What is Shoulder Blade Instability?

There are 13 muscles that attach to the shoulder blade which make it an amazing structure that allows us to move our arm and shoulder properly. Imagine how much we use our arms and hands every day. It is nearly non-stop.  Most people don’t realize but doing even the smallest things like typing on a keyboard or writing with a pen requires activity of the muscles around the shoulder blade. Therefore, any muscle imbalance or tendencies to favor certain muscles over others can cause issues and negative compensations over time. 

 

Shoulder blade instability can lead to muscles pain and tension around the neck and shoulder area, it can lead to issues with the shoulder itself, issues with the mid-back and ribs and even lead to things like golfers or tennis elbow. In fact, there are times with shoulder and elbow pain where simply improving stability and mobility of the shoulder blade resolves pain in those areas due to removing compensations. 

 

We will use a series of tests and movement screens to see how the shoulder blade functions. Once we are able to see if movement dysfunction does exist in that area a series of exercises will be given in order to help correct the issues. 

Treatment

-A thorough and detailed evaluation

-Treatment of injured soft tissues (dry needling, A.R.T, class IV laser, IASTM and cupping)

-Restore joint mobility and increase range of motion

-Strengthen and stabilize (DNS and exercise rehabilitation)