Shoulder Pain responds to Neck Exercise

An old friend recently told me about her Physical Therapy for a Rotator Cuff Repair. She stated she had received 35 Physical Therapist visits, and her co-pay for each visit was $40. Her total cost out of pocket was $1,400.  She was compliant with all of her home exercise program, but she never gained back her full range of motion for her operated shoulder. She reported being diagnosed with frozen shoulder several months after surgery, during the process of receiving Physical Therapy since she was still quite stiff in her shoulder. Finally, she was discharged from rehab because her surgeon and Physical Therapist did not seen any further rehab potential.

As a McKenzie MDT practicing Physical Therapist, of course the first thing I did was assess her neck. I established baselines, which showed her right shoulder flexion (forward elevation) was 60%. She was lacking the ability to reach overhead. She reported having neck fusion surgery several years ago for disk problems in her lower neck. I showed her how to do neck retractions as an exercise, and she did 3 sets of 10 neck retractions in sitting. Then she stood up and we re-checked her baseline, which was active flexion of the right shoulder. Her new range of motion for right shoulder flexion was 90%.

To clarify, her ability to raise her arm overhead improved from 60% to 90% within two minutes of doing a neck exercise. Her next words were: "You helped me more in a few minutes than 35 visits of regular Physical Therapy!"

McKenzie MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis & Therapy) is a method of assessing spine and joint disorders in order to determine the source of symptoms and the mechanical (movement) solution. It is not uncommon for shoulder, arm, or hand pain to be originating from pinched nerves in the neck. Similarly, pinched nerves in the low back often cause leg symptoms in the high, thigh, knee, lower leg, foot, or toes.

#PainTalks  #PTfirst

How Pain Talks contributes to a successful business

1. Leadership: Pain Talks helps you to develop a plan for decreasing overhead costs associated with work injuries.

2. Culture: Pain Talks promotes a culture of safety.

3. Processes: Pain Talks helps to develop processes customized to keep work injuries at a minimum, which keeps your worker's comp insurance rates low.

4. Goals: Pain Talks helps with your financial and growth goals by lowering your healthcare and insurance costs.

5. Employee Development: Pain Talks teaches your employees proper ergonomics, postures, and body mechanics so they stay productive.

6. Passion: Pain Talks keeps your staff healthy so they can continue to work with passion for your company.

7. Effective Management: Pain Talks helps your management to be proactive in the costly area of healthcare.

8. Organization Moving in Same Direction: Safety is one of the foundations of a successful business. It is an undercurrent below your day to day activities.

9. Minimal Employee Turnover: Pain Talks improves employee engagement. "Engaged employees are 46% more productive" (Psychology Today).


"Successful businesses and teams include: Leadership. Culture. Processes. Goals. Employee Development. Passion. Effective Management. Organization moving in the same direction. Not having a lot of employee turnover." (Tyler Robertson).

A More Efficient and Cost-Effective Form of Healthcare

Soft tissue injuries and musculoskeletal disorders are most effectively treated by a Physical Therapist. So why does it take so long to get patients to Physical Therapy to receive treatment? Most patients see multiple physicians and receive multiple other treatments before even receiving an order for Physical Therapy, but in the end they eventually are referred to P.T. because the other treatments are not fixing the source of the pain.

There is a better way!--Physical Therapy first (#PTfirst)! The military has seen the value in this concept, so if a current soldier in the US Army starts to have knee pain, he sees the Physical Therapist (P.T.) first. The P.T. does an assessment and decides if he needs Physical Therapy, imaging, medication, or a referral to a specialist. If he needs therapy and gets better with P.T., then no other referrals, treatments or MD visits are required. It was the most efficient and cost-effective form of healthcare because it was assessed first by the most appropriate medical professional.

Some large corporations have learned the value of Physical Therapy first for their employees and dependents. Michelin is a perfect example, and they are setting the standard for optimal healthcare for treatment of soft tissue injuries. Michelin contracts Physical Therapists to be on-site for prevention of work injuries and for rapid assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. Healthcare costs are sliced by utilizing Physical Therapy first. Reach out to me at www.PainTalks.org to find out more!