Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain can be one of the most painful conditions to have when it affects your life — difficulty with washing your hair, putting on or taking off your shirt, carrying your bag, or even reaching to get a cup! Did you know that 15 out of 1000 people will get shoulder pain, and that it is more likely to affect females than males?

COMMON CAUSES OF SHOULDER PAIN

Frozen shoulder (Common recovery time: 3 months-1 year)

Due to injury to the shoulder, the capsule around the joint gets inflamed, thickens with scar tissue, and tightens up. This causes pain and loss of movement, especially with putting your hand behind your back. It commonly happens to females than males, and between the ages 40-60 years old. More information can be found on our site here and here.

Tendon tears (Common recovery time: 3-6 months)

The 4 rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, subscapularis) help in stabilizing the shoulder joint. Trauma over time or a sudden injury, can cause any one of these four tendons to tear. It may feel like a pain deep within the shoulder that progressively worsens and gets worse with activity.

Shoulder impingement (Common recovery time: 3-6 months)

The same tendons may get trapped in the space underneath our bone in the shoulder. When it repeatedly rubs against the bone in your shoulder, it results in inflammation and pain when you raise your arm up. This is commonly caused by weakness of the muscles around the shoulder and midback.  

WHAT KIND OF TREATMENTS CAN HELP SOLVE SHOULDER PAIN?

Chiropractic adjustments: When there is pain and limitation raising the arm, making sure that the spine isn’t restricted can improve recovery of the shoulder because that movement involves upper and midback spine extension.

Physiotherapy rehabilitation: Specific exercises are important to prevent further wasting of muscles around the shoulder joint from pain and poor movement. If muscles waste further, it makes regaining movement of the shoulder back difficult.

Shockwave Therapy: We use ESWT evidence-based principles to help reduce stiffness and improve pain and healing of the shoulder joint. 

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO AT HOME?

• ICE: Applying ice (or a pack of frozen peas) around your shoulder can help relieve inflammation and reduce the intensity of pain. Apply them wrapped in a damp towel for 10 minutes, several times throughout the day.
• REST and MODIFY ACTIVITIES: Stop doing the activity that may have caused the shoulder pain. You may need to modify your movements (such as wearing button shirts instead) initially, to give time for inflammation to reduce. It’s important to move the shoulder gently but not push it.
• PILLOW: Sometimes a pillow that is too low can cause excessive pressure on your injured shoulder, especially if you sleep on your side. Make sure that the height of your pillow is enough to support your neck AND shoulders using this guide, and use additional towels or pillows if needed! You can also purchase an ergonomic Postura pillow from here.

If you’ve tried these tips and you’re still being bothered with pain when reaching up or putting on your clothes, call us to set up an appointment and let’s get started on your journey to pain-free movement. 

Understanding Shoulder Pain

Choosing the Right Pillow