My client came in presenting with left deltoid (shoulder) pain that he had been suffering from for six weeks. At the time of the injury my client had played six complete days of golf and he warmed up correctly before each tee shot. Unfortunately on the last day of golf, he swung hi club and the pain shot through his deltoid straight away.
He saw two different health practitioners in the weeks following this injury and he had no change in his shoulder pain. After becoming frustrated with the lack of results and lack of understanding to why the pain would not subside, my client began to get very worried about the pain, as it was starting to affect his life and the people around him.
My client researched other health practises online and after reading about Elite Myotherapy, he decided that he would give Myotherapy a try. During his initial assessment, I discovered that when he first sustained his injury he did not ice or look after the injury in its acute stage. In the long run, this can impact the amount of time taken to resolve an issue as it then becomes coupled with associated muscle dysfunction or compensatory patterns that can occur as a result of the initial injury. This is why it is vital to ice and reduce the inflammation in an initial injury and seek early intervention. If left untreated it can become chronic and develop painful trigger points (‘muscle knots’ that refer pain).
The first step of the treatment plan was to identify the movements that were causing him the discomfort. Once we identified the source of his pain, we began treatment to release the muscle tissues and fascia of the deltoid and the surrounding musculature involved in his dysfunction in order to increase his movement and relieve the pain. We used deep tissue massage and dry needling.
After our first treatment, my client noticed an improvement. His movement increased, his pain had subsided and his overall response to the treatment was a success. After four treatments along with home exercises, he has progressed from a 10/10 pain scale to a 4/10 and we will continue to work together in order to resolve his pain completely. The Myotherapy treatments and exercises are helping my client gain confidence that his pain can be affected and he has a healthier perspective on life. He now had a clearer understanding of his body and his path to recovery.
By Andre Andrade – Elite Myotherapist
