Have You Got Pain In Your Shoulders? Here’s Why! Shoulders are one of the most commonly injured joints in the body. This is because they sacrifice a lot of stability for their great range of mobility. The shoulder joint is best visualised as a golf-ball sitting on a tee; the large, ball like end of the humerus (upper arm) sits within the socket like glenoid fossa, which is actually part of the scapula, or shoulder blade.
You are most likely to get a shoulder injury as a result of repetitive overhead activities, or from a direct trauma to your shoulder.
Pain is the most common presenting symptom of a shoulder injury, and this may be accompanied by varying degrees of stiffness, locking, pins and needles in the arm, or feeling like you have a ‘dead arm’.
The majority of shoulder injuries are not serious and with a little help from a healthcare professional to obtain the correct diagnosis and an appropriate treatment plan, the pain and dysfunction should improve in a short period of time.
- Is the shoulder stiff? Can you rotate your arm in all the normal positions?
- Does it feel like your shoulder could pop out or slide out of the socket?
- Do you lack the strength in your shoulder to carry out your daily activities?
If you answer, “yes” to any one of these questions or are experiencing recurring shoulder, neck, or arm pain, you should consult a healthcare professional. Early intervention is one of the best forms of treatment!
If you present to a member of our team with a shoulder complaint it will be managed by first taking a thorough history to find out exactly how and when the injury occurred, do a thorough physical exam which will include a variety of Orthopaedic tests to give you the most accurate diagnosis possible, and a treatment plan that will include some manual work, like massage, muscle releases, stretches and mobilisations/manipulations, as well as advising you of rehab exercises to do at home to give you the best outcome possible.
The best way to avoid injuries to your shoulder is to: avoid doing too much overhead work, heavy lifting and repetitive motions of your shoulder (don’t bowl a cricket ball 100 times in a row).
Below is listed some of the more common shoulder injuries that present to us. If you think you might be suffering from one of these, don’t hesitate to ask one of our great Chiro’s or Osteo’s for their professional opinion and advice.
- Rotator Cuff injury/tear
- Impingement
- Instability
- Arthritis
- Scapula Dyskinesia
- Frozen Shoulder
Article written by Dr Josh Murphy (Chiropractor)
References:
http://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/exandshoulderpaintemp.pdf
http://www.tdi.texas.gov/pubs/videoresource/fspreventingsho.pdf
