Time to demystify the shoulder!

I could start digging into sport physiotherapy from the ankle, or the knee, which are the most prevalent acute injuries in handball. But I always like going for the hard way. When we talk about nasty injuries, the ones whose diagnosis is not straight forward due to thousands of factors that could contribute to the symptoms, well then the shoulder is the protagonist.

To throw some data, 44-75% has history of shoulder pain, 20-252% has current symptoms and 28% average weekly prevalence of shoulder problems (1).

As evidenced from a recent study (1), exercise programme are effective to reduce the prevalence of shoulder symptoms in elite handball player.

So the myth of the chronic shoulder complain can be changed, prevention programs are the key. BUT to comprehend the mechanism behind it, there is still a long way for me.

I am currently doing my last internship of my physiotherapy studies in Australia, and my Clinical Instructor kindly lent me this pearl.

"If you read it all, then you can call yourself a specialist"

Alright Mr. Rainold, a noi due! (Sorry, I do not have the translation in English for certain Italian ways of saying)

Let's digging into the Shoulder and get ready to save future lives.

References

1. Andersson SH, Bahr R, Clarsen B, Myklebust G. Preventing overuse shoulder injuries among throwing athletes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial in 660 elite handball players. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2016 Jun 16:bjsports-2016