Is it possible to fix my wonky shoulders?

May 5, 2019 1:31 AM

I have a chronic issue of one shoulder that sits much higher than the other. You are definitely not my doctor, but I'm wondering if it's the kind of thing that can be fixed with physio, sports-type massage, or some other method of self care that I've not thought of. List of mitigating factors and photo link inside.

Here's the pic. I first noticed it about 5 years ago when a massage therapist pointed it out. Since then, I've been to several different massage therapists who say they can fix it but the wonkiness seems to reset after a day or so. Late last year I was going every 2 weeks for about 4 months, but here we are.

I currently have an injury on my right shoulder, for which I am under the care of a physio. The left side wonkiness predates the right side problem by many years so he can't help me with it (I will need a seperate referral from my GP, go back on the waiting list, etc).

He did, however, casually mention in my last session that my left scapula is winged. I also have some nerve damage in the left shoulder from a car crash that left me with two broken clavicles and partial numbness down the inside of my left arm. This happened in 1986 and I still have the numbness.

Right now the problem seems it's most extreme, and I want to sort it out because it's starting to become uncomfortable. My main question is whether it's worth going through the long process of a new physio referral. Are there other things I could be doing right now to help? More regular massage, possibly forever? Would yoga help?

posted by Eumachia L F to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

Get a new physio referral. Massage could help a bit in the interim, but this seems like something that needs more intense treatment, especially with a car crash injury in your health history. I’d be careful about starting a yoga practice with this issue coupled with your current injury.
posted by quince at 2:22 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

Have you been checked for scoliosis?
posted by Crystalinne at 2:26 AM on May 5, 2019 [8 favorites]

I have definitely had winging fixed with physio/bodywork. Worth a try; for me, it’s postural.
posted by mollymillions at 2:38 AM on May 5, 2019

Response by poster: Scoliosis never ocurred to me, and I've never been checked for it. Should I ask?
posted by Eumachia L F at 2:41 AM on May 5, 2019

If massage helped, then consider self-massage using a lacrosse ball or foam roller. This is a skill well worth learning.

A daily or near-daily yoga, strength training, or stretching practice all sound like precisely the kind of things that would help while you wait the several months for a physio. This is a habit worth having. Do things that stretch and challenge but not things that hurt. Using your shoulder in all the ways a shoulder should be used is good in itself for maintaining/restoring range of motion, and it will also build a foundation of strength and self-knowledge to use with the future physio.
posted by daveliepmann at 3:47 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I would definitely go for the physio referral. Even if it takes months, that time is going to pass anyway, you might as well get to the end of it with a useful appointment coming up. I think the trouble with all things to do with bodies, joints, mobility etc., is that so many different things could be causing it - scoliosis, muscle tightness, poor every day posture, hangovers from your accident etc. Without knowing the cause, anything people on AskMe can suggest, or that you might find through googling, may or may not be targetting the right thing. It needs someone who understands the way bodies work to look at your specific body and identify the cause, and give you the right things to do to correct it.

If you're looking for things to try in the meantime, you could try looking for functional movement classes - there's a parkour gym near me that offers them. They concentrate on just helping our bodies work the best way they can, developing free and easy movement and staying strong and flexible long term. Tell them about your issue, and be very alert to anything that feels like it might be making it worse.

Or if you can dig up about £40, you could go to a private physio right away and ask them to tell you what they think is causing it. Usually they'd want you to keep going back so they can monitor your progress and keep adjusting the exercises they give you as you progress. But I'd imagine if you went in and said "I have zero money for further appointments, can you at least tell me what this is and give me an exercise sheet", they would do that, and you'd have some idea what you were looking for if looking for further exercises on your own.
posted by penguin pie at 5:46 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

This might sound like it’s out of left field, but do you carry a tote or other large (heavy?) shoulder bag?

I do and my shoulders are skewed like yours as a result. I do things to mitigate it but until I give up carrying anything a human could conceivably need during a day, I will keep having this off balance shoulder tilt.

Some brand new doctors try to tell me it’s scoliosis.
posted by bilabial at 7:11 AM on May 5, 2019

My shoulders look somewhat like this and it's due to scoliosis so minor it was never diagnosed until I had an epidural while giving birth. Have you actually been to an MD about it? Ideally an orthopedist or physiatrist who specializes in spines?
posted by potrzebie at 7:42 AM on May 5, 2019

Also, bilabial, don't assume the causation runs the way you implied. I always carry my purse on the same side but it's because it's never been able to stay on my sloping shoulder, since puberty - slides right off. So I favor that shoulder but it's because of my spine, not the other way around.
posted by potrzebie at 7:57 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

An exercise I do for this is to roll the high shoulder back and down, then lean your head towards it, like you're trying to touch your ear to the shoulder. Hold for a count of ten. Do a set of 10 a few times a day and you should see improvement fairly quickly.
posted by ananci at 8:33 AM on May 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

You should get it looked at by a doctor, and measured, because it could be something that will keep getting worse. Scoliosis and dystonia are possibilities. I'm thinking orthopedic specialist, but other responses and your doctor may have ideas about the sort of specialist it needs.
posted by theora55 at 10:22 AM on May 5, 2019

Yes, this can definitely improve with the right care. I’d look for someone who specializes in postural distortions, whether that person is a physio, a massage therapist, or another type of body worker. Typically you would want to release the muscles that are too tight (massage and stretches can help here) and strengthen the muscles that are too weak (usually with specific exercises). But finding the right combination of what to release and what to strengthen can be a bit of a trial-and-error process, so be prepared to try out more than one specialist.
posted by danceswithlight at 10:32 AM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

It’s pretty easy to do an exam for scoliosis but more minor cases that are missed in this exam can be easily seen on a simple standing back x Ray. I have 2 curves of 14 and 10 degrees. It causes pain and some uneven and bad posture. I also switched to a backpack purse to relieve uneven shoulder weight.
posted by Crystalinne at 11:41 AM on May 5, 2019

Also consider seeing a podiatrist. Often we adjust our gait to compensate for this kind of thing. Orthotics may help.
posted by Kalatraz at 12:08 PM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I also have some nerve damage in the left shoulder from a car crash that left me with two broken clavicles and partial numbness down the inside of my left arm. This happened in 1986 and I still have the numbness.

I have the same thing in my left arm from an accident that actually happened around the same time as yours, so I know how long this stuff can persist and annoy. In my case there's no way to correct it without surgery but if your insurance covers PT and other nonsurgical approaches it probably can't hurt to try them all, for as long as you're allowed to.

For me, the thing with nerve damage, especially long term, is that the nerve is impinged and entrapped by the healed bones/joints, and any kind of relief from PT and other assorted bodywork is very temporary. As soon as I stopped going, the problem returned, and it wasn't something I was successful at replicating on my own. So I'm faced with either just letting it continue forever, or having my arm cut open and rearranged, which I would obviously rather not do.

Nerves are weird, the human body is a bizarre and messy head cheese of meat and bone and little fibers that zap them both to life, and a lot of the time it just does whatever it wants regardless of what you want it to do, and any time you can work around a problem when the solution is too aggressive, you should take that option.

wrt yoga and massage, this is also something you need to just try and see what happens. For me, massage was great in the moment it was happening, and then it made the problem worse immediately afterwards, because my nerves are particularly stupid. Yoga actually made a lot of my problems worse, because unfortunately a lot of yoga teachers assume that any pain you have in your body is muscular and will encourage you to do positions which would benefit muscle tightness, which are often Not Great for actual injuries, nerve issues, joint issues, etc.

I guess my most DO THIS OR DIE advice is that you know your body, you know you've been injured, so don't let anyone push you into doing anything that feels like it's compromising that injury. You're not being a baby or being lazy for saying "I don't think this exercise/position/whatever is right for me, because it hurts".
posted by poffin boffin at 12:14 PM on May 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

My son (18yr), has a much more severe situation than yours. We had him looked at by an orthopedic specialist, and with x-rays, referred to a neurosurgeon. In my son's case, one of his vertebra did not form correctly, and basically acts as a wedge, causing one shoulder to be higher than the other (by a couple inches). Doctors have said that this may cause issues in the future, but was completely cosmetic at this point in time. They could operate, and remove the vertebra in question, with indication that this was fairly simple and routine (but back surgery seems a little more risky than other procedures).
posted by bonofasitch at 9:01 AM on May 6, 2019

I have/had very uneven shoulders due to bad posture and bad habits (long-term unconscious favoring of one side). Obvious caveats: this is anecdotal, my situation seems more clear-cut and less severe than yours, etc.

But just as a data point, I got a great deal of relief from doing daily, but minimal, yoga. The problem has now more or less resolved itself, and i rarely have shoulder pain or weird alignment anymore. Feel free to memail me if you'd like more specifics.
posted by jessicapierce at 6:20 PM on May 7, 2019