You Cant Fix My Shoulder

A team of therapists and I were working on several teachers at a local high school for Teacher Appreciation Day. A football coach, Mike, took a seat in front of me. I asked him if he had any trouble spots or pain. Mike admitted to significant shoulder pain.

“But you can’t fix it. It’s been going on for three years. I haven’t been able to throw a football since then”. Mike was quick to tell me.

I love a challenge. I immediately put my thumb on a specific rotator cuffmuscle.

“Is this your pain”? I asked, but his reaction was extreme enough that he didn’t need to use words.

“”YES! You’re on a nerve or something”!
“
“No, Coach, that’s a trigger point in your lateral rotators. It’s the muscle that puts the breaks on when you follow through throwing a football”.

He was skeptical. “I still don’t think you can fix it, but go ahead”.

Five minutes later he sat up and showed me how far he could raise his arm, as if to throw a football.

“I can only reach this high”. Coach lifted his arm just so.

“I can’t take it this high”, he started to demonstrate. His arm floated on up as if there was never a problem. 

“Hey, wait a minute! I can… Look at this… and it doesn’t hurt”! he practically sputtered.

I smiled knowing this was one of the reasons I do what I do. Giving a football coach back the ability to throw a football again is what it’s all about.

Coach comes to the clinic now. We released his shoulder pain so that he can continue to do what he loves.

“Now, if you can fix my back pain, I’ll give you a million dollars”! he said on one of his visits, still sure that he had me stumped.

Thirty minutes later, after I released trigger points in the muscles of his low back and glutes, a sheepish coach asked, “Will you settle for a steak dinner”?

I love what I do.

BTW...If you're reading this, Coach, I never did get that steak dinner!