The supraspinatus muscle is a muscle located on the top of each shoulder blade. One of the four rotator cuff muscles, this particular muscle helps initiate the abduction motion of the shoulder. Extensively, the supraspinatus muscle is the first muscle engaged when moving the hand away on the side of the body.

Supraspinatus Muscle – Right

Due to its position and the high intensity activity in the area the muscle is extremely susceptible to injury, therefore athletes and people who have to do a lot of physical activity should be careful when it comes to this particular area of the body. Certain activities can put a strain on the shoulder and they should be avoided or at least done in a way which keeps the exhaustion to a minimum.

When it comes to injuring the supraspinatus muscle, some activities may pose a higher risk than others. For example, activities such as: lifting or carrying heavy objects or even swimming for a longer time. It is estimated that around 25 % of those who are over 50 years old and about 20% of those who are over 20 years of age suffer injuries in this particular area of their body.

The common symptoms of an injured supraspinatus muscle are noticeable and people should address them immediately. Those who experience pain during night-time or while resting along with pain, and soreness when lifting certain objects or even just lifting the arm. Usually in these cases, people will also experience weakness and a weird sensation whenever they are moving their shoulder; this particular sensation is called crepitus and usually feels like a sort of cracking that comes from within the shoulder or under the skin.

Another type of injury that can cause the tear of the supraspinatus muscle is an accident such as falling or due to exhaustion and overuse. Usually the immediate symptoms are weakness and a lot of pain but sometimes people might not experience pain at all and could go around for years with an injury in their shoulder.

However, even those who don’t experience pain at first could eventually develop painful symptom and while it should start off mild, it will gradually become more severe. Without proper care, the pain will not go away on its own and people will eventually start taking anti-inflammatory or over the counter pain killers. But most patients usually get to a stage where this type of medication is no longer sufficient to alleviate their pain and seek stronger treatments.

However, treated in time, this particular injury will not become as severe and even when the injury is due to overuse, people will only experience light weakness. In order to treat it in time, people should seek help as soon as they notice symptoms.

An interesting fact is that massage therapists and chiropractors are often those who have this particular muscle overused due to the repeated motions they have to perform with their arms; these movements frequently engage this particular muscle so they are one of the main categories of people who suffer from pain due to their supraspinatus muscle.

There are cases in which this muscle can become weak or injured without any particular reason; sometimes those who do a lot of physical effort without proper safety measures might not even realize that they are putting a lot of pressure on this muscle, which is generally undeveloped for the average person.

Those who find themselves with a similar issue should first contact their physician and make sure that the pain isn’t caused by some other factors. If the muscle weakness, wear and tear or injury is the cause for their pain, then their doctor may suggest they should contact a massage therapist and even take medicine if the pain is too severe.

Due to its wide application in so many issues, remedial massage remains one of the best ways to naturally heal injuries in tendons and muscles as well as remove scar tissue and other residue that might accumulate. Remedial massage is a great treatment with any age or gender and it’s a great alternative to conventional pain medicine and surgery.

A massage therapist can help alleviate pain to a certain degree even from the first couple of sessions. This is an extremely good alternative for those who don’t want or can’t take pain medication. After regular remedial massage therapy, people should feel much better and generally it takes a few months to a year of regular massage to completely heal the muscle depending on various factors such as the scar tissue accumulated, the severity of their injury, the natural healing potential of the body, etc.

The techniques used are usually combining several types of massage such as deep tissue massage, sports massage, remedial massage, etc. Patients who undergo these clinical massage therapies are most of the time satisfied with their results and often choose this particular procedure for its non-invasive approach.

Clinical and therapeutic massage on the Gold Coast are available to residents and visitors at Pain Relief Massage Clinic. Click and visit www.remedialmassage-goldcoast.com.au to find detailed information.

Pain Relief Massage Clinic
192 Brisbane Road, Arundel Gold Coast QLD 4214 Australia
Phone: (07) 5537 7886