How To Massage The Shoulder Joint Video

The shoulder is an area of the body that carries a lot of tension. Get expert tips and advice on massage and other treatments in this video.

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Ask about range of motion issues
Make sure they are relaxed
Perform a gentle circular motion with their arm

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Malu works for Retreat Massage Therapy as a massage therapist. She is well versed in techniques that are particularly helpful for athletes.

MALU LUJAN: Okay, so we are going to be doing some rotation of the shoulder joint. Again, it is very important to check with your person and make sure that they do not have any range of motion issues. If someone had a torn rotator cuff for example or they have dislocated their shoulder, that would be important information and you might want to do something that is a modified movement, a little bit less or maybe even avoid rotating the shoulder joint depending on their level of discomfort or injury. But assuming they are well and they just have some soreness and discomfort, one thing you can do is put your hand - relax your arm there, Sally - and put your hand near their elbow and another hand right here where their shoulder is, and we are just going to do a gentle circle and take a nice deep breath and exhale everything out. Remind your person that they should pretend they are cooked spaghetti, so that they are nice and relaxed. You can also put your thumb right in the center of the joint here. You see that? And I am shaking her arm while I do that. I am not putting very much pressure in there. How is that pressure, Sally? SALLY: That is fine. MALU LUJAN: Okay, yeah. So she said that is fine. That could mean that that is maybe a little too much. Sometimes they will say that is fine but they are in pain, and sometimes it really means it is okay. So that is a technique that you can use. The other one is you can kind of just shake the shoulder, you know, one hand underneath, one hand on top, give it a little shake. And those are some techniques for rotating the shoulder.

How to Massage the Shoulder Joint Video

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