Shoulder Theraband Exercises: Improve Posture And Reduce Neck Pain

Muscle imbalances are common in the upper body.

Stretching or addressing ergonomic setup alone doesn’t seem to be effective in giving much relief.

However, a systematic review (Chen 2018) showed that by strengthening the smaller stabiliser muscles around the shoulder can relieve pressure in your neck and help manage your symptoms effectively in the long run.

Here’s 5 Theraband exercises that can be done at home, gym or when you’re traveling that will help provide support for your neck and shoulder.

Aim for 2 to 3 sessions per week and it may take 8 to 12 weeks of training to adequately build your capacity and notice a positive difference.

Bonus tip, the research also showed general fitness training was effective in reducing neck pain in office workers. So make sure you’re getting your minimum of 150 mins per week, (as recommended by the Word Health Organisation).

List of exercises:

• T’s

• Shrugs

• External rotation

• Serratus punch

• Rowing

If you’d like a personalised assessment of your posture and management plan set up for you, please use our easy online booking system below to schedule an appointment.

What is the best treatment for a rotator cuff tear?

The shoulder is an AMAZING joint! 🤾‍♂️🏊‍♀️🏋️‍♀️

It needs a balance of mobility and dynamic muscular stability.

Unfortunately, shoulders do get sensitive and painful sometimes and getting to the root cause can be a little tricky.

Some interesting thoughts here from Professor Jeremy Lewis, who compares the outcomes of surgery vs a progressive strengthening program in people with atraumatic rotator cuff tears.

The results may surprise you 🤸‍♀️😊

Free Your Upper Back And Shoulders

Stiffness in the upper back and shoulders can develop over time, especially if you have an office based job. This can lead to compensations and eventually pain in the muscles around the neck and lower back.

Below you'll find a short (less than 3 minutes) set of exercises - that you can do once or twice per day to keep your upper back and shoulders healthy and mobile 👇

This would be really helpful for anyone who spends time sitting in front of computer or driving around a lot.

Movement is Medicine!

We each have our own strengths and weaknesses, so getting a personal assessment / set of exercises from your Physio would be best, but this would be a pretty good start.

Let me know how you go in the comments and please tag anyone you know who might benefit 🙌

The exercises include:

• push-ups

• cat-cow with hands on foam roller

• childs pose lats stretch using foam roller

• thread the needle using a foam roller

• pecs stretch on the foam roller

• foam roller upper back

Get To Know Your Muscles: Latissimus Dorsi

What are the lats?

If you’ve ever experienced ongoing upper back or neck pain / stiffness there’s a fairly chance you’ve had some issues with your lats.

The lats are the biggest (and most interesting) muscle in the upper body, as they have attachments to the upper and lower back, the front of the shoulder and have nerve supply from the neck, so they have a huge influence on your overall posture and spinal movement.

The anatomy of the Lats - they are like the ‘wings’ of our body

What are the symptoms of tight lats?

Surprisingly, tight lats can contribute to poor posture, as they connect your upper back to the front of your shoulder, causing you to adopt a rounded shoulders position.

Often we think of needing to strengthen the lats for good posture, but they can actually pull the shoulders too far down and rotate them forward when imbalanced.

When overly tight, the lats produce pain in the mid-upper back between the shoulder blades.

The pain can be felt as an constant, annoying ongoing upper back ache, that in generally unresponsive to stretching or change of position.

The pain doesn’t normally kick in until the there is significant tightness in the lat muscle, that generally has built up over many months or years, due to repetitive movement patterns or poor posture.

The person with ongoing upper back or neck pain often has tried various unsuccessful treatment methods applied directly to the area of referred pain rather than to its source (in the muscle itself).

Referred pain may also extend down the back of the shoulder and down the inside of the arm (see picture above).

How the lats get tight:

• poor posture (sitting or driving a lot)

• going too hard at the gym e.g. lat pull down machine, chin ups

• over many years of swimming , pulling through the water in freestyle

• rock-climbing

• gardening - pressing down to twist out weeds

• cycling - gripping on too tightly on the handlebars

• driving a car with no power steering

• wearing tight bras that compress over the muscle

• repetitively pulling down with the hands from overhead position

Tight lats - quick assessment:

An assessment from an experienced Physiotherapist would be the most reliable to determine if you have over-active lat muscles.

