AC Joint Rehabilitation

To make process successful for Ac joint rehabilitation, one needs to maintain the full mobility in the shoulder joint. Furthermore, the athlete should have proper biochemical function of shoulder joint. If the athlete has suffered from a damage of the shoulder for long time then it is lost with ease. The shoulder blade as well as upper arm bone must move together. Such rhythm is almost lost in the damaged athlete.

A normal patient has a good biochemical function of shoulder joint, which is lost when a person suffers from an injury of the shoulder. Also, when a normal person moves the AC joint, the shoulder blade and the upper arm bone move together. Such rhythm is lost when the AC joint is damaged.

The initial treatment for shoulder rehab, for grade 1 and 2 injuries, is immobilization of the shoulder and application of the ice packs. After this period, the following exercises can be done for the mobility of the joint.

Pendulum exercises:In these exercises, a person needs to slowly swing the arm backwards, sideways while lying on his or her front. A person has to increase the range of motion slowly. He or she needs to do it again and again to reach 90 degrees of motion in any direction.

External rotation Stretch: In this exercise form, a person needs to lie on back with his or her elbow bent and upper arm at 90 degrees to the body to allow hand points to ceiling. Therapist asks the patient to rotate the arm at the shoulder. A patient needs to hold such position for minimum 20 to 30 seconds and repeat it for 3 to 5 times. Patient has to do stretching on regular basis assuming there is no pain. A person has to do stretching on daily basis and continue doing it throughout the rehab process.

Strengthening: Strengthening of muscles nearby and supporting one's shoulder starts in line with the mobility exercises if the shoulder does not paining. Strengthening must be isometric in the beginning.

External rotation: In this mobility exercise, a patient needs to stand side onto a wall with upper arm by his or her side and the elbow bent to 90 degrees. The patient also needs to place the back of his or her wrist against wall and then rotate the arm at the shoulder against opposition of wall so no movement is there. Patients need to start off applying a slow pressure and instead increase slowly hard pressure. Patients need to hold for ten seconds and repeat it for ten times. Such basic principle is applied for many different exercises.

Internal Rotation: One needs to rotate his or her body in this exercise to face the wall with the arm in the similar position. He or she also needs to place front of wrist against the wall and then rotate the arm towards him or her.

Abduction: Patients need to straighten their elbow by standing side-ways onto the wall. They need to place the back of their wrist and hand against that wall and push the wall away. Strengthening may be progressed after one week of pain free mobility as well as strengthening exercises. For strengthening the shoulder, various physical rehab equipment are used, one of them is resistance band. Making use of resistance in several different ways with this equipment, exercises are progressed to isotonic.

Lateral Raise: Patient needs to stand on one end of the resistance band and other end in his or her hand. Patients need to keep elbow straight while pulling hand up to level with their shoulder making sure that they maintain the best posture. Patients need to perform this exercise for many times.

There are many mobility exercise forms introduced in the AC joint rehabilitation. These exercise forms are beneficial to maintain the full mobility in the shoulder joint. Conservative treatment is the preferred treatment as compared to surgery for the treatment of grade 3 injuries. But, because of level of injury, it is suggested to consult with a sports injury expert or a good doctor. Surgery is usually needed for grade four to six injuries. It is important to consult a doctor when you have this injury otherwise you may have problems in the future.