Posterolateral Scapular Treatment Patterns | Modern Manual Therapy Blog - Manual Therapy, Videos, Neurodynamics, Podcasts, Research Reviews

Posterolateral Scapular Treatment Patterns

Here are some patterns in the posterior scapula and upper arm I commonly find and treat to improve GH elevation.




The arrows are not 100% always treat in this direction, but more of directional patterns.

The patterns are

  • around the bony contours of the spine of the scapula 
  • mid scapula medial to lateral
  • lateral border of the scapula both proximal to distal and distal to proximal
  • all patterns intersect and then move along to the lateral and mid belly of the triceps and anconeus
I position the patient in an abducted position sitting next to a table to elongate these structures after prepping with general IASTM or STM. You can progress to reaching and rolling over a ball or towel slide to place the tissues on more tension while performing STM on them.

Treating these patterns will help improve
  • GH elevation
  • scapulohumeral rhythm
  • radial neurodynamics
I have found these to be useful for frozen shoulders and impingements with posterior capsule restrictions especially combined with thoracic mobilization/thrust. 

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