What is subacromial syndrome?
Subacromial syndrome o Impingement is a severe pain that occurs in the shoulder. It is the most common cause of shoulder pain and it causes great affection to the person who suffers from it. Approximately fifty percent of patients who have shoulder pain suffer from this syndrome.
People who suffer from this condition They often have difficulty falling asleep, in addition to having limited shoulder movement, since they cannot raise their arm or make rotational movements.
Symptoms of subacromial syndrome
Subacromial syndrome begins its symptoms with a pain in the anterior and lateral part of the shoulder, in the lower area of the acromion. As it goes As the disease progresses, the pain begins to spread through the arm, mainly in the anterior area when the biceps is affected, since the tendon is located right next to where the inflammation occurs.
When the syndrome progresses muscle contractures may occur in the neck area, which can be more uncomfortable than the shoulder pain itself. In the most advanced cases of subacromial syndrome it can arrive to tear the supraspinatus, what can produce a loss of mobility and loss of strength.
Causes of subacromial syndrome
This syndrome is caused by narrowing of the space between the head of the humerus and a part of the scapula.
This may be due to different causes, which can be divide into extrinsic and intrinsic causes.
Among the extrinsic ones, the incorrect movement of the shoulder stands out, which produces a postural alteration.
On the other hand, the intrinsic can be divided into:
- Vascular.
- Mechanical
- Degenerative.
- Anatomical.
- Traumatic (strong blow)
How is subacromial syndrome treated?
Existing treatments
Treatment of subacromial syndrome is non-invasiveThat is, it does not need surgery. With physiotherapy with a good weight training program, ice and the intake of anti-inflammatories They help improve patients' pain with great effectiveness.
Recovery from subacromial syndrome is slow, that is, the symptoms and pain do not disappear quickly. The treatment has different recommendations such as:
- Avoid shoulder impingement, changing activities that move the arms above the head.
- HE They will do different exercises, combining mobility exercises to avoid “frozen shoulder” with bodybuilding exercises that will help increase the strength and resistance of the tendons that make up the shoulder. It is very important to perform these exercises under the supervision of a professional, to perform them correctly and thus avoid new injuries.
In cases where there is not much improvement after making the recommendations, or in cases where the pain is very disabling, Corticosteroid injections can be applied to the affected area, However, there is a risk of tendon rupture with this practice.
Benefits of our treatments
- Increases strength and endurance of shoulder muscles
- Progressive loss of pain
- Recovery of shoulder mobility
- Improves the patient's quality of life
At our Retiro Bienestar Clinic we are specialists in shoulder physiotherapy treatments and that is why we encourage you to speak with one of our specialists.
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