Bursitis & Shoulders Pain Physiotherapy in Tirana, Albania

What causes shoulder pain?

The first problem is always the reason why you have shoulder pain. Knowing the cause can be the first step to solving the problem. There are lots of activities that can damage your shoulders. Maybe sometimes just sitting at your office chair at work can mess you up. Sometimes it can be from other activities like exercise, running, lifting heavy weights, or pulling something with force. 

The Shoulder injuries can be separated into two main categories: 

• Acute injuries.
• Overuse injuries.

Acute injuries. 

Acute injuries or sprains are the ones that happen all of a sudden and unexpectedly. This type of injuries can include:

• Damaged or injured tendons. 
• Damaged or injured ligaments. 

• Damaged or injured nerves.

• Bruises. 
• Dislocation.

• Broken bones.
• Drained muscles.
• Torn rotator cuff.

In most of the cases people start to notice the swelling on their shoulders right after the injury. Sometimes a good indicator can be the feeling of numb, or tingling in the cases that the injury has damaged a blood vessel or nerves.

Overuse injuries.

Most overuse injuries happen because of your fault, remember that, and learn to take it easy with your body. Too many days without exercising can cause your body to degrade to an idle phase and even the slightest activity may injure your shoulders, not to mention overuse. This kind of injury is even more dangerous because from the overuse, that part of your body can take longer to recover. And without proper physiotherapy exercise it can get worse over time. Our experts at FisioCenter Tirana are always happy to help! This type of injuries can include:

• Inflammation of a bursa. 
• Inflamed tendons.
• Muscle pain.
• Adhesive capsulitis.
• Impingement syndrome. 

While acute and overuse injuries, there are some other injuries that can affect your shoulders and lead to pain, such as:

• Wrong posture. 
• Herniated disk.
• Osteoarthritis.
• Infection.
• Calcification.

While the shoulder can be affected by a variety of disorders, these are the five most common ones we see at our FisioCenter Tirana:

1) Rotator cuff tears.

2) Pinched nerve or cervical radiculopathy.

3) Shoulder impingement.

4) Shoulder dislocation and shoulder instability.

5) Adhesive capsulitis, with its three phases such as:

• Freezing/inflammatory stage.

Pain is present, followed by a gradual reduction of range of motion. To avoid further inflammation, aggressive treatment should be avoided during this phase, and the major therapeutic goals should be pain control and the avoidance of mobility loss.

•  Adhesive/frozen stage.

The discomfort normally goes away by the conclusion of this stage, but the stiffness doesn’t.

• Thawing stage. 

This is the phase where manual therapy can have the most impact, as the range of motion gradually returns to normal. 

Frozen shoulder is a very frustrating condition that necessitates a lot of patience. Although there is no quick treatment, physiotherapists can help you go through the rehabilitation process as quickly as possible. 

Treatment for shoulder pain.

For rotator cuff tears or other injuries to the muscles surrounding the shoulder, physical therapy is usually a successful, non-surgical treatment. It aims to strengthen the muscles that surround your shoulder in order to improve its function and mobility. 

Our physiotherapists will customize your treatment to help you recover from your injury and regain mobility, as well as provide you tips on how to alter your regular activities to better support your shoulders and avoid re-injury. Once your treatment sessions are over, you may be given a specific home-exercise plan to follow to help you retain your mobility. 

Shoulder physiotherapy that your physical therapist prescribes will most likely contain one or more of the following types of treatment, depending on the details of your injury: 

Ice therapy.

For acute injuries, the RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) paradigm recommends icing affected areas. This type of treatment contributes to the reduction of inflammation and swelling as well as reduction of the pain.

Heat therapy.

Unlike ice therapy, which should be administered within the first few hours after an injury, heat therapy should be utilized after 72 hours. It works as a pain reliever and relaxes muscles, just as cold therapy. 

Hands-on therapy.

As the name suggests, hands-on therapy entails the assistance of a physical therapist in relaxing the affected shoulder. The physical therapist applies direction-specific pressure to the tissue with their hands to help it restore some of its natural mobility.

