals there was nothing she could do about her frozen shoulder other than wait it out for 15-18 months.  She'd read about Ortho-Bionomy® online and decided to give something she’d never heard of a go. 

There was very little movement in her shoulder girdle and she was being kept awake at night.  After the first treatment she had several nights of uninterrupted, pain free sleep. After the second treatment she experienced increased range of movement in the shoulder joint, the tension in her face had gone and she reported feeling less ‘guarded’ because the pain had eased. This rate of improvement continued and she was able to resume all the activities that had been on hold, including going back to the gym.

Another client sent me the following message after her first treatment “Have to say it’s the best my shoulder has been in 5 months”.  She had also tried various other approaches.

I don’t claim this will happen for everyone.  Every body & every injury is unique. 

In an Ortho-Bionomy® treatment I apply my years of training, knowledge and experience working with shoulders.  I look for  underlying structural imbalances that might be causing the dysfunction.  I use techniques that can release impingements & help the body to find new postural patterns.  Self-care exercises are also suggested to help the body further self-correct.

Getting results with a gentler approach

I used to be an advocate for deep tissue massage but these days I appreciate  getting results with a gentler approach. 

Even though I’ve had years of positive results from Ortho-Bionomy, I continue to be surprised when people report enormous benefits and changes after sessions.  It continues to make my job rewarding and gratifying.

If you know someone suffering from shoulder pain I invite you to share this blog with them and if you’d like more information and self-care tips I invite you to sign up to my newsletter.

Meanwhile, may we all be the best version of our physical selves!

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Fiona Munro is a fully qualified Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner, Ka Huna masseuse and Yoga Teacher.  She is registered with Ortho-Bionomy Australia Ltd and a Board Director on the OBA Ltd Board of Directors.  She is the Director at The Healing Switch.

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