Shoulder pain is a common issue for a lot of people either in day to day life or when they are training. One of the most common conditions is shoulder impingement.
To prevent shoulder impingement it is important to have strength and endurance in a muscle called the Serratus Anterior. In movements such as putting something up on a shelf or exercises such as an overhead press, this muscle activates and makes sure that your shoulder blade moves correctly and that your shoulder joint is stabilised in a correct position.
If your Serratus Anterior is weak or if it gets tired quickly then it can cause unwanted movement in the shoulder joint and lead to an impingement in the shoulder.
So what exercises can we do to strengthen the Serratus Anterior and also stabilise your shoulder?
Half-Kneeling To Overhead Press
A bottoms under kettlebell press is an excellent stability based exercise for the shoulder and this movement carries over to alot of movements you perform in the gym and daily life.
Start with both knees bent with the kettlebell in the front rack position. Then keeping your core engaged drive up and bring your leg in front of you. It is important to keep your core braced doing this and try to keep your ribcage stacked directly over your pelvis. Finally, press the kettlebell overhead and then lower it back down keeping control of the kettlebell throughout the movement.
Holding the kettlebell upside down means the centre of gravity is further away from your hand and therefore means you have to work harder to control the kettlebell as it is in an unbalanced position.
DNS Low Oblique Sit Stage 1
Start on your back with your right hand up in the air holding the kettlebell. This time the kettlebell will not be in a bottoms under position. Then bend your right leg up and keep your left leg straight. Pressurise through your abdomen and keep your core contracted. Bring your left elbow out and drive up through the elbow keeping the kettlebell overhead and your core braced. Keep in control of the kettlebell at all times and control your movement back into the start position.
Final Thoughts
If you are an elite athlete or just enjoy going to the gym then both of these exercises can help you. They both work very well as a warm-up before you do your workouts, or they also work integrated into a workout superset.
If you have shoulder pain and want to get it sorted then contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Currently, people will do anything to compete and perform at their best. When it comes down to game day, it is common for people to try and ignore their pain and then push through it. This goes back to the phrase we have been told from when we were young of ‘No pain, no gain’.
In the world today, no pain, no gain is frequently said and acted upon to cover up pain. We wrap our ankles and wrists before games, wear knee sleeves and take pain killers and use creams to get through training by keeping the pain at a low enough level in order to perform. Although this allows us to compete on a consistent basis but these temporary solutions for dealing with pain during competition and even training sessions have become regular occurrences for people during their routines.
So what can be the effects of pushing through pain?
Pain tells us that there may be injury occurring to the body. The type of pain can vary from sharp, stabbing or throbbing sensation. Pain can be muscular or you could be feeling it in a joint. It often occurs due to overuse, poor technique and inflammation. It is important to note that pain does not improve because of a proper warm-up or mobility work pre-session.
This is because pain is not a soreness. Whereas muscle soreness will almost always improve when you have done a throughout warmup. When your muscles are sore this is a natural part of training. So if you have done a warm-up and your pain improves it is most likely because you are just sore and can continue with training.
There are a few reasons why phishing through pain can be harmful. Firstly as mentioned earlier, pain can be a warning sign of a problem being caused for your body, similar to a check engine light on your dashboard. Although there may be times of pushing through pain to get a performance in, if it becomes part of your training routine it can be detrimental to your body and your progress. Continually ignoring pain is when injuries occur.
Pain also changes the way you move. This is because your body is trying to find a position where it is protected. But this can also affect your movement and therefore directly limit your mobility and diminish your strength. This is especially true for gym-goers when using a barbell. Because trying to push through the pain when you are lifting heavy will limit your development.
So do not ignore the signs with your body when it is in pain. Learn to embrace pain as a chance to fix your body so it can run for a long time safely.
If you suffer from pain and would like an examination and treatment to help relieve your symptoms and improve your movement patterns then contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
For or any athlete or gym-goer, the ability to move pain-free and being mobile on the field is key to performance. Whether you play rugby, football, hurling and weightlifting, these all require muscle strength, flexibility, proper body mechanics and technique to prevent injury and perform your best.
Preventing Pain and Injury
People who are training consistently for a sport or activity are more likely to be stiff and sore after training or a match. This is especially relevant for those who participate in contact sports like rugby. In the clinic, we have a wide range of treatment options, which will help target your muscles and joints to gain more flexibility and decrease painful movement. This can help decrease the risk of injury because it encourages flexibility and movement so you have a better range of motion to throw, catch and run.
Restore Function
Many sports require repetitive motion that can lead to overuse injuries. This is because you need consistent practice at a certain skill to achieve accuracy and distance. This means muscles around the arm and shoulder can become injured. If the muscles and joints can become painful and inflamed you will start to limit the movement to protect the sore joint. While rest is helpful for repetitive motion injury, in the clinic with techniques such as massage therapy can restore normal function, relieve muscle spasms and pain quickly.
Enhance Performance
In the clinic, we will do a full functional screen to see where the body is not moving efficiently and help recognise where we can help improve your movement to help your sports performance.
Treatment methods we use in the clinic are:
Chiropractic adjustments
Mobilisation
Active Release Technique (ART)
Dry needling
Diet advice
Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS)
Laser therapy
If you have niggle or feel tight in certain areas and want to get it sorted, then contact the clinic for a full functional assessment to see where your imbalances are. To do this contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Rugby is one of the most popular sports around today and is one of the toughest on the body. As many people who play rugby know, there are few areas of the body that can avoid getting hit or injured while playing because of how heavy of a contact sport it is. In this blog, we’re going to look at which injuries are the most common, and what actions you can take to avoid them.
Common injuries
It is common for players to get bruises or strains to the muscles when playing rugby. Almost half of rugby injuries are on the muscles but many can be avoided or prevented. So knowing the best ways to do this is crucial to your game management.
Another 25% of injuries are head injuries. With the main head injury being concussions.
Fractures are another common and more serious injury involved in rugby.
Also sprains such as ankle sprains (which are the most common) can occur at ligaments in various areas of the body for example the knee, shoulder and ankle
Risk factors?
Although the injuries mentioned above are the most common injuries in rugby, different people will be at risk in different ways. For example, children are more at risk of fractures than other age groups because bones still developing until you are in your 20’s.
Also, the role you play in the team has an effect on the risk of injury. Hookers and flankers are the most injured players on the team and put themselves in positions where they are more likely to get injured, this is especially relevant in tackling.
Injury prevention
So as we have covered there are many injuries you can pick up during rugby and it is common to think that this comes with the territory of playing the game. But you can reduce the risk of injury and therefore play more minutes on the pitch.
It has been shown that most rugby injuries take place right at the start of the season. This is because people have fallen out of their training routine and are suddenly going from 0 to 100 when returning to play. By doing this the muscles and ligaments are not fully prepared for being back and are at a greater risk of injury. The best thing to do in the offseason is to still train and keep your body at a good level of fitness so you are prepared for the return to the pitch.
Certain muscles and joints are at more risk of injury in certain positions. For example, backs are more likely to injure their knees because of being in a compromised position. If your body isn’t functioning correctly and is tight in certain areas then injuries are more likely to occur. This can occur because if you force the joints or muscles into positions they are not used to then they can be injured whereas if they were loose, mobile and stable, then they have less chance of injury. This is the area we focus on in the clinic. We do this by doing a full functional assessment and then explaining which areas of your body can be worked on to help improve performance and decrease the risk of injury.
If you want to know more about potential causes of injuries or get your pain sorted, then contact the clinic for a full functional assessment and treatment. Contact the clinic today on 0578678904, direct message us on Facebook or book now.
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Spine & Sport, Portlaoise, Laois
Triathlon’s shoulder (also known as swimmer’s shoulder) is a term that is used a lot, and not only in the world of athletes. But what does it really mean? What is involved in creating the pain and what can be done to help alleviate it?
What is triathlon’s shoulder?
The medical terminology for triathlon’s shoulder is “impingement syndrome” which is a fancy term to say that there is a narrowing in the space between the acromion (the most top bony part of the shoulder) and the humeral head (connecting the arm to the shoulder). This narrowing causes a “pinch” in the tendons going through that space: usually the rotator cuff (supraspinatus and subscapularis in the picture below) and/ or the biceps.
What causes it?
It occurs more often in athletes and labourers that perform repetitive motions which can in the long term cause this sort of overuse injury. The typical sports include but are not limited to triathlon, swimming, baseball, volleyball, and racket sports. Jobs involving repeated overhead activities such as painters, carpenters, and electricians are also more at risk.
The recommended hand on approach involves the patient, the chiropractor and the coach (if sport-related injury) to combine their efforts together using:
Manual chiropractic adjustments
ART: Active Release Techniques muscle work
Dry needling
Laser IV therapy
Technique evaluation and correction
Proper rehabilitation exercises
Finding the cause of what initiated the pain is very important in order to avoid reproducing the same injury in the future. This does not mean stopping the activity involved with that movement but rather finding a new pattern that will allow to achieve the same goal without putting yourself at risk for injuries. This process works best with everyone working together as a team to get you out of pain and back into doing whatever activity or work you want or need to do.
The following video shows what a normal shoulder full range of motion should look like. Please only perform this exercise to your own tolerance. This is not a treatment.
If you have been experiencing shoulder pain and would like a consultation, contact the clinic on 057 8678904.
It’s safe to say that the majority of us have a scar of some sort,for example surgical related, c-section scars, appendectomy scars or scars from cuts or broken bones.
What is scar tissue?
Scar tissue forms after injury to the normal cells of the body and it is the body’s natural response to repair any tissue damage. Scars can however generate its own issues once it has laid down, the effects of which is something we come across daily in the clinic.
