CrossFit and Shoulder Pain

All sports have common injuries associated with them.  Football: knee injuries.  Track: lower leg overuse injuries; such as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis and shin splints to name a couple. Basketball: knee and ankle sprains.  Baseball and softball: shoulder injuries.   And just like every sport I listed above Crossfit is no exception.  One of the more common injuries in the sport of Crossfit is shoulder impingement syndromes and rotator cuff tendinitis.  As a Chiropractor who specializes in the treatment of sports related injury and as a Crossfit athlete who has struggled with shoulder injuries in the past I have a unique perspective on the treatment and recovery of such an issue because I have been on both sides of the story.

It is extremely common that an athlete comes into my clinic complaining of shoulder pain in the front or the top of the shoulder in the overhead position.  This next statement is the overall take home message of this article.  If left untreated an impingement syndrome can lead to a rotator cuff tear.  Now that we have that nasty little statement over with, here is how we treat shoulder pain/shoulder impingement syndromes in the office.

Rest:  Now this doesn’t mean do nothing.  Limit all activities that cause pain in the front or top of the shoulder.  I will often tell my athletes that this is a really good time to go on a squat cycle.  Going through training cycles is crucially important but that is a completely different article.

Shoulder stability: The primary cause of shoulder impingement syndromes in most cases is the athletes’ inability to stabilize their scapula while moving their arm through space.   This can be due to specific muscular imbalances/weaknesses or shortened/tight muscles.  This is where diagnosing the specific dysfunctional pattern is crucial.

Specific stretching/ mobility work:  There can be several different muscles or structures that are involved causing the shoulder to be in a poor position.  My job as a clinician is to treat the specific muscles that are short and coach the athlete on specific stretches or mobility drills to loosen that muscle.  Each athlete is different but here is a list of the common muscles that we find tend to be short/tight.  Bicep, pectoralis, latissimus, rotator cuff and the tricep.

As always if you are struggling with an injury it is extremely important to seek out help with someone who is an expert in the field.

Posted by Dr. Paul Endriss

Dr. Endriss completed his undergraduate studies in Biology/Pre-med at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During his time in Cedar Rapids he was a member of the baseball team and was the team captain his senior year. After Coe he earned his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College in Davenport, Iowa, graduating Magna Sum Laude. While he was attending Palmer he was nominated and received the Clinical Excellence Award which is given to one graduate who exemplifies the highest ideals of the profession. After graduation, Dr. Endriss spent one year in Clinton, Iowa, practicing Chiropractic and ART® at Integrative Muscle and Spine; honing his skills to successfully treat a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions. After moving to the Denver metro area, Dr. Endriss is now an invaluable member of Mederi Health’s interdisciplinary team. Through the utilization of chiropractic adjustments, corrective exercise and ART® he is able to identify the muscles and structures underlying your specific condition. His treatment plans are result based; in fact, our Dr. Endriss follows the policy that “If you’re not seeing results within 2-4 treatments, there better be a good explanation as to why"

Website: http://mederihealth.com