Are you someone suffering from chronic posterior shoulder pain?
Do you have chronic, persistent pain, discomfort or fatigue in the back or posterior aspect of your shoulder?
Symptoms that have not responded to previous physical therapy?
There is an uncommon, often overlooked, condition that some people experience being an entrapment of the axillary nerve or circumflex artery that courses through the quadrangular space. This is a region in the posterior shoulder that can become entrapped due to the stresses of chronic, overhead activity or sports.
These stressors can cause scarring or fibrosis in the quadrangular space that pinches the nerve or artery. Chronic impingement can even cause atrophy or intermittent paresthesias or nerve like symptoms into your arm. Your therapist can perform the scratch collapse test to identify this syndrome.
The test is performed holding your arm at your side with your therapist applying resistance to external rotation and then providing a scratching motion over the nerve in the quadrangular space. This will produce a voluntary neurological inhibition of the external rotator muscles causing a collapse of the contraction. Medical interventions may include a cortisone shot in the quadrangular space or a surgical release of the scar tissue causing the entrapment.
So if you are someone suffering from chronic posterior shoulder pain that has not responded to conservative care then come on in and let us take a look.
Watch the video below to see the scratch collapse test.
Best In Health!
Chris
P.S. Any pain? Come on in for some some TLC. Our manual therapy only session is just $50. We can Graston, Cup, and Stretch out the tight and get you feelin’ right! ha