Scapular dyskinesis: practical applications

Goran Ivanisevic had a career-limiting shoulder injury, Martin Verkerk took almost 2 years for his shoulder rehabilitation and Johan Santana is out for this season after re-injuring his shoulder. You are confronted with a tennis player presenting with pain when serving. Does your heart sink? To address these problems, Dr Ben Kibler spearheaded the 2nd International Conference on the Scapula in Lexington, Kentucky in July 2012. You can read the consensus paper from this conference in the September issue of the BJSM 1; you can listen to podcasts with Dr Kibler on the BJSM website. What are the practical applications for clinicians working with overhead athletes? The main focus of the conference was scapular dyskinesis—altered motion and positioning of the scapula.1 ,2 This condition is frequently found in athletes with shoulder injuries but can also be present in asymptomatic individuals. Its exact role in shoulder dysfunction is unknown. It is still unclear whether it is the cause or an effect of shoulder injuries (a compensatory mechanism for shoulder pathology). The shoulder consensus group agreed that scapular dyskinesis is …