The Landings & Bay Colony

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posture we tend to move our shoulders up
and forward causing further impingement,
thus wear and tear on the rotator cuff and
long head of the biceps tendon as well as
aggravation of the A/C joint. In fact, faulty
neck and shoulder posture combined with
repetitive arm movements can lead to the
devopment of a bone spur over time. This
bone spur then leads to more trauma to the
rotator cuff tendon as time goes on. With
physical therapy we hope to provide
enough stabilization of the small scapular
muscles and mobilization of the shoulder
capsule to provide relief of pain and return
to normal use of the shoulder. In the event
therapy is unable to bring symptoms under
control the patient may elect to undergo
rotator cuff surgery. Following surgery the
patient will be in a sling for several weeks
but will still require physical therapy to
achieve the pre-surgical goals of scapular
stability/strength, capsular pliability and
correct mechanics of good posture and
shoulder movement.

Prevention is managed through correct
posture i.e. gentle chin tuck with shoulders
down and back, maintaining good strength
of the scapular and small rotational muscles
of the shoulders and minimizing out to the
side movements where shoulder
impingement occurs.

As much as I personally have tried to take
care of my shoulders through appropriate
exercise and posture, they finally
succumbed to years of physical therapy
practice and use. I underwent a right
shoulder rotator cuff repair, long head of
the biceps tenodesis and acromioplasty for
removal of a bone spur on January 8,
2016 by highly regarded Fort Lauderdale
shoulder and elbow orthopedic specialist,
Dr. Jonathan Levy. I am 5 & 1/2 weeks
into my recovery and although painful as
expected, I am progressing favorably and
look forward to a full recovery thanks to the
skills of my surgeon and my own physical
therapy expertise.  

I

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