Suprascapular Nerve Injury

  • In this episode: An injury to the suprascapular nerve results in weakness of the supraspinatus and the infraspinatus (muscles of the rotator cuff). This will typically present as slight pain of the shoulder with weakness and is often initially diagnosed as impingement or possible rotator cuff tear.

  • Chip Review @ (13:45): Spudkins Honey Barbecue (Thank you Lisa)

  • Trivia question of the week @ (07:53): Why is a hockey puck named a puck?

  • Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional episode specific information throughout the week.

  • Thanks for listening!!

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Brief overview of the episode:

            Suprascapular nerve injuries (SNI) are rare. Accounting for only about .5% of all shoulder injuries. This number however, can be misleading because a diagnosis is almost always made by eliminating other possible causes, particularly impingement and rotator cuff tear.

            The common signs of SNI are vague discomfort/pain in the shoulder with weakness of shoulder external rotation and abduction. In later stages atrophy can happen to the supraspinatus and infraspinatus. Sometimes pain in the neck and numbness can also occur.

           The mechanism of injury is due to traction as the result of slowing your arm down in a cross body manner, as is common with volleyball players or throwers. Sometimes this injury is referred to a “dead arm”.

            Treatment is almost always focused on scapular and para-scapular muscle strengthening as well as postural and mechanical correction.

 

Other episodes you might enjoy:  

Cervicogenic Headache: Episode 10

Shoulder Dislocation: Episode 63

Biceps Tendonitis: Episode 24

 

 

Dry Needling: Episode 51

  • In this episode: Functional Dry Needling (01:30)

  • Chip Review: Calbee – Hot & Spicy Thank you Steve Kovisto (13:21)

  • Trivia question of the week: Which women has appeared in the most FIFA Women’s World Cups?(11:53)

  • Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional episode specific information throughout the week.

  • Thanks for listening!!

What is Dry Needling? There are a number of theories. We are going to go in depth on Functional Dry Needling (FDN). With this particular style of needling you are looking to improve movement. By improving movement, pain and discomfort should also reduce.
The other models include the Trigger Point model, Energy Crisis model, Radiculopathic model, and the Motor End-Plate model. I always like to think of FDN in a more simple way.
FDN helps to reset the muscle. So if the muscle is over firing, spasming or chronically tight you can get it to relax by putting a needle in there. If it doing the opposite so not firing you can put the needle in there and get it activate. The analogy I like to use is that of a computer. We’ve all experienced a time when our computer is not working, as we like. So the first thing we do is shut the computer down and turn it back on again. We reset it and that more often then not will get it to start working again.
So with the body if we can get it to start moving better often times we can get the pain to reduce and eventually go away. The important thing to remember is that FDN along is usually not enough to make a lasting change. We always like to follow up all out treatments with a series of therapeutic exercise. These exercises are going to ensure a long lasting change.
Other episodes you might be interested in:

Pain: Episode 29

Ice or Heat?: Episode 23

Radicular Pain: Episode 22

 

Sciatica: Episode 34

  • In this episode: We cover Sciatica as it relates to the general population as well as during pregnancy. We also touch on piriformis syndrome and what “double crush” is.

  • Chip Review: Calbee Seaweed & Salt Potato Chips, Huge thank you again to Steve Kovisto

  • Trivia question of the week: What 2 US states have their own time zones?

  • Follow us on Instagram: 2pts_n_a_bagofchips and/or Twitter @2PTsNaBagOChips to see photos, video and get additional episode specific information throughout the week.

  • Thanks for listening!!

In this episode we are going to go over sciatica and will be reviewing the Calbee Seaweed & Salt Potato Chip.
Sciatica, typically people have low back pain and pain in the buttocks. Pain can then extend into the knee or as far as the foot. Following the path of the sciatic nerve distribution. Sciatica affects men and women pretty much equally. It does not have an age range that is really prevalent. You kind of see it across the age ranges. Something that crops up during pregnancy, we will get into sciatica and pregnancy a little later in the episode.
The biggest cause for sciatica is a herniated disk, also nerve root irritation or compression on the nerve. Imaging can be helpful but it does not tell you the whole story. If you have sciatica symptoms and they take an x-ray or MRI and they see something. Don’t panic, don’t freak out. The chances that what is there having just shown up are pretty darn low. Occasionally there can be trauma and sciatic can follow that. But most of the time or a lot of the time this is something that is non-irritable for a period of time. Then something happens and you have symptoms.
There is this thing called “double crush” syndrome. Which means that if you have irritation of the nerve anywhere in your body. But it is not enough to have symptoms. Then you get a second irritation somewhere else along that nerve. Now you get symptoms. With sciatica this is often at the piriformis muscle. Which is right in the center of your buttocks.

Other episodes you might find useful:

 

Upper and Lower Extremity Posture: Episode 8

 

Low Back Pain: Episode14

Hip Pain: Episode 15

Radicular Pain: Episode 22

Greater Trochanteric Bursitis: Episode 28

Pain: Episode 29

 

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