Treatment of shoulder pain utilizing mechanical diagnosis and therapy principles

 

The author’s case report describes the effectiveness of mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT) in the management of a patient referred with a diagnosis of shoulder tendonitis. The patient was a 56-year-old male with a 3-month history of left anterior shoulder pain. Upon initial assessment, he presented with a positive open-can test, lift-off test, and Hawkins‐Kennedy impingement test. A MDT assessment quickly eliminated cervical involvement and identified a loss of end-range shoulder mobility and pain during active shoulder movement. After the patient underwent a repeated movement examination and treatment based on responses to end-range movements over three visits, his shoulder pain was completely eliminated and motion was completely restored. Despite having positive rotator cuff and impingement signs, this patient was effectively treated with repeated end-range movements over a short period of 2 weeks.

The author concluded that this case shows that treatment based on MDT sub-classification principles could be an effective way to manage shoulder pain as it is in the spine.