Rear shoulder pain

Another common symptom I hear from students is pain and potentially a sharp pain coming from the rear of the shoulder. Often this is felt like a tight band of tissue that is pulling on the shoulder causing discomfort and limiting range of motion.

The Deltoid muscles

As I have noted in my other articles, where you feel pain and tenderness is more often than not where it originates from. I would say this is also the case in the scenario i’m describing here.

The body is a complex organism and where muscles and tendons attach will give us feedback on pain / tension. In my years of teaching I would say that the origin of this particular type of tension usually comes from too much tension around the scapula and the muscles that lie within this region.

The wing shaled bone of the scapula attatching to the Rhomboid muscles

As you can see from the image above we have the Rhomboid muscles which are fairly deep muscles that attatch to the scapula. What I tend to find is over tightness in these muscles to the point where they have developed trigger points in this region ( Trigger points are tender, painful "knots" within taut bands of skeletal muscle fibers that can cause localized or referred pain, often linked to chronic musculoskeletal disorders like myofascial pain syndrome. They form from muscle stress due to acute or repetitive trauma, poor posture, or stress ).

As these trigger points restrict ‘good movement’ we start to feel pain and tenderness because of the imbalances created here that pulls on the shoulder joint.

If you have a desk job and sit typing for many hours for example this can lead to trigger points in the Rhomboids

From this type of imbalance we feel a ‘pulling’ feeling on the shoulder and what can feel like pain around the rear deltoid.

Having a consistent Yoga practice to frequently mobilise the scapula and release tension around those muscles is best, but sometimes we need a little extra help to get things moving again and release those trigger points.

Let’s bring in our truty friend, the tennis ball.

Simple an effective tool to release trigger points

What you will wan to do is to lie down on the floor on your back. From there you are going to place the ball in and around the edge of the winged scapula bone on the Rhomboid region of your upper back.

X marks the spot for where you will be feeling tenderness

Lying on the ball in this region until you find that tender point, you are going to hang out there for a minute of two. Usually the area will feel very tender so go easy. As you are on the trigger point allow you body to stay there and focus on your breathing. Think long exhalations through your nose.

My left side shows the scapula protruding and my right where to place the ball

Lie like this and allow your weight to drop on the tender area

It should begin to feel warmer and eventually after a minute or so release and soften. Repeat this along that Rhomboid line and you should start to feel it looses up.

Don’t do any longer than 5 minutes or so as it can’t start to create more tension. Repeat this maybe 2 to three times a week outside of your Yoga practice to see if the tension changes.

As I stated previously, what works the best to avoid these types of muscles imbalances is a consistent Yoga practice that mobilies the shoulders and releases those tight spots.

Another culprit for this pain can be tension coming from the lats and infraspinatus. You can see more details about this here.

My Element Series Yoga sequences are designed specifically for this along with The Better Mobility Guide video library that has full breakdowns on injury rehab exercises such as this and more.