Shoulder Pain

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Physical Therapy & Chiropractic Care In Northern Colorado

Whether you are cooking, driving, or typing during your day, you will likely be required to raise your arm to some degree. Having a sore or seriously injured shoulder can disrupt your everyday routine and be extremely frustrating. If you are experiencing shoulder pain, reach out to Scott Family Health soon! We can diagnose the cause of your discomfort and help you get back to normal.

 

Are You Experiencing The Symptoms Of Shoulder Pain?

  • Stiffness
  • Swelling
  • Trouble lifting items
  • Muscle Spasms
  • Shoulder is popping out of socket
  • Entire arm feeling weak or numb
  • Visible shoulder deformity

Until you injured your shoulder, you may have not realized how wide its range of motion is, and how often you raise or rotate it throughout the day. Now you have some form of shoulder injury and can’t stop thinking about how bad it hurts.

Like the hip, your shoulder is another one of your body’s ball and socket joints. We use our shoulders to lift, pull, and push, leaving them vulnerable to over straining or serious injury.

Shoulder pain is common in manual labor workers as well as athletes. As you age and your bones and tendons become weaker, the risk of experiencing a shoulder injury will rise. Certain diseases can also bring pain to the shoulder region.

Thankfully, the highly-trained staff at Scott Family Health has seen it all, and can quickly diagnose your injury and recommend treatment options. The professionals in our clinic will examine your shoulder and range of motion to determine which tendons or bones in your shoulder are the source of the pain. In some cases X-rays or other diagnostic tests are used to take a closer look at your joint to pinpoint the exact source of the pain. Sometimes, rest and simple exercises are the best treatment for a sore shoulder. Other times our specialists will prescribe more intensive treatment options to get you back to your normal self.

 

Possible Diagnoses And Conditions Treated By Our Chiropractors At Scott Family Health In Loveland:

Bicep Tendonitis 

Most people know that the bicep is the muscle on the front side of your upper arm. Bicep tendonitis occurs when there is excessive strain on the bicep tendon, often due to heavy lifting or situations where you repeatedly elevate your arms over your head. Sports where bicep tendonitis is common include baseball, swimming, and tennis. There are cases where rest and an ice pack will help reduce the swelling and pain caused by bicep tendonitis. However, we might recommend regular physical therapy sessions at our clinic to strengthen your shoulder and prevent you from experiencing tendonitis in the future.

Referred Shoulder Pain

Referred pain refers to pain in one part of the body that is being caused by an injury in another part of the body. When it comes to shoulder pain, the neck and upper back are common culprits that can result in you feeling pain in your shoulder. Your heart, lungs, or abdominal muscles could also be causing shoulder pain in a roundabout fashion. If you are experiencing shoulder pain in varying areas and severities from day to day, you may be experiencing referred shoulder pain. Our chiropractors can determine the source of the problem and recommend the best course of action.

Rotator Cuff Tear

Your rotator cuff is a group of muscles that come together over the top of your humerus to help give your shoulder a full range of motion. Rotator cuff tears will often occur as a sudden injury due to bracing your arm while falling or performing a heavy lift. They are common in baseball players, especially pitchers. Like many shoulder injuries, they can also tear due to weakening over time because of prolonged activities that put extra stress on your shoulder. If you have a rotator cuff tear, you do run the risk of tearing it further if you continue to put a lot of pressure on it.

Rotator Cuff Tendonitis

Similar to bicep tendonitis, experiencing rotator cuff tendonitis means that you have damaged tendons in your shoulder. Rotator cuff tendonitis is caused by the same things that typically cause rotator cuff tears, but you are fortunate in that the rotator cuff hasn’t actually torn. If you are experiencing any degree of rotator cuff tendonitis, you will still find it difficult to lift heavy objects or even raise your arm. Our specialists will tell you that it is important to rest your tendonitis as it heals in order to minimize the risk of it getting worse. They can also perform acupuncture, chiropractic, or physical therapy techniques to help with the healing.

Subacromial Bursitis

The subacromial bursa protects the ball and socket joint that is your shoulder, reducing the friction between bone and tissue. Bursae are small liquid filled sacs that perform this function all over your body. Inflammation of your shoulder bursa can lead to the development of subacromial bursitis.  Subacromial bursitis is an injury that often goes hand in hand with other shoulder injuries, due to the fact that the bursae work in conjunction with the tendons and ligaments in the shoulder. Once again, it is most common in athletes or individuals such as manual laborers and factory workers who might need to repeatedly raise their arms over their head. However, you are more susceptible to experiencing bursitis as you grow older. Rest, ice, painkillers, and professionally diagnosed stretches and exercises will help heal this condition over time.

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome 

TOS refers to a condition when the nerves, arteries, and veins in the chest area close to your shoulder become irritated or injured. The three main types of TOS are scalene syndrome, which involves the compression of blood vessels as the pass from the neck to the shoulders, clavicular syndrome, which affects the blood vessels between your collarbone and ribs, and pectoralis minor syndrome, which affects the blood vessels and nerves under your pectoral muscle. If you are experiencing any of these three syndromes, you might be feeling tingling or numbness near your shoulder and the surrounding area. If left untreated, this condition can become more serious and lead to problems in other areas of your body. If you think you might be experiencing TOS you should consult an expert.