What is the difference between Laxity vs. Instability?

LAXITY VERSUS INSTABILITY: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE? I was at a course recently and an attendee asked a question about shoulder instability versus laxity. You may have heard those terms before and they are used interchangeably quite often incorrectly. Unfortunately, the answer to the question wasn’t properly addressed. So, I figured I would try and [...]

What is (GIRD) and how does the sleeper stretch help?

GLENOHUMERAL INTERNAL ROTATION DEFICIT (GIRD) AND THE SLEEPER STRETCH When dealing with the shoulder and shoulder problems, particularly in athletes but not uncommon in non-athletes, there can be a loss of internal rotation of the shoulder (you need to internally rotate to tuck in your shirt in back, or to fasten/unfasten a bra). There is [...]

Stretching Basics

WHEN TO STRETCH? BEFORE EXERCISE, AFTER, OR BOTH? Even though this really isn’t a shoulder specific post, this is a question it seems like I address every day. It has been an accepted dogma that you must stretch before exercise, although no research proves that it’s necessary for injury prevention. A review by Witvrouw et [...]

Labral Tear

What is a Labral Tear?   Remember our golf ball analogy?  (“… think of the shoulder as a golf ball on a tee, or imagine a seal balancing a ball on his nose.  Can you see it?  Big ball, small surface holding it in place.  That’s the “rub” with the shoulder – the design of it [...]

Impingement Syndrome

What is Impingement Syndrome? Well, first we have to decide what kind you have. Primary impingement is basically irritation of your rotator cuff and/or the bursa in your shoulder. The bursa is kind of like a water balloon. It’s there to cushion the rotator cuff and acts as a “buffer” between the humerus (where the cuff [...]

Definitions for the shoulder

I NEED SOME DEFINITIONS. What’s a Dislocation? Seperation? Subluxation? Well first of all, we have to think of the shoulder as a golf ball on a tee, or imagine a seal balancing a ball on his nose. Can you see it? Big ball, small surface holding it in place. That’s the “rub” with the shoulder [...]

Frozen Shoulder

What is Frozen Shoulder? Frozen shoulder, or “adhesive capsulitis”, is a poorly understood condition. We have an idea about what happens, but it has a mind of its own. It’s usually in females over 40 and comes and goes as it pleases. It may follow a recent trauma to the shoulder or a recent surgery. You may [...]

Shoulder Bursitis

What is shoulder bursitis? A bursa is a tiny fluid-filled sac that functions as a gliding surface to reduce friction between tissues of the body. The plural of bursa is bursae. There are 160 bursae in the body. The major bursae are located adjacent to the tendons near the large joints, such as the shoulders, [...]

Rotator Cuff

What is the Rotator Cuff? How is it injured? How do I fix it? The rotator cuff is a series of four muscles that attach on the humerus. As the name implies, they allow rotation of the shoulder, but they also contribute to elevation. A commonly missed but vital function of the cuff is humeral [...]

« Previous Page