Most of us don’t realize quite how much we move our shoulders until we injure one or both of them—suddenly, even the smallest movements are excruciating. However you may have been injured, physiotherapy can help reduce your shoulder pain by stretching and strengthening your muscles.

Shoulder pain can present as sharp intermittent pain, but when left unaddressed, it can become a dull, chronic ache that extends all the way down your arms. Seeing a physiotherapist is the best way to help your shoulders heal in a safe way.

Here’s how physiotherapy relieves shoulder pain in Brampton.

A brief overview of shoulder anatomy

Your shoulder joint is a ball joint that can rotate in all directions. The deltoid muscles and rotator cuff muscles work together to hold the ball in the center of the ball socket when you raise and rotate your arm. Whenever you injure one of the four muscles in the rotator cuff, the deltoid muscles or the ones in your shoulder blade, it can impair your movement and limit your shoulder mobility. However, you can use physiotherapy to “train” the uninjured muscles to take the pressure off the injured one, which allows it to heal.

Shoulder pain can be caused by weak muscles, arthritis, poor posture, trauma and injury. If you’re experiencing shoulder pain, physiotherapy can focus on building strength, stretching the injured muscles and relieving your pain.

How physiotherapy helps heal shoulder pain

Working with a professional physiotherapist is the best way to solve shoulder pain in Brampton. First, your physiotherapist will perform an assessment. This usually involves watching you perform a series of exercises. This helps determine your current range of motion, strength and flexibility. Your physiotherapist will watch as you perform these exercises to see where you might be falling short of normal movement. Once the assessment is over, they’ll be able to give you a diagnosis as well as a proposed treatment plan.

Physiotherapists often combine a number of different treatments, which can include massage, strengthening, stretching, manual therapy, soft tissue release and rehabilitation treatment. You’ll start with addressing the root cause of the injury, whether that’s trauma or other causes. Then your physiotherapist will work with you to not only address the shoulder pain, but make lifestyle changes that will help—for example, fixing your posture when sitting at your desk, or making adjustments if your job is full of repetitive movements.

Once your injury is starting to improve, your physiotherapist will work with you to start strengthening the muscles in your shoulder joints, arms and shoulder blades. This is designed to help prevent further injury and get you in the best shape possible.

Finally, your physiotherapist will give you tips to keep you safe in the future—the best way to prevent injury is to keep up with your physical therapy exercises.

For help relieving shoulder pain and injury in Brampton, book an appointment with Paramount Physiotherapy & Sports Injuries Clinic today. We can help you address your injuries and get back to normal.