Table of Contents
Introduction
Shoulder fascia massage combined with deep tissue massage can help manage pain. What are the areas that can cause shoulder issues?
Chronic shoulder pain, discomfort, tightness and even problems raising your arms, can stem from these areas. Watch the video now, to learn more.
The Subscapularis
This muscle sits in the “back” of the arm pit. In technical terms it lies on the anterior surface of the scapula (shoulder blade). This muscle acts to rotate your upper arm inwards toward the mid-line. It helps bring the arm towards the mid-line when it is away from the body. This occurs when there is resistance against the direction of the action. Just imagine a lat pulldown exercise. It also assists in extending the upper arm backwards.
This muscle can become tight from a chronically rounded shoulder position. It can also tighten from overhead actions such as throwing a ball or swimming.
The clinical hints that let me know the shoulder issue can stem from this muscle are evident. One sign is weakness in overhead motions. The shoulders are usually rounded and the biggest clue. Pain or discomfort in the wrist, with zero local observed dysfunction of the wrist. At times a patient can tell me that along with the shoulder pain, they also have noticed wrist pain.
Shoulder fascia massage in this instance can be very painful. This pain occurs because this muscle can become stubbornly tight with trigger points. I have spent 15 to 20 minutes on this one muscle just to get it to release.
Latissimus Dorsi
Shoulder fascia massage along with deep tissue is an excellent choice for this muscle. This is that large winglike muscle of your back. It’s a powerful muscle that provides the force to pull your body up during a pull-up. Or bring the arms down during a lat pulldown.
This muscle is a broad muscle that has attachments to a tendinous structure of your lower back, the Thoracolumbar fascia.
The Throacolumbar fascia attachment is a clinically important structure as it relates to shoulder pain and the Latissimus Dorsi muscle. In the picture above you will note that this structures lies in your lower back and blends into the Gluteus Maximus muscles.
This is important because there is a link between shoulder pain and lower back pain. If a patient comes in and is primarily complaining of shoulder pain, I will look at the lat muscle as a culprit. If they have a secondary complaint of lower back pain, it reinforces my suspicion. Other factors that can lead me to this muscle are chronic behaviors. A typical example is a parent that uses one arm to carry their child. This can be a big clue for me that it there is a strong possibility that the lat is involved.
With this muscle, shoulder fascia massage is needed along with aggressive deep treatments to the muscle.
In this scenario, I will typically find some extreme restrictions of the fascia. These occur over the lower back and ribcage, where the lat muscle sits.
Once the fascia is released I am able to work better into the muscle.
The Ribcage
Shoulder fascia massage can extend to the ribcage. Understandably it sounds very strange. There are accessory motions of the ribs that assists with certain motions such as raising your arm.
For example, if the muscles and fascia around the ribcage are tight, hindering rib motion, it can impact shoulder motions. A good example is if the area between the clavicle (collar bone) and your first rib are hindered. There can be issues with raising your arm.
Just like any type of muscle, the muscles that provide ribcage motion can also become tight causing discomfort and dysfunction.
Typically this is more of a secondary issue. Usually, it’s other shoulder muscles and the ribcage just exacerbates the condition.
In this case, shoulder fascia massage will have the added element of aggressive deep tissue work. Release the fascia of the ribcage and there is a noticeable improvement in rib motion and breathing.
Treatment
Shoulder fascia massage can be extremely painful. This is because for chronic issues, there tends to be very tight fascia involved. The treatments can be very intense but generally can be positively impactful.
Are you ready for shoulder fascia massage for your pain? Please contact us so we can discuss your case.
More Resources:
Have you been thinking about using deep tissue massage? Here is a video on 8 common questions. The plank can be a reason for your shoulder pain. Watch our video from our Pain Relief Fitness site.
