User:Kinemajor

Injury Prevention

Function of the Shoulder

Techniques, Mechanics, and Motor Control Exercises

The techniques of food serving in the shoulder girdle consist of stabilization and mobility of the shoulder girdle and glenohumeral joint for lifting, reaching, and carrying heavy objects. The functional body mechanics of a food server are to have neutral spine and upright posture to avoid injury and prevent pain. When carrying objects the shoulder should be retracted, chest out, arm by the side with the elbow flexed at 90 degrees. The anatomical faults found in food serving are scapular elevation, scapular protraction, and shoulder abduction. The faults are formed from a slouched posture and overcompensating while carrying heavy objects. Overcompensation is a fault of weak shoulder stabilization. Functional movement of the shoulder needed for food serving can be observed from the movement archetypes. The archetypes that are involved in the shoulder are the arm press, arm hang, and front rack. The correct techniques for the archetypes are shoulder extension (arm press), shoulder internal rotation (arm hang), shoulder flexion, and external rotation (front rack) .

Targeted Strengthening Exercises

Strengthening exercises for food servers are needed to stabilize and support the shoulder for everyday occupation duties that are performed, such as, carrying and lifting objects. The strengthening exercises for weak shoulders are rows with light dumbbell weights or a resistance band, push-ups, prone W, I, T, Y’s with a light dumbbell weight. A progression would be to increase weight or resistance, or add an unstable surface (i.e. stability ball) to the push-ups and prone W, I, T, Y’s . The rows and prone W, I, T, Y’s strengthen the rotator cuff muscles; the supraspinatus, teres minor, subscapularis, and infraspinatus. The rotator cuff is a stabilizer of the glenohumeral joint. Push-ups strengthen the shoulders, chest, arms, back, and core.

Targeted Mobilization Techniques

Mobilization techniques improve mobility to the targeted body parts. To target shoulder mobility techniques for food servers a technique would be the T-Spine Roller Smash Mobilization, which focuses on extension of the thoracic spine. It triggers the tight areas in shoulders . The technique improves posture in regards to the back and shoulder.

Another mobilization technique used to increase mobility in the stabilizers of scapula is the serratus smash. The technique targets the serratus anterior muscle that controls protraction. A strong serratus anterior muscle helps prevent protraction in the shoulders. The serratus smash is performed in a sideline position with a ball under the axilla. The shoulder is in flexion and the hand in external rotation. Using body weight, roll the ball medial, lateral, anterior, and posterior to hit the serratus anterior muscle .

Pain Prevention

Pain in the anterior deltoid and pectoral muscle is caused from being in a slouched position. The trigger points are located in the anterior deltoid, sternocleidomastoid, pectoralis major, and scalenes. Targeting the trigger points reduces the pain. The pectoralis minor stretch targets the trigger points and improves posture . Another pain prevention exercise is seated scapular retractions. Start in a seated position with the feet planted on the ground. The objective is to retract the shoulder scapulas together and relax. Perform three sets of twenty .

Tests of Function

Manual muscle testing is used to establish the strength of the muscle. There are two manual muscle tests for the shoulder to determine weakness in the pectoral muscle and posterior deltoid. In the pectoral test, the arms are extended in forward flexion with the forearms pronated, a neutral wrist, and the hand formed into a fist. The examiner is positioned in front of the patient and applies force to the medial side of the wrist, while the patient adducts the arm and resists the force. During this test the posterior deltoid acts as the antagonist. The same test is used for the posterior deltoid, except the arms are abducted at 30 degrees and the force is being applied to the lateral side of the wrist, while the patient is abducting the arm against resistance. The pectoral muscle acts as the antagonist .