Building Shoulder Strength: Part I
We received a question from our friend and owner of “ Community Acupuncture of St. Louis John Schmieder.
I have a client who has had shoulder reconstructive surgery. He has lost a huge amount of muscle mass and has asked me about rehabing his strength and regaining his muscle mass. Can you help with that?
Yes John we are happy to help. In order to rehab him we need to first deal with his range of motion. Physical Therapy will only get you to a certain point Full range of motion both anteriorly 
(forward movement). As well as Posteriorly (backward movement)as well as full Abduction ( lateral movement of the shoulder up over the head) and Adduction (lateral movement of the shoulder down towards the hip).
Additionally we want to be sure that we have full Medial range of motion is complete (bringing the arm into the medial plain of the body.)
As this range of motion phase develops he must be diligent in the care of the joint. Taking anti- inflamitories such as Advil to deal with painful inflammation within the point. Additionally I recommend the use of heat prior to the workouts, this will increase blood flow and aid in range of motion and pain reduction. After workouts however is a very different story. As he works the joint he is going to cause heat or inflammation to develop once he finishes his workout he should use Ice in order to cool down the joint and increase healing by cutting the settling of Lactic Acid and Calcium into the tissue of the joint. Remember range of motion is everything. Once full range of motion is accomplished and it’s 100% pain-free then the strength phase can begin. Using the same movements as above (once full range of motion is completed) begin to use light weight resistance bands in reps of 10 until they can be completed in all aspects with ease. On Wednesday Jonathan Peck will continue this discussion by addressing the strength aspects of the shoulder.
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