Frozen Shoulder - a pain in the neck!

Neck and shoulder problems make up a large proportion of any Shiatsu practitioner's workload. The phrase "I suffered whiplash in a car accident three years ago" has been the prelude to a great many treatments. Whiplash injuries are often left essentially untreated, with the neck being simply immobilised in a collar, and left to recover. The Shiatsu view of this is that immobilisation just allows the tissues and structures around the injury site to become stagnant, leading to Qi blockage and future problems. It is far better to suffer some discomfort during the healing process and undergo some treatment in the early days following the injury than to risk the creation of an obstruction syndrome.

This is where immobilisation has caused a congestion of Qi, which is further restricted by the formation of scar tissue within the connective tissues. Both the Qi stagnation and scar tissue cause stiffness, which can be made worse on a psycho-emotional level by the fear of movement (because it hurts!), anger, and frustration due to restricted movement. All this happens within the first 48 - 72 hours after an injury, so early intervention, tailored to the extent of injury, is essential.

Sadly, most shoulder and neck injuries have gone way beyond this stage by the time they come to a Shiatsu practitioner. After 21 days or so, an untreated injury such as whiplash or shoulder strain will reach the chronic phase where deep work is required to reawaken the healing process.

Old whiplash injuries are often classic examples of the obstruction syndrome, as can be frozen shoulder. The shoulder is a complicated joint with multiaxial movement, meaning that it can move in many directions. It is a shallow socket with the head of the humerus (the bone of the upper arm) fitting into a shallow socket in the scapula (shoulder bone) known as the glenoid cavity. Because it fits into such a small socket, the humerus is stabilised by a group of muscles known as the rotator cuff. Such a complex structure is prone to injury, and almost inevitable subsequent immobilisation, leading to obstruction syndrome and frozen shoulder.

There are, of course, a number of other reasons why we get neck and shoulder pain, not least, cold, damp, poor posture and referred pain from elsewhere. The prime suspect here is the back where abnormal muscle tension can pull on the neck and shoulder muscles. In Shiatsu, it all comes down to restriction in the flow of Qi, so ultimately, there can be emotional and psychological causes as well as physical ones. The trick is to find the cause, and to treat it appropriately.

For further details about neck or shoulder problems, contact me via the contacts page .