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The Manual Touch Physical Therapy

Whole Body Approach

Reclaim movement, function and life
For information, call: 847-541-7600
or email: info@themanualtouch.com
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9 Tips to Avoid Shoulder Pain

July 10, 2018 By Denise Schwartz Leave a Comment

Betty had constant shoulder pain. Her shoulder hurt doing just about anything — opening doors, sleeping, putting on her seatbelt, and even while sitting in a movie theater. As Betty is 81 years old, she and her doctor did not want her to have surgery for her torn rotator cuff.

Betty came to therapy regularly for about four months. She received exercises and instructions on how to go about her life without aggravating her shoulder. At times during her therapy, we both thought she might need to have surgery. Thankfully, after 8 weeks of therapy she began to get progressively better until she became pain-free and was able to enjoy her life again. When I spoke to Betty a year after she left physical therapy, she was still doing great. Read Betty’s testimonial here.

After having shoulder pain for a year, Jodi, a 53 year old pediatric physical therapist, realized she could not get rid of her shoulder pain on her own. Sometimes even health professionals need an objective eye from another health professional to figure out what’s going on.

Being a pediatric physical therapist is a physically demanding job that can take its toll on your body. We assessed how Jodi used her body when working with kids and we found that Jodi was so good at stabilizing her core, keeping her body very rigid, that she was overusing her arms to assist her patients. I instructed her how to use her great core stability to her advantage in order to not overuse her arms. In addition, she was given exercises to integrate her body with her shoulder as well as manual therapy. Jodi is now back at work, doing yoga and weight lifting pain-free. Read Jodi’s testimonial here.

Shoulder pain can be quite debilitating as we use our arms all the time.

Shoulder-Anatomy

The primary shoulder joint is a connection between the shoulder blade (scapula) and arm bone (humerus) and can move in multiple directions, making it prone to injury as well as wear and tear.

The primary muscles that control shoulder movement is the rotator cuff, a group of 4 muscles that can easily be strained or torn. The upper back and core muscles act to stabilize your body so you can move your arm safely from a stable position.

Other common shoulder pain issues include:

  • Rotator cuff tear
  • Labrum tear
  • Dislocation or subluxing joint
  • Arthritis, degeneration, or spur
  • Frozen shoulder
  • Bursitis
  • Fracture of any of the bones

Things you can do to alleviate shoulder pain

Here are nine easy tips that will help you protect your shoulder from injury and prevent pain if you already have a shoulder issue.

1.  Pulling open a door – Hold your bent arm close to your body and step back instead of pulling with your arm

2. Pushing a door open – Hold your bent arms close to body, push door open stepping forward in order to use your body

3. Putting on a seatbelt – Hold your arms close to body, turn your body at your hips to reach for seatbelt, turn your body at your hips to the other direction, which will pull belt down towards buckle, push buckle in by bending at your hips to use your body to apply force through your arms.

4. Sleeping – Lay on whichever side doesn’t increase your pain, sleep with a pillow in front of you to hug with your arm.

5. Putting on a shirt or coat – Put the painful arm in the sleeve first.

6. Taking off a shirt or coat – Pull out pain-free arm first.

7. Reaching across a table – Rest arms on table, hinge at hips to reach with body and not through your shoulder.

8. Talking on the phone – Use a headset to avoid elbow, shoulder and neck pain.

9. Throughout your day – Avoid all movements that cause pain!

10 Shoulder Pain Tips PDF

Click here to download our PDF guide: 10 Tips for Shoulder Pain.

Want to take care of that shoulder pain so you can get back to doing the things you love to do? Give us a call at 847-541-7600 or email: info@themanualtouch.com.

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Real Stories, Shoulder Pain Tagged With: patient stories, shoulder pain

About Denise Schwartz

Denise Schwartz, PT, IMT, C is the owner of The Manual Touch Physical Therapy. For over 30 years, she has been helping patients reduce pain and improve quality of life using a whole body approach. Denise specializes in chronic pain, spinal conditions, running/triathlon injuries and prevention, balance/vestibular disorders, functional exercise, kinesiotaping, and various non-traditional and traditional & manual therapies. Contact Denise at denise@themanualtouch.com

