Common injuries involving your scapular include rotator cuff inflammation and tears, tendinitis of the subscapularis muscle and a joint sprain where your collar bone meets your scapular, notes Sportsinjuryclinic.net. While treatment will differ depending on the type of injury you have sustained, it will usually include exercises to strengthen the muscles in order to stabilize your shoulder joint and stretches to ease tension.
Shoulder Anatomy and Injuries
The three bones that make up your shoulder are the scapular (shoulder blade), clavicle (collar bone) and the humerus (upper arm bone). Your scapular is the largest of these bones and is supported by 17 muscles. One of these is the subscapularis. It is part of a group of muscles, collectively called the rotator cuff, that support your shoulder joint during arm movement and rotation. Inflammation and tears in these muscles are relatively common, especially if you regularly perform activities that require a lot of shoulder rotation, such as bowling and swimming. Symptoms include pain and difficulty moving your arm and raising it out to the side.
Initial Rehabilitation Phase
Immediately after a shoulder muscle injury, apply ice to the area for 20 minutes every two hours. Continue to do this for up to 48 hours -- and then heat packs can be used. As soon as you can move your shoulder and arm without pain, you should start strength and range of motion exercises. However, you should avoid doing any activities that may have caused the injury in the first place.
Strengthening Exercises
Sportsinjuryclinic.net recommends starting your strengthening program by doing static exercises, whereby the muscle is contracted without moving your arm or shoulder. A basic exercise involves standing facing an inward-pointing corner and placing the hand of your injured arm on one of the walls. Your arm should be bent at 90 degrees. Gently push against the wall for three seconds, relax and repeat 10 times. As your strength improves, you can move on to using light hand weights to do exercises such as front and lateral raises. Hold a weight in each hand and raise them straight up in front of you and then out to your sides. Make sure you don't raise your arms beyond shoulder height in either direction.
Stretching
This is an important part of rehabilitation for a shoulder injury because it restores flexibility and mobility in the damaged muscles and joints, notes PhysioAdvisor.com. You should aim to stretch three times a day as long as you feel no pain during or afterward. Start with gentle stretches such as the wall crawl. Raise your injured arm and place the hand on a wall, just above shoulder height. Slowly inch your fingers up the wall to stretch through the back of your shoulder. As your flexibility improves, try raising your injured arm straight out in front of you. The aim is to eventually get it up above your head, but don't force the movement. Repeat this exercise, but this time move your arm out to the side and up over your head, making sure your palm is facing forward at all times.
References
- Sportsinjuryclinic.net: Shoulder Pain
- American Academy of Family Physcians: Management Of Shoulder Impingement Syndrome And Rotator Cuff Tears; by Allen E. Fongemie, M.D., Daniel D. Buss, M.D., and Sharon J. Rolnick, PH.D
- Sportsinjuryclinic.net: Subscapularis - Rehabilitation
- Sportsinjuryclinic.net: Subscapularis Injury -- Strengthening Exercises
- PhysioAdvisor.com: Shoulder Stretches
