05/31/2026
Goddamn subscap.
Let’s talk this through though. This is my experience, which of course may not be yours, but here’s why this is happening to me. One of the places where my ligaments really don’t seem to be ligamenting well is my left scapula. As a result, I have scapular dyskinesis with mild winging (ya know, that super awesome clunking sound every time you roll the shoulder back). Because human bodies tend to have underdeveloped stabilizer muscles because we largely rely on ligament stability, my rotator cuff, and my left subscapularis in particular, tries like all hell to step in and do the stabilizing work.
Buuuut it’s not that good at it. Our rotator cuff are what I call “effector” muscles- muscles that move joints, not keep them in place. But now it’s working super hard to do both, meaning I have both serious muscle fatigue around my left scapula and also a lot of muscle spasm, pain and general unhappiness.
It’s also destabilizing my AC, joint - our proper shoulder joint that attaches our shoulder to our clavicle - because the anterior (from side) of the subscap attaches to that joint and when it’s spasming, it pulls it forward. Not to mention that when your scapula wings it’s actually rolling forward, causing a domino effect that “dumps” your shoulder joint forward.
Lots of ouch.
The solution, like most issues in the joints that have their root in the loss of ligament support, is to bring up those stabilizers. They have to kick on now - they have to be a reliable plan B in the case of ligament failure. They have to make themselves into an internal brace so that the ligaments can fail safely without the joint destabilizing, and without the effector muscles trying to do the job instead.
It’s work, and it’s not happening today. Today I sling the arm and let it rest. Tomorrow, I keep bringing up those scapular stabilizers that need to get stronger (which for me is primarily the anterior serratus) with a variety of stabilization exercises.
Seriously, f*%k EDS. But there’s help.
Also not me considering going back for my DPT instead of finishing my DNP 🤓
