SHOULDER PROBLEMS IN TENNIS; DO YOU HAVE A SORE SHOULDER WHEN PLAYING A TENNIS MATCH?

How frustrating is it when you go to serve in a game of tennis, and you get that pinch or ache in your shoulder?

At Osteo for Families we see this all too often, yet tennis players seem to preserver with the pain for too long before seeking treatment.

Tennis involves a lot of arm and shoulder movements, with every forehand, backhand, volley and serve your arm and shoulder are involved. That is why shoulder pain can be very frustrating when you are trying to play tennis.

There are many reasons you can get shoulder pain when serving some of the more common reasons include:

• Rotator Cuff Strains, Tears and Tendinopathies
  Your rotator cuff, is made up of 4 muscles that control the movement of your shoulder, any excessive stresses on these muscles can result in a strain or if severe, a tear of the muscle fibres. Stresses through the tendons of these muscles can lead to micro tears and inflammation of the tendon.

• Shoulder and Rotator Cuff Muscle Weakness
  When some muscles are weak, others are forced to compensate and take on more work this leads to increase stress and workloads on these muscles which can result in injuries.

• Restrictions in Shoulder and or Surrounding Joints
  Restrictions in joints limits the amount of movement your body can make which will either impact your body’s movements or result in compensations from other joints or muscles increasing the stresses on them.

• Shoulder Bursitis
  Bursitis is the irritation of fluid filled sacs around your shoulder which act as cushions to reduce friction.

• Shoulder Impingement
  The overuse of some muscles can lead to irritation of structures or biomechanical changes which can compress tendons and other structures in the front of the chest and the shoulder resulting in weakness and tingling into the arm

All these conditions can cause pain and weakness which will impact your serve’s power, accuracy and endurance in your tennis game.

How Can an Osteopathy help with Shoulder Pain?
After taking a history, the osteopath will assess your body and how it’s moving especially as you perform a serve. Once they have narrowed down what is causing and contributing to your pain and limiting your motion, they will develop a treatment plan with you which may involve soft tissue to the muscles, mobilisation of joints as well as exercises to strengthen, stretch or improve the movements of your body.

For more information about what an Osteo treatment entails please click here https://www.osteo4families.com.au/osteo-treatments-and-services

So, if you have shoulder pain give us a call to discuss on 0416 161 411.  We will tell you if we can help you.  If we think you need to have scans or seek another opinion, we will guide you through this. Otherwise book an appointment online today at https://osteo4families.cliniko.com/bookings#location