Saturday, 9 August 2014

Tuesday, 5 August 2014

Scapular dyskinesis guidelines



Abnormal movement of the shoulder blade (scapula) is known as scapular dyskinesis. This occurs in a variety of shoulder problems. It is an important sign of an underlying shoulder disorder and a guide to shoulder rehabilitation.

Based on PhysioPedia, intervention is aimed at reducing posterior capsule and pectoralis minor restriction and restoring periscapular mm balance through exercises promoting early and increased serratus anterior, lower, and middle trapezius activation while minimizing upper trapezius activity.
  • Manual gr 4 mobilization to reduce posterior capsule tension, cross-body stretch.
  • Manual stretching and soft tissue mobilization to decrease pec minor tension (cadaveric studies imply that a position of 150 degrees elevation with 30 degrees scapular retraction is optimal).
  • Exercises of sidelying forward flexion, external rotation, prone extension, and prone horizontal abduction to strengthen middle and lower trapezius over upper trapezius.
  • Quadruped and variable push-up positions to activate serratus anterior.
Here is a very nice guideline for treating scapular dyskinesis, offered by the Beth Israel Deaconess Center (a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital).

Saturday, 2 August 2014

Scapulohumeral rhythm



In the healthy shoulder, a natural kinematics rhythm/timing exists between glenohumeral ABD and scapulothoracic lateral rotation. After 30 degrees of abduction this rhythm is 2:1, meaning that for each 3 degrees of abduction, 2 degrees occur in the glenohumeral joint and 1 degree occurs in the scapulothoracic joint.

This very nice video and article by Physio-Pedia makes it very clear.

Wednesday, 23 July 2014

Physiopedia: open access research



More and more research is being brought out from behind cost ineffective paywalls and being made available at low cost or for free. Open access journals make it easy for us to access new research and are listed below: