PATIENT SUCCESS
JAMES TUTTLE
James Tuttle came to PT Northwest West Salem with complaints of left shoulder pain. As an active, soon-to-be junior at West Salem High School, he was experiencing pain during his golf swing. It had been worsening over the last couple of months and he reported that it almost felt as if his shoulder was dislocating and popping out halfway at the end of his swing. Renske Rose, MSPT, CIMT was James’ physical therapist and upon her evaluation, it was apparent to her that he lacked stability at the left shoulder and had a possible superior GH ligament strain with definite muscle imbalance at the rotator cuff. Physical therapy focused on getting James to strengthen for stability, having him come in twice a week to systematically work on scapular strength first, then progress into doing more dynamic strengthening. Renske also addressed the limited internal rotation with some joint mobilization and had him get together with his golf coach to improve and revamp his golf swing so he wouldn’t put undue stress on the left shoulder. James did a tremendous job on following through with his program at home, was consistent and ready for his therapy and progressed faster than expected. It took him one month to retrain his left shoulder and is now symptom free and playing golf without any pain or restriction.
