Why does my shoulder hurt when I'm running?
I have had shoulder problems off and on since I was in high school, swimming competitively. I had surgery on my shoulder joint when I was 17 to correct the overuse injury, but I still had some pain. While in chiropractic school, I started to develop a nagging, painful icky pain in the back of my shoulder, but it was only when I ran. What a conundrum! Or so I thought….
It turns out that many people have aches and pain in their shoulders when they run. While in school I asked as many doctors and professors as I could what they thought the problem was and more importantly WHY I was having it? I am a big fan of the WHY part of health and medicine. What is the cause?
Well I have finally figured out why it occurs. While there are more causes than one, here are a few that I have discovered to be true:
Overactive Trapezius muscle
The trapezius muscle supports the shoulder but it is also a muscle of respiration. When your heart rate rises, as in running, your muscles demand more oxygen. The diaphragm acts as the primary muscle of respiration, but the body recruits other muscles to assist it when oxygen demands are high. One of the main muscles is the trapezius muscle. This shouldn’t be a problem, but it is if you already have an overactive trapezius muscle
The already tight and over engaged trapezius muscle is asked to contract and work harder when you run, often leading to quick fatigue and pain in the shoulder. An overactive trapezius muscle can occur for a number of reasons, but computer work and sitting at a desk are one the most common causes.
Impingement Syndrome
Sandwiched between the bones of your shoulders is a very valuable tendon, namely the rotator cuff tendon. The rotator cuff is a group of 4 muscles that allow you to raise your arm. If these muscles get injured or fatigued, the rotator cuff may swell. Because it is sandwiched between bones, it doesn’t have much room for swelling and an achy, pinchy pain will occur.
When you are running, the arm swing back and forth may irritate the muscles and cause the pain felt with impingement syndrome. This is most commonly seen in over head throwing athletes who are cross-training with running or artists/painters who work with their hands above the shoulder height.
Shoulder blade dyskinesis
In my diagnostic opinion, the shoulder blade is king when it comes to correcting shoulder injuries. Triangular in shape it glides along the muscles of the back and helps control the actions of the arm. Shoulder blade dyskinesis occurs when the shoulder blade moves improperly. This is a result of muscle imbalance in the muscles that attach to the blade, some are too strong and tight, some are too weak and aren’t doing their job.
As a result, when running, the shoulder blade moves freely and if it is moving wrong, it will jam and pinch surrounding muscles. Ouch! This leads to pain, often primarily in the back and top of the shoulder blade.
The first step in correcting shoulder pain while running is to identify the cause. In my practice, this involves taking a detailed history of your pain, performing an action based examination where I watch you move, and testing the strength and tone of the muscles of the shoulder. From there I treat using the ChiroYogi Method- a combination of adjustments, tissue work and yoga therapy.
