Muscle tape shoulder can help treat and relieve shoulder pain. As a form of physical therapy tape, it’s commonly used to relieve pain and improve function. However, using scientific and appropriate methods to help with shoulder pain recovery is essential.
Why do people tape their shoulders?
People use muscle tape shoulder to fix their shoulders for various reasons, most commonly to relieve pain or instability caused by injuries or muscle imbalances, such as shoulder injuries, rotator cuff injuries, and deltoid pain. Using muscle support tape shoulder together can help alleviate these symptoms. We also have a dedicated taping tutorial page for shoulder pain treatments to help you better use taping to treat your current sports injury.
Muscle tape shoulder benefits
Relieve and Manage Pain: Shoulder kinesiology tape is applied in a specific stretching pattern to lift the skin gently. This helps create more space between the skin and the underlying muscles and fascia, reducing pressure on pain receptors and promoting better fluid circulation, which helps relieve pain and swelling.
Support and Stabilization: Muscle tape shoulder provides external support to the shoulder joint, which is highly mobile but inherently unstable. This is particularly effective for patients with conditions like shoulder impingement syndrome or a history of shoulder subluxation or dislocation, boosting confidence during exercise.
Posture Correction: Muscle tape shoulder can be a physical reminder to maintain correct posture. For example, it can help pull the shoulder blades down and forward, counteracting rounded shoulders and relieving strain on the neck and upper back.
Improves Body Awareness: Proprioception is the body’s sense of its position and movement in space. The tactile feedback provided by muscle tape shoulder stimulates sensory receptors in the skin, enhancing your awareness of shoulder position and preventing re-injury.
Muscle Activation: Shoulder kinesiology tape can stimulate (activate) or inhibit (relax) muscles. This can help retrain weakened or non-functioning muscles, a valuable tool for restoring strength after a shoulder injury.
Reduces Swelling: By creating space under the skin, muscle tape for shoulder pain is believed to improve lymphatic drainage, which helps remove waste and excess fluid from the body. This can reduce swelling and inflammation, key components of the healing process.
How to tell if a rotator cuff is torn or just strained?
Distinguishing between a rotator cuff strain and a tear can be difficult because their symptoms often overlap. A strain occurs when the rotator cuff muscles or tendons are overstretched, while a tear occurs when one or more are wholly or partially ruptured.
Here are some common symptoms and features that can help distinguish between a strain and a tear:
Rotator Cuff Strain (Mild to Moderate)
Pain: You may feel a dull ache or soreness in your shoulder, which may be aggravated by specific movements, especially those that require reaching overhead or behind your back. This pain may be accompanied by swelling and tenderness around the shoulder area.
Rotator Cuff Tear (Partial or Complete)
Weakness: This is one of the most apparent symptoms of a tear. You may experience significant weakness in your arm, making it difficult or even impossible to lift it overhead or perform simple tasks like combing your hair.
Severe Pain: A tear, mainly caused by a sudden injury like a fall, causes immediate and severe pain. The pain may persist even at rest and is often worse at night, especially when you sleep on the affected shoulder.
A physical therapist may be able to help with these symptoms. You can also purchase Aupcon kinesiology taping for rotator cuff to treat this problem without affecting shoulder motion. Physical therapy and arm mobility to build strength will help you recover from the pain.
Summary
Muscle tape shoulder can effectively relieve pain caused by muscle strain, inflammation, and postural issues. However, it is only temporary and not a permanent cure. For long-term results, address the underlying cause through strength training, postural correction, and medical treatment.
