Tag Archives: elbow and shoulder pain

Radial Tunnel Syndrome

What do we mean by Radial Tunnel Syndrome? What are its potential causes, symptoms and treatment options?

Radial Tunnel Syndrome 1Most of the athletes visit physical therapists for their lateral elbow pain. Physical therapists are of the view that Radial Tunnel Syndrome (RTS) occurs due to swelling or irritation of radial nerve because of the friction caused due to compression by muscles.

What do you mean by Radial Tunnel Syndrome?

Radial Tunnel Syndrome occurs when the radial nerve gets compressed where it passes through a tunnel near the elbow. This compression happens in proximal forearm where the radial nerve splits into PIN (main trunk) and sensory branch (minor trunk).

What are the causes of Radial Tunnel Syndrome (RTS)?

Pain of Radial Tunnel Syndrome occurs due to the pressure on radial nerve. Other causes of Radial Tunnel Syndrome include:

  • Injury
  • Bone Tumors
  • Inflammation/Swelling of surrounding tissues
  • Non-cancerous fatty-tumors
  • Too Small tunnel
  • Repetitive bending, gripping and pinching of wrist
  • Direct blow to the outside of elbow
  • Continuous twisting of arm

What are the potential symptoms of Radial Tunnel Syndrome (RTS)?

The symptoms of Radial Tunnel Syndrome start getting worse when you bend your wrist backward or hold an object with a stiff wrist. Following are the symptoms of Radial Tunnel Syndrome:

  • Tenderness and pain on the outside of elbow
  • Pain in the forearm and hand during activity
  • Minimized grip and forearm strength
  • Pain that worsens while rotating wrist
  • Cutting and stabbing pain at top of the forearm or at the back of hand, when you straighten your fingers
  • Numbness and tingling down the forearm

How can Physical Therapy be helpful to treat Radial Tunnel Syndrome (RTS)?

Fore mostly, the physical therapist will advise you to avoid the repetitive activities which involve your wrists. If Radial Tunnel Syndrome is caused due to your work site conditions, your work site conditions would be modified. Apart from these, following therapeutic techniques would be administered to treat the condition:

  • Stretching and strengthening exercises would be administered to reduce pain
  • Cold and heat therapies would be practiced
  • Range of motion exercises would be administered to restore tissue flexibility and normal functioning of the joints
  • You would be advised to wear night-splint to limit your elbow movements at night
  • Soft –tissue massage would be used to promote blood circulation
  • Modalities like ultrasound, moist heat and electrical stimulation may also be used
  • Spinal manual therapy may be used to improve neural mobility
  • Ergonomic interventions like; load management, postural awareness and workstation modification are used
  • Functional strengthening exercises are used to treat Radial Tunnel Syndrome

 Contact   Active Physical Therapy for the state-of-art treatment of your overuse injuries. Our certified and skilled physical therapists are always ready to help you with customized treatment plans as per your needs and requirements.

What is Little League Shoulder and How is Physical Therapy Beneficial to Treat the Problem?

Little Leaguer's Shoulder Little League Shoulder also referred to as Pitcher’s Shoulder or Throwing Shoulder is a type of overuse injury; commonly affecting gymnasts, pitchers and young athletes lying in the age group of 10 to 15 years. Under this condition, the shoulder pain intensifies with the stressful use of arm.

What do we mean by Little League Shoulder?

Little League Shoulder is an injury to the proximal growth plate at the upper end of the humerus at the shoulder. The growth plate is a part of the bone that grows actively as a person matures. If not treated properly, it can cause disruption in the normal bone growth. The injury to the growth plate occurs due to repetitive throwing and overhead movements of the shoulder. Children who participate actively in baseball the whole year around are more likely to be affected by this injury.

How can Physical Therapy help your child to relieve the symptoms of Little League Shoulder?

As throwing and reaching are completely bodily activities and moreover the Little-League injury is a musculoskeletal injury; advanced Physical Therapy modalities can best treat this dysfunctional problem. Physical Therapy targets at restoring the strength, function, mobility and stability to the injured player’s shoulder before he returns to his usual sports’ activities. Following treatment options may be adopted by the Physical Therapists to help the young athletes to relieve Little League Shoulder:

  • Initially, physical therapists will prescribe rest, ice and compression to reduce pain and inflammation.
  • Any of the sports’ activities of the child will be restricted for 2 to 3 months or as required.
  • Corrective Therapies will be administered to correct those mechanical faults that are causing stress to the shoulder.
  • Strengthening exercises will be suggested to restore strength and function to the muscles in elbow, shoulder, upper back and shoulder blades.
  • Soft tissue massage and Joint mobilization techniques will be employed by the physical therapists to lessen the pain and as well as tendon irritation. These modalities also help to restore normal joint mechanics.
  •  Modalities such as Ultrasound, Electrical Stimulation, Laser and Cold techniques will be used to enhance motion and to lessen the inflammation of shoulder joint and surrounding tendons’ muscles.
  • Posterior Shoulder Capsule stretches will be prescribed to enhance the flexibility of shoulder muscles.
  • Neuromuscular Re-education program; including the progressive throwing program is introduced to improve movement techniques and mechanics of the players.
  • Once the player is ready to return to the normal sports’ activities; physical therapists will educate him about correct warm-up techniques, throwing mechanic, pitch count and cool-down techniques.

Active Physical Therapy provides prompt Sports Rehabilitation Physical Therapy in one-on-one setting for the active athletes and players. Our diligent and compassionate physical therapists help the athletes to get back to their sports’ activities as more vigorous and better than before.