title: The pectoralis minor muscle and shoulder movement-related impairments and pain: Rationale, assessment and management.
abstract: The adaptive shortening or tightness of the pectoralis minor muscle (PMm) is one of the potential biomechanical mechanisms associated with altered scapular alignment at rest and scapular motion during arm elevation (scapular dyskinesis) in patients with shoulder complaints. This masterclass briefly reviews the role of the PMm in shoulder movement-related impairments and provides a critical overview of the assessment of PMm tightness and the conventional approaches to increase its resting length and extensibility. A rehabilitation approach focused on PMm stretching and simultaneous optimization of the kinematic chain of arm elevation is also discussed, hoping to improve the management of shoulder movement-related impairments and pain.
authors.affiliation: Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Health Sciences (ESSLei - IPL), Department of Health Technologies, Campus 2 - Morro do Lena - Alto do Vieiro, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal. Electronic address: rpgnunomorais@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nuno
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morais
authors.affiliation: Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, School of Health Sciences (ESSLei - IPL), Department of Health Technologies, Campus 2 - Morro do Lena - Alto do Vieiro, 2411-901 Leiria, Portugal; School of Health Sciences of the University of Aveiro (ESSUA), Campus Universitário de Santiago, Agras do Crasto, Edifício 30, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal. Electronic address: joana.cruz@ua.pt.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cruz
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation
keywords: Adaptive shortening; Scapular dyskinesis; Soft tissue tightness