Shoulder Tendonitis

This discussion group is for questions about Yin Yoga and other body parts, such as shoulders, feet, wrists, etc.... Also, this is the place to discuss various conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, etc.
Post Reply
jessofwight
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:14 pm

Shoulder Tendonitis

Post by jessofwight »

Bernie in another thread wrote:In general, tendonitis is a chronic inflammation of the tendon (but not always - sometimes it is a tear). Tendonitis is a bane of yoga teachers who tweak/sprain their ligaments or tendons but won’t give their body a chance to heal because they have to teach, and in teaching they re-injure the area that is trying to heal. I have had this happen to me to with a hamstring tendon: it didn’t respond to any treatments for over a year - the only way it got better was for me to adopt a policy of zero tolerance: I didn’t do anything that would stress the hamstrings for 6 months, and finally they healed. Will this work for you? I don’t know.
Bernie, these comments were well timed; I had my sports therapist feel into my shoulders today (my preferred physio is away for a week and I'm waiting to see her on return).

About four years ago I had low level shoulder pain for 2 or 3 months, worse left side, and then awoke to frozen shoulder one morning :(

The pain has returned in the last few weeks, majoring on the right side, and I'm trying to pre-empt another acute frozen shoulder.

Therapist feels its the long head of biceps, and has suggested mobilisation but without weight. I'm trying to relate that to a yoga practice, both yin and yang at present, in terms of dos/don't/maybes.

Any thoughts on beneficial asana?
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

tendinopathy in the shoulder

Post by Bernie »

Your physio knows you and I don't, but a frozen shoulder doesn't sound like a bicep muscle problem, it sounds like a fascia problem. If the fascia is damaged, the myofibroblasts located there may start to contract to protect the area. This results in the tightness, and could also be the cause of your pain. I would suspect you have some damage either to the tendon of your bicep or the fascia investing that area, probably the same fascia that contracted on you four years ago.

In any case, gentle mobilization is a good idea. You may want to try the Upper Body Pawanmuktasanas as these are gentle and effective. For Yin Yoga stresses, I would avoid them while you have pain and work on gently strengthening the fascia there through continuous passive movements. Once the pain has subsided, you can try incorporating some short held Yin Yoga for the Upper Body. For your yang practice, avoid long, strong shoulder stresses - ie: no long dogs or planks. Focus on movement and not strength, not yet.

Of course, best advice - listen to your body and your physio! Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Bernie
jessofwight
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:14 pm

Post by jessofwight »

Thanks for your time replying :)

I think the sports therapist was being imprecise and suggesting the head of the biceps into its tendon and surrounding fascia. But I'll see what physio says; ultimately its down to me to both protect and mobilise.

I'm familiar with the PMA sequences, and am already using those.
Post Reply