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Sore Shoulders
I saw a new client yesterday. One of her friends is a massage therapist who was recently in the courses Full Circle taught in Boulder, CO. Her friend practiced on her and this client felt that SMRT was a technique that would help her with her issues. Since she lives north of Denver, she decided to visit me personally.
Her friend was trained in SMRT: Lower Extremities, and her main issue is in her left shoulder. Her pattern is common, painful, and difficult to help. Her scapula has moved anterior and her clavicle has moved posterior. Her left coracoid process is “hooked” under her left clavicle. All the muscles with attachments to the coracoid process (i.e., biceps brachii, coracobrachialis, and pectoralis minor), as well as the ligaments attaching to the coracoid (i.e., the coracohumeral, coracoclavicular, and coracoacromial ligaments), have tightened in response to the bone position. This tightening of the musculature and the ligaments is not a contraction or a hypertonicity. It is a gripping due to instability.
During palpation, the tissues simply felt tight. I systematically released each of the muscles and ligaments attached to the coracoid. Her coracoid process began to move posterior. By working with the sternoclavicular and acromioclavicular joint, we began to see her left clavicle move anterior into a more natural position. I palpated further and discovered her humerus and scapula, while both felt mobile, always moved together. To regain independent movement I began to release the glenohumeral joint capsule. This was the final piece of the puzzle, and as the humerus and scapula moved more independently, the coracoid and clavicle position shifted again.
When the client got off the table, she was unsure of whether her shoulder was better or not. She said the muscles felt sore. She will be back next week and I will be waiting to see if the compensation pattern landed in another part of her body, crept back into the shoulder, or let go completely in the days following the work. I would love to see all of you in our final SMRT: Shoulder & Axilla course of 2014 in Wichita, KS, November 9th.
To register please go to https://efullcircle.com/spontaneous-muscle-release-technique-shoulder-axilla/
