Rehabilitation Exercises for Dysfunction of the Scapula: Exploration of Muscle Activity Using Fine-Wire EMG.

Background: Scapular muscle activity during shoulder exercises has been explored with surface electromyography (EMG). However, knowledge about the activity of deeper-layer scapular muscles is still limited.

Purpose: To investigate EMG activation of the deeper-layer scapular stabilizers (levator scapulae [LS], rhomboid major [RM], pectoralis minor [Pm] muscles) together with superficial muscle activity (upper [UT], middle [MT], and lower trapezius [LT] and serratus anterior [SA]) during 4 exercises often used for training scapular function.

Muscle activity and scapular kinematics in individuals with multidirectional shoulder instability: A systematic review.

Background: Several studies reported the importance of glenohumeral and scapular muscle activity and scapular kinematics in multidirectional shoulder instability (MDI), yet a systematic overview is currently lacking.

Objective: This systematic review evaluates and summarizes the evidence regarding muscle activity and shoulder kinematics in individuals with MDI compared to healthy controls.

Method: The electronic databases PubMed and Web of Science were searched in September 2020 with key words regarding MDI (population), muscle activity, and glenohumeral and scapular movement patterns (outcomes).

Effect of Plyometric Training on Sport Performance in Adolescent Overhead Athletes: A Systematic Review.

Context: Plyometric training has been shown to be beneficial in adolescent overhead athletes. However, existing research on the effects of plyometrics on sport performance has been limited.

Objective: To systematically review the current literature to investigate whether plyometric training intervention improves upper- and lower-body sport performance.

Analysis of Scapular Kinematics and Muscle Activity by Use of Fine-Wire Electrodes During Shoulder Exercises.

Background: During nonoperative or postoperative rehabilitation after sports injuries, exercise selection is often based on minimal load on the injured/repaired glenohumeral structures, while optimally activating scapulothoracic muscles. Previous research explored scapular muscle activity during rehabilitation exercises using surface electromyography (EMG). However, limited information exists about the deeper lying muscle activity, measured with fine-wire electrodes, even more in combination with 3-dimensional scapular kinematics.

Does scapular corrective taping alter periscapular muscle activity and 3-dimensional scapular kinematics? A systematic review.

Study Design: This is a systematic review.

Introduction: Scapular taping is widely used in the management of scapular dysfunction. However, its effects on the scapular kinematics and the electromyography (EMG) activity of the periscapular muscles are not clear.

Diet-induced weight loss alone or combined with exercise in overweight or obese people with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: The purposes were to (i) determine the effect of diet-only treatments and combined diet and exercise treatments on pain and physical function and (ii) explore the effect of these treatments on inflammatory biomarkers in overweight and obese adults with knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: Five electronic databases were searched until March 2017. Randomised controlled trials investigating the effect of non-surgical non-pharmacological weight loss treatment, with or without exercise, on self-reported pain and/or physical function and/or inflammatory biomarkers were selected.

The impact of different lenses on visual and musculoskeletal complaints in VDU workers with work-related neck complaints: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: The impact of wearing lenses on visual and musculoskeletal complaints in VDU workers is currently unknown. The goal of this study was 1) to evaluate the impact of wearing VDU lenses on visual fatigue and self-reported neck pain and disability, compared to progressive lenses, and 2) to measure the effect of both lenses on head inclination and pressure pain thresholds during the performance of a VDU task.

Methods: Thirty-five eligible subjects were randomly assigned to wear progressive VDU lenses (VDU group) (n = 18) or progressive lenses (P group) (n = 17).

The isokinetic rotator cuff strength ratios in overhead athletes: Assessment and exercise effect.

Objective: Muscle strength imbalance in the shoulder region can be considered as a predisposing factor in the development of movement dysfunctions, possibly leading to overuse injuries. Repetitive overhead throwing, performed in sports, may result in muscle imbalance between the external (ER) and internal (IR) rotators. Muscle strength measured with an isokinetic device, is reported as a concentric (CON) or eccentric (ECC) force.

Scapular muscle dysfunction associated with subacromial pain syndrome.

Study Design: Narrative Review.

Introduction: One of the shoulder pain disorders in which the function of the scapula is comprised is the subacromial pain syndrome. Several rehabilitation guidelines and exercises have been proposed to improve scapulothoracic muscle dysfunction.

Comparing Trigger Point Dry Needling and Manual Pressure Technique for the Management of Myofascial Neck/Shoulder Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate short-term and long-term treatment effects of dry needling (DN) and manual pressure (MP) technique with the primary goal of determining if DN has better effects on disability, pain, and muscle characteristics in treating myofascial neck/shoulder pain in women.

Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 42 female office workers with myofascial neck/shoulder pain were randomly allocated to either a DN or MP group and received 4 treatments. They were evaluated with the Neck Disability Index, general numeric rating scale, pressure pain threshold, and muscle characteristics before and after treatment.

Are chronic neck pain, scapular dyskinesis and altered scapulothoracic muscle activity interrelated?: A case-control study with surface and fine-wire EMG.

Objectives: The function of the scapula is important in normal neck function and might be disturbed in patients with neck pain. The surrounding muscular system is important for the function of the scapula. To date, it is not clear if patients with idiopathic neck pain show altered activity of these scapulothoracic muscles.

The influence of induced shoulder muscle pain on rotator cuff and scapulothoracic muscle activity during elevation of the arm.

