Shoulder blade sticking out. Answers please.

[Mac's Matthew]

Hi folks! Matthew is 4 monhts now and his LOBPI continues to improve. He has difficulty with wrist suppination...but recently, I noticed his shoulder blade beginning to stick out slightly. Is this the dreaded "winging" I hear referred to on the forum? Should I be overly concerned given the progress he is making? Will it improve? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Mac

[admin]

my 11 month old has this. He also seems to have the right (injured) side back further than the left. He has little muscle in the shoulder blade, so thereapist told me.

[Clint]

Mac,

What you are describing sounds like winging. We have been dealing with it for a year now. Francine posted a great description of winging from Dr. Nath. Maybe she will repost it.

Winging is caused by weakness in the muscles that hold the scapula to the trunk (serratus anterior & rhomboid). Generally, winging does not interfere with shoulder function. In fact, it may be a positive sign indicating that the shoulder is not dislocated. The only way to treat wiging is to increase the strength of those muscles. We tried e-stim but our 2yo wasn;t cooperative, so we will try again in a few months. For now it's just an asthetics issue.

Good Luck.

Clint