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Testimonials

Denise gave me confidence that she knew what was wrong and what to do about it, and under her care I quickly felt better and am now on the road to better fitness. She has a feel for what’s causing what, and is good technically and also good at making you feel cared for.
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Denise has worked on areas of severe pain and has diminished them to a tolerable level.
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The physical therapy I received at The Manual Touch PT helped reduce my sciatica pain to a manageable level in just a few sessions.  The exercises I was given strengthened and trained my muscles to prevent further back problems allowing me to return to playing basketball.
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I needed help.  Denise and the manual touch provided the best customized, targeted therapy I could have found.  She put my torn knee back together, straightened my back, worked with me to regain the mobility I’d lost due to a neck injury, even had me doing dance steps I’d not done in 60 years.  I didn’t think I could do this; she showed me I could.
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I can honestly say that Denise was the first physical therapist to listen to my story.   She has demonstrated more patience and compassion than any other therapist that I’ve ever met. For the past 8 years, I have been symptomatic with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a rare genetic condition which affects the connective tissue throughout my body. As a result of this disorder I deal with ongoing severe acute and chronic pain and a variety of other rare overlapping conditions such as thoracic outl… Read more
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I had constant neck pain from a car accident 2 years ago.  I went through PT somewhere else without any good results.  I then was recommended to come to The Manual Touch PT. At my first appointment I could tell that Denise was able to get right to the point of my problems.  After numerous therapy sessions I felt such a relief of my constant pain.  It is better now, I can sleep better and use less pain medication.  My goal is to avoid surgery and I feel hopeful that will be possible.
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Denise Schwartz at Manual Touch is a marvelous diagnostician and therapist. During the past few years, I’ve sought out Denise’s care for various physical limitations. I am continually amazed by her ability to determine my discomfort’s cause as well as by the effectiveness of the exercises she recommends to ease my pain. She also knows how to best manipulate my aching joints to bring relief. I can whole-heartedly recommend Denise because she is a skilled, proficient, compassionate professional. … Read more
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I saw Denise for ongoing heal pain as well as an athletic back pain injury. My back pain is gone and my heal pain (which I’ve had for several years) is significantly better so that it doesn’t interfere with activity. The exercises Denise gave me have strengthened my core and will prevent future injuries. Not only that, she provides personalized and attentive treatment the entire visit (much more personalized care than traditional PT centers). I highly recommend Denise!
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Excellent, professional assessment and treatment for an older woman who’s had lots of failed therapy. Kind and compassionate and caring! Thanks.
Read More
When I started to work with Denise I had shoulder and lower back pain.  She taught me various exercises along with posture that resulted in significant reduction in the pain.  Also, significantly improved my balance.  Her massage therapy greatly reduced the sensitivity to pressure that was caused by my open-heart surgery.
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Our Mission


We believe all body systems and mental/emotional health are connected. We take a whole body approach to discover why patients are not healing and what were the initial causes of their current symptoms. 

Our mission is to use this whole body approach to help patients heal and overcome pain and limitations, resulting in improved quality of life. We also aim to promote wellness in our communities through ongoing education. 
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Testimonials

Denise gave me confidence that she knew what was wrong and what to do about it, and under her care I quickly felt better and am now on the road to better fitness. She has a feel for what’s causing what, and is good technically and also good at making… Read more
Denise has worked on areas of severe pain and has diminished them to a tolerable level.
The physical therapy I received at The Manual Touch PT helped reduce my sciatica pain to a manageable level in just a few sessions.  The exercises I was given strengthened and trained my muscles to prevent further back problems allowing me to return… Read more
I needed help.  Denise and the manual touch provided the best customized, targeted therapy I could have found.  She put my torn knee back together, straightened my back, worked with me to regain the mobility I’d lost due to a neck injury, even ha… Read more
I can honestly say that Denise was the first physical therapist to listen to my story.   She has demonstrated more patience and compassion than any other therapist that I’ve ever met. For the past 8 years, I have been symptomatic with Ehlers Danlo… Read more
I had constant neck pain from a car accident 2 years ago.  I went through PT somewhere else without any good results.  I then was recommended to come to The Manual Touch PT. At my first appointment I could tell that Denise was able to get right … Read more
Denise Schwartz at Manual Touch is a marvelous diagnostician and therapist. During the past few years, I’ve sought out Denise’s care for various physical limitations. I am continually amazed by her ability to determine my discomfort’s cause as well a… Read more
I saw Denise for ongoing heal pain as well as an athletic back pain injury. My back pain is gone and my heal pain (which I’ve had for several years) is significantly better so that it doesn’t interfere with activity. The exercises Denise gave me have… Read more
Excellent, professional assessment and treatment for an older woman who’s had lots of failed therapy. Kind and compassionate and caring! Thanks.
When I started to work with Denise I had shoulder and lower back pain.  She taught me various exercises along with posture that resulted in significant reduction in the pain.  Also, significantly improved my balance.  Her massage therapy greatly r… Read more
Read More

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The information provided on The Manual Touch Physical Therapy website is for personal and noncommercial use only. The resources and content provided should be used for educational purposes only and not as a substitute for appropriate medical care. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort please seek medical attention.