Stretching.

Stretching is a typical sort of therapy for shoulder discomfort since it is designed to gently press your muscles farther and further until your range of motion is restored. Depending on the injury, our physiotherapists will use a variety of stretches in different regions of the shoulder.

Strengthening.

Strengthening is just another word for exercise, because your physical therapist may recommend that you do particular strengthening exercises to relieve pain at the injury site while simultaneously strengthening other muscles, such as your core. The idea is to make you stronger than you were before the injury in order to avoid it from happening again.

Joint mobilization.

Another type of therapy that requires the assistance of a physical therapist, joint mobilization tries to enhance the mobility of the damaged shoulder by stretching the joint capsule. Only a trained, professional physical therapist can do this procedure since it necessitates a complete understanding of anatomy. 

Ultrasound.

Therapeutic ultrasound is a technique for treating shoulder injuries that involves deep heating of the muscles, tendons, and other soft tissue. The heat promotes tissue circulation, which relieves pain and aids in the healing of the damage. Therapeutic ultrasounds also help increase muscle suppleness, which allows muscles to flex more easily and so increase range of motion, especially in situations with frozen shoulders.

Electrical stimulation.

Stimulating the nerves is one technique to strengthen the muscles in the damaged shoulder. It’s commonly used to constrict muscles or relieve inflammation, but it can also be utilized to deliver medication. 

Athletic tape.

As part of your shoulder physical treatment, our physiotherapists may utilize athletic tape in combination with other therapeutic approaches, such as exercises.

Kinesiology taping.

Unlike athletic taping, which attempts to inhibit mobility, kinesiology taping facilitates movement while enhancing circulation in a safe and secure manner. Our physical therapist may employ one or both of these taping approaches, depending on the type of shoulder injury you have.

Activity modification.

To limit the chances of your shoulder injury reoccurring, our physical therapist will show you how to alter your daily activities to ensure that your shoulders are correctly supported. If you have a frozen shoulder, for example, our physical therapist may advise you to avoid over-resting your shoulder. 

Workplace ergonomics.

In today’s world, it’s nearly impossible for some workers to spend more than eight hours a day at their computer workstation. Our physical therapist will most likely discuss ergonomics with you; the goal is to ensure that your body receives the essential support it needs. This can range from performing particular exercises at your desk to purchasing a new office chair.

Home exercises.

The shoulder physical therapy exercises you practice with your physical therapist will almost certainly need to be continued at home once your appointments are over. Our physiotherapists will create a series of exercises for you to do at home to help you maintain your improvements. During sessions, they will practice the exercises with you so that you would know how to execute them at home.

Preventing shoulder pain: A practical guide.

• Make an effort to maintain a decent posture. 
• Avoid actions that could aggravate or re-injure the affected area. 
• If you have an injury, take it easy. 
• A regular exercise routine to keep the soft tissues around the shoulder joint supple and strong, as well as strengthening activities to keep the muscles around the shoulder joint.
• Taking advantage of specialized physiotherapy treatments if problems arise.

Best shoulder exercises. 

While our physiotherapists will recommend specialized exercises to treat your specific shoulder injury, there are some exercises you can do at home to relieve common shoulder pain. These exercises may be part of your physical therapy program, but they’re also a great way to loosen up any tension tightness in your shoulder and avoid injury.

As with any workout, it’s critical to know your limits and avoid injuring yourself further.

1. Chest to chest. 
2. Pendulum.
3. Stretching in the doorway. 
4. Downward dog.
5. Neck relaxation.
6. Expansion of the chest. 
7. Seated twist.

You can find us at Brigada VIII street, 1001, Tirana, Albania. If you need further information and learn more about cervical spine pain treatment, to have your neck pain diagnosed, or simply to talk with a member of our staff for additional information, please schedule an appointment with one of our experienced physical therapists, call  069 400 30 10 or email at fisiocentertirana1@gmail.com.

We’re here to assist your recovery!