| Body Region: | Anterior Shoulder / Deltoids |
| Conditions Associated with TPs: | Shoulder pain, Rotator Cuff Syndrome |
| General Symptoms: | Shoulder pain, upper arm weakness, arm pain |
| Common Causal Activities: | Overuse or Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) or subsequent to trauma |
| Anatomy Picture: |  |
| Self Care: | The fingertips in a hooked position with the other hand pulling the treating hand into the muscle is normally adequate. Treat the full range of the shoulder from near the neck, the front, back and top of the shoulder itself and the upper side, front and back of the arm. A hook tool is good for this. Often the pectoralis (chest) muscles will be involved as well. See Detailed Instructions. Standing against the wall with a tennis ball will work for some of the region and works better when standing then when lying down. Part of this area (the front of the shoulder and pectoralis muscles) can be treated while lying down on your side. Place the treating elbow down on the bed or floor with the back of the wrist positioned under the chin and the thumb tip as a straight tool toward the shoulder. Now place the shoulder over the fingertips so that the TPs are pressed down into the fingertips which are locked under the chin. Gravity pulls the TPs down onto the thumb tip. |
| Therapist Care: | A single or double thumb flat position is usually best. If your hands are large enough and the shoulder is small enough you can use a thumb and finger pinch through the shoulder and out to the deltoid muscle. |
| Special Notes: | Because of the muscles involved in shoulder movement form one of the largest mytotic groups (muscles surrounding a joint and involved in ALL it's varied movements) there will often be referred pain and secondary TPs up into the cervical region and down as far as the forearm. Because theses muscles are involved in bringing the arms forward for driving and typing TPs will often develop in them from these activities. |
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