Back out of alignment(Trapezius issue)

To Need a Woman

I've got an issue with my back.. some part of my trapezius, on the left side of my spine. Happened on the 8th of January during a sleep-in, when within the space of an hour I must have slept funny on it. Turning of the head, and various movements involving my left arm, were the main things that caused pain.

Saw the physiotherapist the next day, and he said my spine was thrown out of alignment, and that the pain caused by it was due to it forcing against some nerve. He said that he had forced my spine somewhat back into position with the various back manipulations he did. To my surprise, he gave the impression it wasn't a big deal, and that if I did the exercises that I mightn't need to see him again. It didn't seem to improve. I saw him again & I asked him if he'd re-aligned it further, and he said yes. Due to various reasons I wasn't able to see another physio since then. After that, it seems to heal slower than expected.

Although it's improved a lot, it seems to have perhaps healed incorrectly. Because sometimes I think it's better, but then I might play guitar/piano and I get pain again. Or if I'm in a position that lowers my my chin close to my chest, I can get pain that can last quite a while. And depending on how sleep on it, I might get a few minutes pain in the morning. I don't get the impression that thermacare heat packs, or even the exercises will work at this point.

Had difficultly contacting the original physio, but managed to get a text from him saying that perhaps acupuncture or further spine realignment might be needed. I guess acupuncture is a kind of hope for the best kind of thing. Or maybe it's a chiropractor that I need. I've managed to book an appointment with the college physio for Monday morning, in the new city that I'm based in. I'd like to know if anyone else has had similar experiences or recommendations. I'd also like to know what questions I should be asking the new physio I get.

fits

I have something similar right now. But its caused by repetitive strain and bad posture. Im not sure what physio means by spine realignment. Definitely do not go to a chiro. Find a decent physio. Focus on avoiding further inflammation.

To Need a Woman

Only recently did I consider that this might be related to the fact that I play guitar. My physiotherapist only recently realised that one of the things that might be causing the pain is the fact that my left infraspinatus muscle isn't as strongly attached to the back of my rib cage as it should be. This muscle attaches the shoulder blade to the the rib cage. He said it seemed to be 'gliding' and demonstrated that he could stick his thumb in further under the left shoulder blade than the right one. He gave me some exercises to correct it.

He didn't seem to suggest that it was from guitar playing per say. However I'm thinking that it mightn't be a coincidence that it's on my left side, and that maybe bad posture over the years while holding barre chords. I tried looking it up online, but I don't think I come across anyone who described anything similar to my particular condition. Just came across a few people who had various complaints about their shoulders.

I do imagine that people who have problems mainly get them on the left side if they're right handed. Has anyone else have any similar experiences??

thehamo

Infraspinatus muscle has nothing to do with keeping your shoulder "strongly attached to your rib cage" If anything it would be serratus anterior that would do that. However, you dont want your shoulder blade to be strongly attached to your rib cage, it needs to move about and be mobile to have proper mobility in the shoulder. It is all part of the shoulder joint If you are saying that your shoulder blade is "winging" as such, i.e. coming up too far, it could be caused ( in theory im not saying this is your issue) by a weak serratus anterior muscle and a tight pec minor.

Did your physio specifically tell you that your infraspinatus should be keeping your shoulder blade tacked down to your rib cage

To Need a Woman

thehamo wrote: »

Infraspinatus muscle has nothing to do with keeping your shoulder "strongly attached to your rib cage" If anything it would be serratus anterior that would do that. However, you dont want your shoulder blade to be strongly attached to your rib cage, it needs to move about and be mobile to have proper mobility in the shoulder. It is all part of the shoulder joint If you are saying that your shoulder blade is "winging" as such, i.e. coming up too far, it could be caused ( in theory im not saying this is your issue) by a weak serratus anterior muscle and a tight pec minor.

Did your physio specifically tell you that your infraspinatus should be keeping your shoulder blade tacked down to your rib cage

Thanks for your reply

I don't think he did. I couldn't remember the name of the muscle, and when I looked up the muscles of the back, the infraspinatus seemed to be one of the few of them in that area that I hadn't heard of, so therefore I thought that it was it. I also heard him mention something about the rhombus, which I'm guessing lies underneath the trapezius. Googling it now makes sense, as the so called push up plus(which I do against the wall) is for the serratus.

He also gave me this one as an alternative, which I think is more straight forward. I just do it with the left hand. Doing it with 2,5 kg at the moment which seems light, but since I think it's so important to keep the arms perfectly straight, I don't think I'll go heavier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SBqRKZinFg