Worried About Shoulder Pain?

Are you worried about shoulder pain? Does shoulder pain wake you up at night? Does it stop you from reaching high shelves or reaching for your seat belt? Are you concerned that shoulder pain may be threatening your ability to work, throw the ball with your kids, or even drive your car?

The shoulder is the
most flexible joint in the body. It’s so flexible that unlike other joints, it has
very few ligaments holding it together. Instead the shoulder has a group of
muscles called the rotator cuff that act like adjustable ligaments to stabilize
the joint in any position, whether you are reaching overhead to grab something
off a shelf or reaching down to do pushups. The shoulder’s exceptional
flexibility comes at a cost the shoulder’s huge range of motion and lack of
limiting ligaments makes it an inherently unstable joint that is prone to
injury and pain.

Common injuries in
the shoulder are impingement, rotator cuff tears, and labrum tears. Evidence
suggests that shoulder injuries are more common than previously suspected. One
study estimated that 70% of people over 60 years old have rotator cuff tears.
One reason these injuries may go undetected is because people associate pain,
stiffness, and weakness with age – or they may not be aware that there are
solutions available.

What’s the trade
off? What do we get in return for this injury prone and potentially troublesome
joint? Well in biomechanical terms, the shoulder is the platform for hand
function. As human beings, we use our hands for everything: writing, lifting,
carrying, communicating, climbing, and weightbearing activities – and the joint
that allows all this to happen is the shoulder. The shoulder moves the hand
wherever it needs to go while stabilizing it. So, in face, the shoulders make
basically everything possible, let’s face it. Imagine if you couldn’t move your
hands around. How would you get anything done?

There are many
different factors that influence shoulder pain and usually there are several
things that may be preventing the shoulder from getting better when a full
recovery is possible. When looking for a solution it is important to take all
these things into account to get the best possible outcome.

What can a person do
if they have shoulder pain and they do not want to take medication, shots, or
even consider surgery? Maybe they have tried some of these options and not had
the results they were hoping for and are now looking for other ways to move
forward.

In this series of
articles, we will post over the coming weeks, we will talk in detail about
shoulder pain and some of its possible causes. I am also going to talk about
things that affect the success of treatments, things you can do at home, and
where the best place is to start if you want to fix your shoulder pain or how
avoid pain in the first place.

In next week’s
article, we will talk in detail about the most common causes of shoulder pain.

Contact Us

Do you have questions about Avala Physical Therapy or one of its programs? Call and schedule a complimentary consultation with one of our Physical Therapist experts today at 985.801.6265.

Thanks for reading. I hope you found something useful in this week’s article. Check in next week for more tips and tricks on how to get healthy and stay that way.

Paul Jones, Director of Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation Services
Avala Physical Therapy