Pickleball Rotator Cuff Shoulder Injury Exercises

10/2/2023 0 Comments

Pickleball Shoulder Injury Rehab

With the rising popularity of Pickleball, we are also seeing an increase in Pickleball related injuries. The most common injuries we are seeing are ankle injuries and shoulder injuries. With this we wanted to talk about ways to rehab after your Pickleball injury as well as address ways to try and prevent injuries (hint: often the exercises and stretches we do for rehab are good at helping to prevent injury as well).

In this post we will be focusing on shoulder injuries and what can be done to both help rehabilitate as well as some preventative strategies. Most of the shoulder injuries that we are seeing are related to overuse and bad technique as opposed to traumatic (i.e., falling on the shoulder).

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When it comes to the pains we feel with overuse or bad technique one of the best at home therapies is turning out to be heat as opposed to ice. Now if heat makes it feel worse switch over to ice instead. When heating the affected area, we recommend focusing the heat on the muscles more than the joints, typically heating for 20-30 minutes at a time. The big rule to follow while heating is don’t burn yourself. Other options instead of sitting with a heating pad can include topical heating products as well as the various patches that are on the market. When using topicals avoid using the products shortly after taking a shower as the skin pores are open and the intensity of the creams can be amplified. If needing to use ice instead of heat typically use the ice for 10-15 minutes or until the area numb. You can often do this 3-4 times a day if needed.

Chiropractic misalignments that we typically see with these injuries are at the clavicle (collar bone), upper rib cage, and the glenohumeral joint (where the arm meets the shoulder). At times we also see restrictions/subluxations at the lower arm around the elbow. If addressed quickly we find it doesn’t take too many visits to get people back to functioning better. At times, utilizing massage therapy or therapeutic ultrasound speeds up the recovery as well. Massage therapy does a great job at loosening up those tight muscles while promoting blood flow through the tissues to get reparative nutrients in and waste products out of the affected area. Therapeutic ultrasound can help to break up any scar tissue or adhesions in the area as well as push inflammation out of the affected area.

Exercises for rehabilitation and prevention are focused on the strength and endurance of the rotator cuff muscles. Our primary recommendation is doing internal and external rotation exercises, first with the elbow tight against the body and then with the arm out at a 90-degree angle. The goal will be 15-20 repetitions for each exercise, aiming to complete 3 sets. Exercise bands are a low-cost way to accomplish this at home. There are also products you can get that will lock the band into a door as well as handles for greater control and stabilization.