The effect of scars on the body?
Excessive scarring will create tissue tension throughout the fascial system and limit the mobility within the muscles, tendons, ligaments and ultimately the joints. This results in altered postures and movement patterns. When this happens a cascade of compensatory movement starts elsewhere, creating pain and stiffness, such as neck, shoulder and low back pain.
The assessment and treatment of scars is often a neglected area in the management of musculoskeletal pain and is of upmost importance, particularly in the case of an unproblematic longstanding scar which may be preventing the patient from returning to full non painful movement.
Our Approach?
At the clinic we examine and address scars old and new to improve soft tissue function and movement. All with the intention of improving joint mobility and giving the best foundations for developing core stability in our patients. This is especially important for ladies who have had c-section procedures and want to get fit again after childbirth and reduce low back pain.
If you would like to book an appointment please contact us today for a quick chat to see how we can help!
Yours in Health
The Lawlor Clinic: Portlaoise
Chiropractic | Active Release Techniques (ART®) | Functional Range Conditioning (FRC®)
A common condition we see in the clinic, that is often misdiagnosed is adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulder. It is a debilitating and very painful shoulder condition, but what are some of the warning signs of this condition?
Gradual onset of shoulder pain from no apparent reason: Most of the time frozen shoulder comes on without having had any trauma. Pain is usually the first sign, and in some people if can be so severe that it radiates down the arm.
Gradual loss of shoulder movement: In the first stages of it, the pain can cause people to overlook that their range of motion has slowly started to decrease, most times this will become very apparent upon examination.
Pain at night: not necessarily worse pain at night, but noticeable pain during the nights
Cannot lay on that shoulder: Usually apparent at night as well, the person is not able to put any body weight on that shoulder.
Cannot make sudden movements: Moving the arm is a big challenge, especially with sudden movements, the pain becomes dramatically worse.
Frozen shoulder is very tricky, especially in the early stages, and it often gets misdiagnosed. It can be complicated further by diabetes and thyroid issues. The recovery time can be long, but there are things that can help. Think you may have frozen shoulder? Contact us today to get a thorough examination and see what options are available for you.
Shoulder pain and stiffness is one of the top conditions we see in the clinic. One of the most frustrating shoulder injuries, is frozen shoulder. A stubborn condition that can be difficult to treat, causes loss of motion in the shoulder, and can be quite painful. Typically affects 40- 60 year olds, women are more affected than men, and smoking, diabetes, and thyroid disease can contribute to it.
What you need to know is this:
Treatment of frozen shoulder will not be successful if it focuses only on the surrounding musculature.
With this condition, the capsule of the joint causes the problem, and due to that fact, work must be done on the capsule to get the improvements that you want.
So how can we work on the capsule?
Laser Therapy. Our laser is great for helping to speed up the healing process. It helps frozen shoulder specifically because it can penetrate deeper below the skin surface to get to the capsular level.
Active Release Techniques. (ART®) is great for frozen shoulder because we have specific protocols to work not only on the muscles around the area, but to work on the capsule itself.
Dry Needling. If we are talking about getting down to the capsule, there is not much better than dry needling. We can put the needles directly into the capsule to help stimulate healing in the area.
And how long will it take for this stubborn condition to resolve? With work done on the right structures you can anticipate results in 6-8 visits. If you have frozen shoulder, don’t let just anyone work on it, get in to see someone who knows how to get to the root of the problem and get the results you want.
Yours in Health,
Lawlor Clinic
Chiropractic | Active Release Techniques (ART®)| Golf & Sports Injuries
Shoulder pain is one of the top conditions we see at the clinic. It can be tricky to distinguish between the different conditions in their early stages. One of the most common that gets misdiagnosed is adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder. When there are so many overlapping symptoms between conditions, how can you tell them apart? A thorough history and examination for starters, and here are 5 other things we look for to help identify frozen shoulder: 1.Gradual onset of pain from no apparent cause– having pain in the shoulder, but haven’t done anything? Pain is usually the first sign, and in some people if can be so severe that it radiates down the arm.
2.Gradual loss of shoulder movement– in the first stages of it, the pain can cause people to overlook that their range of motion has slowly started to decrease. During examination it will become obvious that the person has lost motion in the affected shoulder.
3.Pain at night– not necessarily worse pain at night, but noticeable pain during the night.
4.Cannot lay on that shoulder– putting any weight on that shoulder is excruciating.
5.Cannot make sudden movements– moving the arm is a big challenge with frozen shoulder, but sudden or sharp movements typically dramatically increase the pain.
Frozen shoulder is very tricky, especially in the early stages, and it often gets misdiagnosed. It can be complicated further by diabetes and other health issues. The recovery time can be long, but there are things that can help. Think you may have frozen shoulder? Contact us today to see what options are available for you.
Yours in Health,
The Lawlor Clinic
Chiropractic | Sports Injuries | Active Release Techniques (ART®)
