What is causing your shoulder pain?

Until we answer this question, treating the pain will be a hit and miss and considering the number of conditions which may cause shoulder pain, more often than not, it will be a ‘miss’! We can make many (potentially incorrect) assumptions:

  • Older people are more likely to have arthritis
    (but this doesn’t automatically cause pain)
  • Active people can have rotator cuff tears
    (but research shows this is probably normal – believe it or not!)
  • If you’ve recently had a car accident, you may have whiplash
    (which may or may not cause pain)
  • If you’ve suddenly and enthusiastically started a new activity, you may have a tendinopathy
    (or your tendons could be perfectly fine)
  • If you’ve had an xray you may have been told its impingement
    (but research supports this concept less and less)
  • If you fell recently it could be a fracture
    (or your bones may be intact)
  • You can have very limited shoulder mobility it could be the dreaded frozen shoulder
    (but many conditions cause pain and restricted mobility)
  • If you’ve neglected your strength training you might have weak shoulders
    (Does weakness cause pain? Really??)

MOST IMPORTANTLY, you could also simultaneously fall into each and every one of the above scenarios and not have any one of those conditions! Pain and musculoskeletal dysfunction is a complex environment and in the interest of efficiency or wanting to show competence or confidence, health professionals, patients, friends and even Google will easily lead us on any incorrect path. Taking one or 2 elements into account and ignoring the others brews incorrect assumptions, poor responses to treatment and lasting symptoms!

Consider the following:

  • How did your symptoms come about (traumatic, instantaneous onset of over time)
  • Does your pain intensity fluctuate from day to day?
  • Does the pain location change / move around / spread or become more localised?
  • Did the current pain actually start off as pain in another area?
  • Do you have other medical conditions which may impact your shoulder?
  • Do you have headaches of pins and needles accompanying the shoulder pain?
  • Is it the shoulder joint or the shoulder blade?

As professionals specialised in the health and functional capacity of the neuromusculoskeletal system we need to consider all the above and more before we can even consider a possible diagnosis and even then, there are likely still 3 or 4 possibilities we need to rule out to get to the bottom of it all.

If you’ve allowed someone’s (even you own or that of a health practitioner) momentary judgement of your symptoms determine your diagnosis and required treatment, and especially if such treatment fell short of providing an impactful and lasting improvement, perhaps your real answer is still out there!

If you have any doubt as to whether you can see improvements despite already having received any repeated or ongoing treatments for your shoulder, you deserve to really be sure and we’ll gladly assist with that.

Your health and physical wellbeing should be a priority deserving of quality care. Make sure to discuss any concerns you may have directly with your preferred physiotherapist, so that you can receive the appropriate guidance for your unique situation.

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