Hiya,
For the past 10 years, I have been having physiotherapy on my knee (both left and right) on and off due to EDS Type III (Hypermobility Type). However, tomorrow I am due to start physiotherapy (NHS) on my right shoulder due to recurrent subluxations. Just wonder if anybody has experience physiotherapy for this, and how successful it has been in reducing pain, increasing strength and most importantly reducing subluxations?
Thanks, Kirsty X
p.s. my rotator cuff is still intact.
Hiya, I had physio for my shoulders but I didn't find it that useful. It depends whether or not you are mobile or not. I try and be as normal as possible but my shoulders subluxate and stick out like knives, but the physio aggravated the pain and my neck got worse as a result so I haven't had good experiences with physio. Occupational therapy was more useful as they come up with support aids etc. I find heat pads are the most useful to soothe the pain and keep joints warm. Sorry for being a downer on physio, but you never know you may get a fab physiotherapist who is good! x
Hiya, thank you for replying. And it's okay, I've got my fingers crossed that it works because they've already suggested surgery if it doesn't work so. I'll see what they come up with. Fingers crossed its all good!x
Hi Kirsty, did the physiotherapy work on your knees? And were you happy with the advice and treatment? Do you have stiff hips and ankles? I ask because my own view is that with recurrent shoulder joint problems it's a good idea to look at whether you have stiffness in your shoulder blades themselves - akin to the relationship between knees/ankles/hips... can you squeeze your shoulder blades together? Have you considered joining a physio led yoga class where the emphasis is on movement awareness rather than crazy legs bent double around the head type stuff? So that you are using both mobilising and strengthening techniques to get a uniform movement pattern... 
Hiya, thank you for replying. And in terms of my knees at first when I was younger, it had little effect but as I've got older I've found it a lot more useful, in particular after my surgeries. But I do have to say I can't fault my lower limb physiotherapists, as they've helped me both physically and emotionally over the years, they're all great people and great at their job. And no, my joints aren't stiff, that's the problem, I have a beighton score of 9, they're all too loose and unstable. I haven't considered the yoga thing. Other than pain is not really had a massive problem with my shoulders until more recently. X
Hi, I understand that youre hypermobile and glad physio has helped you especially after surgery when we are feeling particularly vulnerable. My understanding however is that some joints like knees can take a lot of the stress of movement but in fact things like hips can be stiffer than we appreciate which creates a vicious cycle where more movement has to be borne by the knees (looser than hips) rather than uniformly distributed throughout the movement system. Instability is a popular concept but if we were all so unstable we'd fall over - I think rather, we often suffer from not sharing the load evenly. Can you squeeze your shoulder blades together for example? This would indicate to me that there is stiffness there or lack of adequate proprioception (awareness) so that the front of the shoulder (the joint) is subjected to more movement than it can cope with (as you are hypermobile...) I too have parts of my body that are super stretchy especially when I was younger (i had a fondness for biting my toenails - bleurghhhh ) but stiffness crept in without my awareness and I ended up using the most vulnerable parts to compensate - result was first my lower back. It has taken a long time to come to appreciate when my hips and shoulder blades have stiffened up and need a good yoga sesh to keep the pain at bay... anyway, best wishes - hope the physio for your shoulders is good. There are plenty of strengthening regimes to do but without attention to the shoulder blade musculature and uniform arm work then it might be a recurring problem....
I'm not really sure to be quite honest about my shoulder blades. It's not something that I have ever looked at, but they come together but no where near touch, probably a couple of fingers gap. As to be honest I have mainly put the focus on my lower limbs, and medically I have much more interest in that side of things. Soon find out tomorrow what they say. And thank you😊
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