December Reading - Shirley Sahrmann

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For my December reading I was slightly inspired by Lynne going to see Shirley Sahrmann in Manchester, and raving about the experience and everything that she learnt. We have had her book, Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes for quite a while, and while I have dipped into it from time to time, I haven't really got to grips with the meat of the book.

It's quite a tome, and heavy going if you try to read the whole thing. Considering it is more like a reference/text book, I decided to take only one section of the book in order to give myself something to get into and understand as comprehensively as possible, rather than spread myself out across the whole thing, and only really get a general understanding of the general content.

In the past few months I have been seeing more and more people with various issues and pain patterns with the Shoulder Complex. Rotator Cuff Syndrome, bicipital tendonitis/tendonosus, painful shoulder syndrome, call it what you will, there are a large number of issues that could well impact on the whole area. My decision was based upon this, and so I chose to look at the introductory chapter, to get the general concepts behind the book, and also the final chapter, about the Shoulder and various Movement Impairment Syndromes that can be seen, diagnosed and corrected.

Having skipped through the chapters in the past, in a fairly cursory manner, the deep and specific reading that I was doing threw up a number of very interesting and exciting things about various muscles, syndromes, and issues that affect the shoulder.

I will not go into more specific detail here, but suffice to say, since reading this part of the book, my knowledge of the musculature, how the whole joint fits together, what can, and indeed does go wrong, and how to identify potential issues has gone through the roof. I thought I knew a fair bit about the shoulder, having had a few injuries in the past, (climbing and snowboarding have that effect...) but this is a whole new level. I have a lot more confidence now, speaking with clients about their shoulders and what may or may not be wrong with them, and am much more specific in terms of looking at particular points of the musculature and how it affects the shoulder, and also the body, as a whole.

Although this book is titles "Diagnosis....." I am under no illusions that I am now able to diagnose. As a Massage Therapist I can have an idea of what may be wrong, and just by reading and understanding a text such as this, it does not change that stand point.

I suspect that in the next few months I will be going back to this resource time and again to refresh my memory. Also, I will definitely be using the other chapters as specific reading material later on this year.
This is an excellent book for all types of manual therapists and PT's alike. It can be a little difficult to get into if you are not academically minded, but persevere and your knowledge of movement and impairment of movement will be transformed.