A quick test you can do yourself is a squat with your arms overhead. Try and squat as deep as you can, keeping your heels on the ground. If you can keep your arms upright your lats are probably ok (pic a), but if they drop forward or your feel stiffness in your back (pic b), you most likely have a lat issue.

Pic a = Good squat - arms stay upright and parallel with shins

Pic b = Tight lats and upper back - unable to keep arms upright in line with shins

How Physiotherapy Can Help:

• perform a movement screening to identify the contributing factors

• perform dry needling to the lat muscles to provide a fast, effective release

• provided a personalised exercise program to maintain mobility and balance in the muscles

Stretches to help keep your lats mobile:

Lats stretch

Sit your hips back towards your ankles with your arms on the roller. Breathe in through the nose and expand the lower ribs. As you breathe out, gently sit the hips back further and lengthen the arms away. You should feel a nice stretch though the back of the shoulders and lower back.

Try 30 seconds straight ahead and then 30 seconds on each side. To stretch the left side. push the hips back to the left with the arms on the right side of the foam roller.

Lats Trigger Point Release

Lie on your side and roll up and down along the outer part of your shoulder blade. If you feel a sensitive spot, breathe and hold the pressure for around 30-60 seconds until the trigger point releases.

Tips to keep your lats working well:

• gradually increase your weights at the gym, don’t try and do too much too soon

• if you are a swimmer, incorporate regular stretching to maintain the flexibility

• if you are an office worker, try a standing stretch by reaching up to the ceiling and bending to the side (the Merv Hughes Stretch)

If you still experience pain in your lats, shoulder, neck, arms or thoracic spine then come in for an assessment and treatment with your Kinfolk Adelaide Physiotherapist.

Top 10 Muscles That Respond To Dry Needling

Top 10 Muscles That Respond To Dry Needling

One of the benefits of dry needling is it's a very precise way of releasing a muscle. 

Compared to massage, getting a twitch response out of a muscle gives a very predictable and effective release, deep from within the muscle belly.

In this post, I wanted to give you some insight into some of the best responding muscles that dry needling can help with.

If you want to learn more about exactly how dry needling works, please read more here.

Of course dry needling can be done to any muscle.   The following post is to give you some insight into some commonly treated muscles that give especially good 'bang for your buck'.

*Please also see some important notes at the end of the post.

1.  Deltoids

In terms of shoulder pain, the deltoid is a very under-rated muscle.

The deltoids include three sections (anterior, middle and posterior) that sit superficially around the shoulder.  The deltoid is involved in almost all shoulder movement.

The way the it wraps around the shoulder makes it a very difficult muscle to stretch and it is prone to building up tension.

Trigger points and knots often develop in the deltoid that can give rise to shoulder pain (see pic above). 

This pain can be quite severe and unrelenting and stubborn to usual treatment.

A common history is over-doing some push-ups and waking up the next day with pain in the front of the shoulder. 

Or someone who has done a lot of heavy over-head weights (Cross fitters...!) over the years and doesn't do much stretching. 

Sometimes it's the last small movement and final straw the breaks the camels back so to speak.

Dry needling the deltoid often gets some powerful twitch responses. 

Expect soreness and a dead arm feeling for a few days before things settle down.

2. Latissimus Dorsi

The latissimus dorsi is a fascinating muscle. 

It has attachments to the hip, shoulder, upper back, lower back and rib cage - and that makes it the largest muscle in the upper body.

Tightness in the latissimus dorsi has been shown to be an important cause of chronic shoulder pain and chronic back (especially upper back) pain.

Because of its extensive attachments, it can be another difficult muscle to stretch effectively. 

Dry needling gets in there and gets the job done.

If your lats are tight, you will need to add in some regular childs pose and over-head stretching, in addition to foam rolling your upper back.

3. TFL / ITB

The fastest way to release your ITB ? 

