By Paola Bassanese
Today’s theme for the session I did with my frozen shoulder client was: hope.
The pain is still there and so is the disturbed sleep. What tends to happen is some temporary relief from pain immediately after the massage, but as the hours go by the pain starts emerging to the surface again.
I explained my action plan to my client focusing on the results we want to achieve, including my therapy goals ie being able to work inside the shoulder blade and mobilising the shoulder joint. Today we managed to achieve quite a bit as I used myofascial release techniques to gently stretch and lubricate the shoulder girdle.
Elevating the scapula lightly using a folded towel in the prone position helps to deal with the discomfort as less pressure is put on the brachial nerves through the padding provided by the towel.
The client is using a pillow to rest the arm on while sleeping but unfortunately the pain requires frequent position changes.
We are both hoping in a sudden and dramatic breakthrough but with the reality check that whatever we accomplished will be on a step by step basis.