Tom Willemann Health Tips

"Regular Health Tips From Physical Therapist Tom Willemann..."

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Where is my shoulder pain coming from?

It could be coming from your neck or your shoulder?  Unfortunately, I have treated patients that have had shoulder surgery for a fracture, rotator cuff repair, stabilization procedure for shoulder instability or a total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) that didn’t make enough progress.    Only later found to find out a portion of their shoulder pain was coming from their neck. 
At Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation in Wyckoff, NJ we have always screened patients,m even after shoulder surgery, to ensure the neck,  also known as the cervical spine,  is eliminated as a source of shoulder pain.   Through the years an excellent method for doing this, especially in more subtle cases, is by using a McKenzie Spine examination which uses repeated movements of the neck  as one of the key components of the examination method.  The goal of the physical therapist is to see if neck movements can cause a change in the patient’s shoulder pain.   If the patient reports a increase, decrease or elicits the symptoms of shoulder pain it allows us to factor for this in your plan of care.
If your orthopedic or sports physical therapist is not trained in an McKenzie Examination method at least ask them to do their own screen to “clear the cervical spine” again if you are not making satisfactory progress.
At Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation our orthopedic and sports physical therapists have the experience and  education to safely provide care to patients without a physician referral as per the Direct Access Law signed in 2003.     In addition to the cervical spine other medical problems can be the cause of pain in this region.  Please follow our upcoming blogs to understand other causes of shoulder pain.
Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation in Wyckoff, NJ provides orthopedic and sports physical therapy services for the greater Ridgewood, Wyckoff, and Bergen County region.  This blog is intended for informational purposes only and should not be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. The views expressed here are the author’s views and should be taken as suggestions. Always consult your doctor or healthcare practitioner before engaging in a orthopedic or sports physical therapy rehabilitation program.

Tom Willemann

Tom Willemann

Tom Willemann is a premier physical therapist based out of Bergen County, New Jersey. He holds an MS in physical therapy from the University of Miami, is credentialed in the world-renowned McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT), and holds an OCS (Orthopedic Clinical Specialist) certification. As of 2018, there are approximately 14,000 ABPTS certified specialists in the nation and less than 400 of them are located in the state of New Jersey. Tom is the owner and director of Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation in Paramus. He opened the clinic, which specializes in spine and sports injury prevention, in 2004 after many years of experience in the field. Tom’s caring interest in others and his strong belief in continuity of care, combined with his clinic’s ability to find solutions for the most difficult orthopedic problems, have earned Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation its excellent reputation with patients and medical professionals in northeastern New Jersey and beyond. A true “family man,” Tom takes pride in his clinic’s warm and welcoming environment.
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