Background: Altered recruitment of rotator cuff and scapulothoracic muscles has been identified in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome. To date, however, the cause-consequence relationship between pain and altered muscle recruitment has not been fully unraveled.

Methods: The effect of experimental shoulder pain induced by injection of hypertonic saline in the supraspinatus on the activity of the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, trapezius, and serratus anterior activity was investigated during the performance of an elevation task by use of muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging in 25 healthy individuals.

Scapulothoracic muscle activity during elevation exercises measured with surface and fine wire EMG: A comparative study between patients with subacromial impingement syndrome and healthy controls.

Background: The quality of the scapular movement depends on the coordinated activity of the surrounding scapulothoracic muscles. Besides the well-known changes in Trapezius and Serratus Anterior (SA) activity in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS), no studies exist that have investigated the activity of the smaller less superficial muscles that attach on the scapula (Pectoralis Minor (Pm), the Levator Scapulae (LS) and the Rhomboid Major (RM)) in a population with SIS, despite the hypothesized importance of these muscles in shoulder function.

Objectives: To investigate if patients with shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) show differences in deeper and superficial lying scapulothoracic muscle activity in comparison with a healthy control group during arm elevation tasks.

Superficial and Deep Scapulothoracic Muscle Electromyographic Activity During Elevation Exercises in the Scapular Plane.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Background: In scapular rehabilitation training, exercises that include a humeral elevation component in the scapular plane are commonly implemented. While performing humeral elevation, the scapula plays an important role, as it has to create a stable basis for the glenohumeral joint.

Serratus anterior or pectoralis minor: Which muscle has the upper hand during protraction exercises?

Background: The Serratus Anterior (SA) has a critical role in stabilizing the scapula against the thorax. Research has linked shoulder and neck disorders to impairments in the SA activation. Exercises that target the SA are included in the rehabilitation of shoulder or neck pain and mostly include a protraction component.

Evidence-based rehabilitation of athletes with glenohumeral instability.

Purpose: To give an overview of current knowledge and guidelines with respect to evidence-based rehabilitation of athletes with glenohumeral instability.

Methods: This narrative review combines scientific evidence with clinical guidelines based on the current literature to highlight the different components of the rehabilitation of glenohumeral instability.

Results: Depending on the specific characteristics of the instability pattern, the severity, recurrence, and direction, the therapeutic approach may be adapted to the needs and demands of the athlete.

Modifying the shoulder joint position during shrugging and retraction exercises alters the activation of the medial scapular muscles.

Background: In patients with shoulder or neck pain, often an imbalance of the activation in the scapular upward and downward rotators is present which can cause abnormalities in coordinated scapular rotation. Shrug exercises are often recommended to activate muscles that produce upward rotation, but little information is available on the activity of the downward rotators during shrugging exercises. The position used for the shrug exercise may affect the relative participation of the medial scapular rotators.

Optimal Normalization Tests for Muscle Activation of the Levator Scapulae, Pectoralis Minor, and Rhomboid Major: An Electromyography Study Using Maximum Voluntary Isometric Contractions.

Objective: To identify maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) test positions for the deeper-lying scapulothoracic muscles (ie, levator scapulae, pectoralis minor, rhomboid major), and to provide a standard set of a limited number of test positions that generate an MVIC in all scapulothoracic muscles.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Physical and rehabilitation medicine department.

Evidence for the Use of Ischemic Compression and Dry Needling in the Management of Trigger Points of the Upper Trapezius in Patients with Neck Pain: A Systematic Review.

The aim of this review was to describe the effects of ischemic compression and dry needling on trigger points in the upper trapezius muscle in patients with neck pain and compare these two interventions with other therapeutic interventions aiming to inactivate trigger points. Both PubMed and Web of Science were searched for randomized controlled trials using different key word combinations related to myofascial neck pain and therapeutic interventions. Four main outcome parameters were evaluated on short and medium term: pain, range of motion, functionality, and quality-of-life, including depression.

Analysis of scapular muscle EMG activity in patients with idiopathic neck pain: a systematic review.

It is proposed that altered scapular muscle function can contribute to abnormal loading of the cervical spine. However, it is not clear if patients with idiopathic neck pain show altered activity of the scapular muscles. The aim of this paper was to systematically review the literature regarding the differences or similarities in scapular muscle activity, measured by electromyography ( = EMG), between patients with chronic idiopathic neck pain compared to pain-free controls.

The relevance of scapular dysfunction in neck pain: a brief commentary.

Synopsis Though our understanding of motor disorders and mechanical neck pain has advanced, the role of scapular dysfunction in mechanical neck pain remains enigmatic. The biomechanical interdependence between the neck and scapula and the potentially deleterious consequences of scapular dysfunction in the cervical region are biomechanically plausible. Yet the relevance of observed scapular dysfunction in patients with neck pain is still inadequately explained by research.

Rehabilitation of scapular dyskinesis: from the office worker to the elite overhead athlete.

The scapula functions as a bridge between the shoulder complex and the cervical spine and plays a very important role in providing both mobility and stability of the neck/shoulder region. The association between abnormal scapular positions and motions and glenohumeral joint pathology has been well established in the literature, whereas studies investigating the relationship between neck pain and scapular dysfunction have only recently begun to emerge. Although several authors have emphasised the relevance of restoring normal scapular kinematics through exercise and manual therapy techniques, overall scapular rehabilitation guidelines decent for both patients with shoulder pain as well as patients with neck problems are lacking.