Research Corner - Q&A Dislocated Shoulder and Stabilization Training by Martin Rooney | Date Released : 06 Apr 2007 0 comments Print Close Question: I have a client who's right shoulder used to come out of the socket. She is still worried about it, though she safely completes every exercise. Are there any specific exercises I should do to stabilize/strengthen the joint? Answer: As you know, the shoulder is the most mobile but also the least stable joint of the body. As a result, dislocations are something that do occur but usually as a result initially of some sort of major trauma. When a dislocation occurs, there is often damage to the surrounding labrum of the joint that helps create stability as well as injury to the cartilage of the joint, especially with subsequent dislocations. Depending on the number of times the shoulder “used to come out of the socket” and due to the apprehension of the client about exercise, that is a red flag to me that there may in fact be damage to the joint in terms of the stabilizing structures. Rotator cuff strengthening can help, but if there is in fact damage to the structures like the labrum, the joint will still be unstable, even with strengthening until surgically remedied. Newer MRI procedures are used today to identify such issues, surgical intervention for such problems are now much less invasive and recovery times are greatly shortened as a result. If surgery is not an option, I would be very careful in terms of exercise selection and intensity. I would suggest stabilization exercises like push up holds and both external and internal rotation work. Make sure that the external rotation work is not combined with shoulder abduction. Although she currently safely completes every exercise, in the case of an instable joint, it just takes one wrong move to redislocate and then she is back to stage one again. If she does in fact have another episode, an orthopedic consultation is surely indicated. Back to top About the author: Martin Rooney Martin Rooney is a Performance Enhancement Specialist with a Master of Health Science and Bachelor of Physical Therapy from the Medical University of South Carolina. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Science from Furman University. <br><br> Martin is a licensed Physical Therapist in New Jersey and is certified as a NSCA-CSC and NASM-CPT. He has also been certified in Active Release Technique for the upper extremity and certified in the lower extremity by the Institute of Flexibility Sciences. <br><br> Martin has lectured for Perform Better, the College Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, the University of Alabama, the ACSM and NSCA. He has been commissioned by Nike to run speed testing camps at a number of major universities. Martin has been featured on ESPN, Fox Sports Net, the NFL Network and in the Sporting News. He has written two training texts called Train to Win and Training for Warriors and also co-authored two other books on the 40 yard dash and the vertical jump. Martin has produced a 10-part DVD series on the Parisi Training Method. He has also travelled internationally to conduct seminars and help prepare world class fighters for competitions such as Pride, the UFC and the Abu Dhabi World Submission Grappling Championships. <br><br> In addition to training many world champion martial artists, Martin has also been a speed and conditioning consultant to the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona State University and Oregon State University as well as other athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA and WNBA. He has trained numerous Olympians including one gold and four silver medalists. Currently, Martin is the director of the Parisi Speed School. <br><br> Full Author Details Related content Content from Martin Rooney Stabilization Solutions for Common Shoulder Syndromes Evan Osar, D.C. | Articles Dislocated Shoulder Ken Kinakin | Articles Past Dislocated Shoulder Martin Rooney | Articles Shoulder Rehab and Power Plate Scott Hopson | Articles Shoulder Rehab - AC Joint Separation Noah Hittner | Articles Dislocated Shoulder Alan Russell | Articles The Hard Work Vs. Talent Revelation in Training Martin Rooney | Articles Speed Training’s Dirty Secret Martin Rooney | Articles You Snooze, You Win: Wake Up To the Significance of Sleep Martin Rooney | Articles The Principles of Posture Martin Rooney | Articles "Hurricane" Endurance Training Martin Rooney | Articles Strategies for Goal Achievement Martin Rooney | Articles Past Dislocated Shoulder Martin Rooney | Articles Dislocated Shoulder and Stabilization Training Martin Rooney | Articles Please login to leave a comment Comments (0) Back to top