Massage Therapy for Shoulder Pain:

Went to a massage therapy seminar on how to work with shoulder problems. It was a good seminar that served as review for techniques that I had learned before. You always pick up something new or are reminded of something you used to do and forgot about. As far as the shoulders, it was a strong reminder that where pain is felt isn't necessarily where the problem is.

For example, many people will have soreness or pain in between the shoulderblades. However, many times the cause is related to too much tightness in the muscles that attach to the front of the shoulder, and too much stretch to the muscles in back. The muscles being stretched are actually weak and need to be strengthened.

This gets back to the balanced body approach where you need to focus on good posture and make sure that the muscles on the front and back are working correctly. Because most of us work with our hands out in front of our body, whether typing, driving, or whatever, these muscles in front are prone to becoming tight and throwing this balance off.

So you need to be sure that you are doing something to keep these muscles flexible, while ensuring that you keep the muscles on the opposite side of the body strong.

This should also serve as a reminder that just because you feel pain somewhere, this might be the effects and not the cause. I have worked on many who complained of one-sided back or hip pain/tightness, when I checked the other side to compare, was just as tight or worse.

They may have been compensating for the side that wasn't moving properly and caused pain on the other side. Problems can also occur at another joint on down the line.

Such as an elbow problem that stems from a shoulder restriction, where there is a loss of movement in the shoulder, the elbow can become stressed over time, as it seeks to pick up the slack (lost shoulder motion).