Shoulder Pain Treatment
Relieve your shoulder pain and get back in the game
Shoulder pain treatment
What is a rotator cuff
Your shoulder is one of the most complex joints in your entire body. Of all your joints, your shoulder is the most flexible and mobile joint of all. Because of this, it can also sometimes be the hardest kind of injury to fix.
SHOULDER INJURIES:
Rotator cuff tear
Frozen shoulder
Shoulder tendonitis
Symptoms Of Shoulder Injury
If you have a rotator cuff tear or bursitis in your shoulder, you may feel pain on the outside of your shoulder or in the front of your arm. Same goes for rotator cuff tendonitis. Sometimes, you may notice shoulder blade pain, or around your scapula. If you have a pinched or irritated nerve, this may show up as numbness or tingling down your arm because of the pinched shoulder nerve.
Other symptoms of shoulder problems may show up during certain motions or positions:
- You may find it hard to throw a ball or swing your golf club
- Laying on your side may be difficult
- If you have trouble putting on your shirt or reaching for your seatbelt, this may be because of shoulder impingement
Get Back In The Game
Get back to putting on your jacket or sleeping on your side without pain. Start playing golf or swimming again. Your physiotherapist or chiropractor can help
Shoulder Anatomy Explained
Some terms you may come across when dealing with shoulder pain can include something like, “rotator cuff”:
Rotator cuff
Your rotator cuff is actually 4 little muscles that are found around your shoulder blade. Their job is to stabilize and help control the movement of your arm and shoulder
Bursitis
A bursa is a fluid filled sac that sits between two different structures in your body. Their job is to help the two structures move and glide smoothly without causing too much friction or discomfort. You have several bursae located around your shoulder. When they get irritated and inflamed, this is called, “bursitis”
Tendon
A tendon is the soft tissue that connects your muscle to your bone. This is in contrast to your ligaments, which connect bones to other bones. When your tendons become strained or injured, this can lead to them being torn and inflamed, resulting in “tendonitis”.
Impingement
Just as the term implies, when you have shoulder impingement this means that something is getting pinched or impinged. A common problem is rotator cuff impingement. This is when one of your small rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus) gets pinched between your upper arm bone or humerus and your shoulder blade or scapula.
Causes of Shoulder Pain
Just as there are different colours in a rainbow, there are different ways you can hurt your shoulder. Some of the most obvious ways are being involved in an accident or falling on your arm or shoulder. Other popular ways are due to repetitive motions like hitting a volleyball, swimming or swinging your golf club.
Imbalance
Sometimes, when an imbalance develops between your muscle groups this can also add to your rotator cuff injury. For example, having strong, tight pecs and biceps relative to your back and rotator cuff muscles can create an imbalance which can sometimes lead to rotator cuff tendonitis.
Posture
Similar to muscle imbalances, poor posture can also add to your shoulder woes. Slouching or being slumped forward for long periods staring at a screen can be a factor with shoulder problems. This posture can also create similar muscle imbalances between your front and back leading to shoulder impingement.
Pinched nerve
Another source of shoulder pain could be coming from your neck. If you have any arthritis, degeneration or disc issues with your neck, this may irritate or pinch nerves in your neck. With a pinched or irritated shoulder nerve, you may notice pain, numbness or tingling anywhere from your neck, shoulder or down to your fingers.
Types Of Shoulder Injuries
Rotator cuff tear
A tear in your rotator cuff can happen from overuse or a sudden motion. The most commonly torn rotator cuff muscle is your supraspinatus, although any of them can tear as well. This is a small muscle that is found laying on the top part of your shoulder blade. When it tears, it is usually also where it can get impinged or pinched, namely under your shoulder blade and above your upper arm bone.
Shoulder bursitis
A common timeline for shoulder problems often starts with shoulder tendonitis. If your shoulder pain continues, it will often lead to shoulder bursitis where one or some of your shoulder bursae become inflamed, irritated and painful. Eventually, the bursitis in your shoulder can further turn into shoulder impingement.
Frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis is when you have trouble moving your shoulder in different directions. The most common would be rotating your arm outwards or external rotation. You will probably also have trouble raising your arm out to the side or lifting it forward. The easiest direction is usually bringing your arm in against your belly.
Other types of shoulder injuries can include:
- dislocation
- instability
- labrum tears
- separation
- snapping scapula syndrome
- subacromial bursitis
- tendinopathy
Shoulder Pain Treatment
As complicated as your shoulder is, there are many things you can do to try and relieve your shoulder pain.
Exercise
Many recovery programs for shoulder injuries include strengthening your rotator cuff muscles, those little stabilizers for your shoulder. Even with rotator cuff tears, you can still benefit from strengthening those muscles when it is safe to do so. There are many different ways to strengthen your rotator cuff. Some simple tools you can use include exercise bands, light weights and lacrosse balls.
Ice
With any tendonitis or bursitis where inflammation is a factor, using ice can help reduce the inflammation and pain.
Professional help
For help with your shoulder injury, your North Burnaby Heights physiotherapist or chiropractor at Cedar can help guide you in the right direction. They would first diagnose where the pain was coming from. Your physio or chiro can come up with a treatment plan for you to then get your pain under control. The next step would be to create an exercise program for you to target your shoulder muscles and help your recovery.
Other treatments for shoulder pain include:
- injections
- medications
- surgery
Results will of course vary from person to person
Check out this easy movement that can sometimes help improve shoulder movement
Patient Story
I struggled with back and shoulder pain for most of my life. I never got it thoroughly checked out and thought it was natural to be experiencing that sort of discomfort because of my work and age. After speaking to several friends, I was referred over … and after my 5th visit, my back and shoulder pain disappeared
Cecelia
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I relieve my shoulder pain?
What caused my shoulder pain?
How do I know if I tore my rotator cuff?
Get Back In The Game
Shoulder pain recovery can be complicated but we can help. From finding out what is causing your shoulder trouble to coming up with the right treatment and exercise plan
Get back to putting on your jacket or sleeping on your side without pain. Start playing golf or swimming again. Your physiotherapist or chiropractor can help
