San Antonio, Texas 78253
Shoulder Impingement Syndrome Therapy
Relief for Shoulder Pain When You Reach, Lift, or Sleep
Shoulder impingement syndrome can make it painful to reach overhead, pull on a shirt, or lie on your side at night. When shoulder pain keeps coming back, it’s hard to know which activities help, which make it worse, and whether you should rest or keep moving. At Texas Alliance Physical Therapy in Alamo Ranch, we’ll look at how your shoulder moves, where it’s limited, and what triggers your pain, so we can build your treatment around what’s actually going on.
How Physical Therapy Helps Shoulder Impingement Syndrome
Shoulder impingement syndrome happens when tissues around the shoulder get irritated during certain movements.
Your shoulder moves in more directions than any other joint in your body, which is what lets you reach overhead and behind you.
To do that comfortably, the muscles around your shoulder and shoulder blade have to work together.
When one part isn’t doing its share, the tissues in the joint can take more stress than they should.
For some people, it hurts mostly when they raise the arm.
Others feel it when reaching behind their back, reaching across their body, or lying on that side.
Stiffness and shoulder weakness can make everyday tasks harder too.
Physical therapy works on the parts you can change: shoulder mobility, strength, and how your shoulder blade moves as you lift your arm.
The goal is to make the movements that hurt now easier on your shoulder over time.
Signs of Shoulder Impingement
When to See a Physical Therapist
You may be able to use your arm normally at first,
then notice pain after you’ve been reaching, lifting, or working overhead for a while.
Common signs include:
- Pain at the front or side of the shoulder
- Pain when raising your arm overhead
- Pain when reaching behind your back or across your body
- Shoulder weakness when lifting or carrying
- Reduced shoulder mobility or a stiff feeling in the joint
- Trouble sleeping on the affected side
- Pain during sports or workouts that use the shoulder
You might notice it most during simple daily tasks, like putting on or taking off a shirt,
reaching into a cupboard, fastening something behind your back, or setting something on a high shelf.
Several shoulder conditions can cause similar symptoms, so shoulder pain alone doesn’t confirm impingement syndrome.
An evaluation can help sort out whether your symptoms match shoulder impingement or whether something else should be looked at.
If the pain has lasted more than a couple of weeks, keeps coming back, or wakes you up at night, it’s a good time to get it checked.
If you can’t lift your arm at all, or the pain started after a fall or sudden injury,
see a doctor first so a tear or other injury can be ruled out.
Shoulder Impingement Treatment
Physical Therapy San Antonio
What we work on depends on what your evaluation shows. Someone whose shoulder is stiff may need a different plan than someone whose main problem is weakness or trouble controlling the arm overhead. Your treatment may include some of the following.
Therapeutic Exercise
Strengthening the muscles around your shoulder and shoulder blade is usually a big part of treatment. We’ll start at a level your shoulder can handle and build from there, so lifting, carrying, and reaching overhead get easier over time.
Manual Therapy
Hands-on techniques around the shoulder and nearby muscles can help loosen tight or restricted areas. Better shoulder mobility can make it easier to raise and rotate your arm.
Orthopedic Joint Mobilization and Manipulation
If the shoulder joint itself isn’t moving well, your therapist may use controlled joint techniques to improve its motion. This can make reaching overhead or behind your back more comfortable.
Functional Dry Needling
Tight, overactive muscles around the shoulder blade or upper arm can keep your shoulder from moving freely. Functional dry needling may be used on those muscles when your therapist feels it’s appropriate, and it’s paired with your exercises.
Graston IASTM
This instrument-assisted technique is used on specific soft-tissue areas that may be limiting how your shoulder moves. It may help you work more comfortably through your mobility and strengthening exercises.
Kinesiology Taping
Tape may be applied around the shoulder to give you feedback on how you’re positioning it during exercises and daily tasks.
E-Stim
When certain shoulder muscles are hard to activate, electrical stimulation may be used alongside exercise to help them start working again.
Living With Shoulder Impingement
Shoulder impingement can affect more than workouts or sports. You may start sleeping differently because lying on one side hurts, or reach for things with your other arm without thinking about it. At work, you may avoid lifting overhead or hand off tasks that used to be easy. Part of treatment is finding ways to keep doing what you need to do while your shoulder gets stronger, like changing how you reach for things at work or how you position yourself at night.
Take the Next Step for Your Shoulder
If shoulder pain is changing how you sleep, work, exercise, or reach for things around the house, it’s worth finding out what’s behind it. Schedule an evaluation with Texas Alliance Physical Therapy San Antonio at our Alamo Ranch clinic, and we’ll work with you on making those everyday movements easier.
Conditions We Treat
Upper Body Pain
Lower Body Pain
Texas Alliance Physical Therapy
San Antonio, Texas 78253
Frequently Asked Questions
About Shoulder Impingement Syndrome
It’s a common cause of shoulder pain where tissues in the shoulder get irritated or pinched during certain arm movements. You’ll usually notice it when raising your arm overhead, lifting, or reaching behind you.
There usually isn’t one single cause. Reaching overhead again and again, whether that’s stocking shelves at work or swimming laps, puts a lot of stress on the shoulder. Shoulder weakness or limited shoulder mobility can add to it, and some people notice the pain creeping in over a few weeks without any injury they can point to.
Sometimes it calms down with activity changes and time. If the pain keeps returning or gets in the way of work, sleep, or exercise, an evaluation can help figure out what’s keeping it going.
That varies a lot from person to person. How long you’ve had symptoms, how irritated the shoulder is, and what your job or sport asks of it all play a part. Your therapist can give you a better idea once they see how your shoulder responds to the first few visits.
A separated shoulder is a different injury from impingement. It’s a sprain of the joint where your collarbone meets your shoulder blade, usually from a fall or a direct hit. Treatment depends on how severe it is and may include rest, ice, and physical therapy to rebuild movement and strength, while more serious separations should be checked by an orthopedic specialist.
Exercises that strengthen the rotator cuff and the muscles around your shoulder blade are common starting points, along with work on shoulder mobility. Which ones fit you depends on what your evaluation finds, so it helps to have a plan instead of guessing.
In Texas, you can generally start physical therapy without a doctor’s referral for a limited time, though some insurance plans still require one. Give us a call and we can help you check before your first visit.
Have more questions? Contact Us.