Release the under-rated small muscle that attaches to it, called the Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL).

The TFL is a small but powerful hip flexor and usually tight from excessively sitting, walking, running and cycling.

When overly tight, can contribute to knee pain by causing mis-tracking of the kneecap. 

Combine dry needling with some specific gluteal activation and you will be well and truly on the way to saying goodbye to your ITB pain and tightness. 

If you look after your TFL well, there's a good chance that excruiating ITB foam rolling will not be required.  Happy days :-)

4. Glutes

One of the cool things about dry needling is that we can access deep points in a muscle that you would otherwise be unable to access.  

The gluteus medius is an interesting muscle that can be dysfunctional in chronic lower back pain, hip pain and knee pain.  

Dry needling can immediately 're-set' the glutes and allow for a graduated re-loading program. 

Long-term, a well functioning gluteus medius will protect your hips, knees, ankles and lower back. 

5. Calf - Gastrocnemius & Soleus

Calf muscle tension and limited flexibility is especially common in the modern age. 

When tight, the calf muscles are prone to cramping and eventually tearing.

Deep tissue massage can be effective, but can be very painful, bordering on intolerable.

Dry needling to the calf muscles, whilst intense, is quicker and more effective in its release. 

Expect some treatment soreness for 1-2 days post-needling.

And don't forget to re-build your calf capacity with an appropriate strengthening program.

6. Upper Trapezius

Much like the calf above, the upper traps can be loaded with tightness. 

Causes can include poor posture, lack of physical activity and prolonged stress. 

Heavy handed massage can stir up more irritation in the muscle.

Dry needling is more like using a sniper approach - with a few direct releases, you can release the traps and get the blood flowing much more effectively and deeply. 

This study recommended dry needling for immediate pain reduction in upper body myofascial trigger point dysfunction.

Using heat on the traps via a wheat pack is really helpful, especially in the evening before bed.

Also make sure you are getting enough down time as chronic upper traps tension is a sign of sympathetic over-activity.

7. Infraspinatus

The infraspinatus is a sneaky little muscle that sits behind your shoulder blade. 

It is often weak and gets overloaded when using your arm and shoulder.  

When the infraspinatus gets tight, you'll often feel pain in the front and deep part of your shoulder.

Dry needling de-activates the trigger points quickly, but be prepared for a dead arm for a few hours.

Don't forget to re-build with some simple strengthening exercises with a thera-band.

8. Wrist Extensors

Tennis elbow is a very common condition that primarily affects the extensor tendons on the outside of the forearm. 

The pain often drags on for months and years due to a very poor blood supply in the elbow tendons.

The research shows that dry needling releases a very specific chemical, known as Platelet-Derived Growth Factor (PDGF), that produces a strong increase in blood flow into the muscle.

In effect, blood is a healing agent, bringing oxygen and critical healing chemicals to the damaged cells.

No other technique that I know of is capable of doing this.

9. Biceps

When was the last time you stretched your bicep muscle?  

Another muscle that gets used a lot, and builds up a great deal of tension. 

You'd be surprised how that niggling pain in the front of your shoulder improves after your biceps is released through dry needling.

10. Hamstrings

Tight hamstrings are pretty common. 

Stretching them normally does more harm than good (see here).  

Dry needling produces a quick and effective release.

Specific strengthening exercises that lengthen the muscle gives the best long term solution. 

Conclusion

Dry needling certainly isn't for everyone, but it can be a very effective and powerful treatment in the right context. 

Two quick notes:

1.  There are different types of dry needling and this blog refers to the type that activates a local twitch response. 

This is very different to acupuncture and dry needling where the needles are inserted superficially and left in for 20 minutes as the practitioner leaves the room. 

2.  Dry needling is always used as part of comprehensive treatment approach. 

This includes assessing your thoughts and beliefs about your injury, movement patterning and general health considerations. 

Specific exercises targeted towards your individual needs will help give you the best long-term outcome.

If you have any questions about dry needling - please feel free to give us a call 1300 657 813.

If you'd like to schedule a dry needling session and start feeling better straight away, please book online below: