When your shoulder makes you give up a sport you loved

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

How do people describe it when they come in?

Their shoulder hurts, so lifting heavy things is hard, and their knees hurt too — so one by one, they've given up the sports they enjoyed.

They also say that after one session of exercise, their knees swell for days and stairs are hard. So many cut back on how often they play, and eventually stop.

Isn't it just from overuse?

Sometimes it is. But when the shoulder and knees hurt together, it's often not a problem with each joint separately — we need to look at how the body is positioned.

People who have done arm-heavy sports for a long time sometimes have a well-developed upper body that the lower body can't support as well. Then the impact from walking and climbing goes straight to the knees.

What do we look at?

We look at your standing posture from the side. First, we check whether the pelvis is pushed forward and the upper body leans back.

This posture is called sway back.

This posture looks, from the outside, as if you're standing with your back straight. So many people say, "I'm standing up straight — why is this happening?" In reality, impact isn't spread evenly and piles onto certain joints.

We also check whether your back is rounded and your shoulders roll forward. If you lift something heavy in that state, the shoulder joint can't move on its proper track and keeps rubbing.

How do we treat it?

We use Chuna to bring the pushed-forward pelvis and rounded back closer to where they belong, along with exercises that strengthen the lower body and buttock muscles so they can hold that position.

Correction alone doesn't last. The muscles have to hold it for the posture to stay. We don't do the exercises hard all at once; we raise the intensity in stages.

We loosen the stiff area around the shoulder and the shortened lower-body muscles with acupuncture and hands-on treatment.

How did people do?

What changes first is your balance when walking. Next, the swelling and stiffness the day after exercise decrease.

When you start exercising again, we tell you not to go straight back to your old intensity. If you push too hard before your posture settles, the same spot will hurt again.

What are the limits of this approach?

If the structure has changed — for example, the cartilage inside the knee is already worn or the meniscus is damaged — posture alone won't solve it.

If your knee swells and feels hot, gives way when you walk, or catches and won't move as you bend and straighten it, see an orthopedic doctor for tests first.

If you have the same symptoms

1. If the shoulder and knees hurt together, it may not be a problem with each joint separately.
2. If the upper body is well developed but the lower body can't support it, impact goes to the knees.
3. A posture that looks upright can actually be collapsed.
4. Correction alone doesn't last — the muscles have to hold it.
5. If your knee swells and feels hot or gives way, see an orthopedic doctor first.

We start by measuring how far your arm can be raised. Our first goal is for you to be able to turn over in bed at night.

If shoulder pain keeps you from turning over at night, come and see us. That night pain is the first thing we work on. Recovery begins once you can sleep.

Because there are many possible causes, progress differs from person to person, even with the same care.