Shoulder Pain Complications & Solutions
Shoulder pain when reaching to a high shelf, washing your hair, pulling on pants or shirts, carrying heavy objects, reaching into the back seat of your car, or lying on your side at night?
Whether your shoulder pain is chronic, comes and goes, or only present with certain movements, your pain needs to be addressed to avoid complications in the future. Complications such as frozen shoulder or full tears can lead to surgical intervention and/or lengthy, intense rehab to regain strength and mobility that was lost. The earlier your shoulder pain is treated, the better the results can be. Masking shoulder pain with medication or injections will not fix the cause of the pain. Rehabilitation of the shoulder will address your specific issue by the customized program developed by your physical therapist when you are evaluated.
The shoulder joint is very complex. It consists of the scapula (shoulder blade), humerus, clavicle (collar bone), and ribs with muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fatty bursae attachments to make your arm move in all planes of motion. If one structure is not functioning optimally, it will negatively affect the structures around it and this leads to damage or pain. Some activities that can cause and perpetuate shoulder pain include working at a computer, using your cell phone, playing videogames, driving, or repetitive lifting, reaching, or throwing. All of these activities promote a less than optimal posture, which will shorten/tighten the muscles anteriorly and lengthen/inhibit posterior muscles over time. Another common reason for shoulder pain is exercise programs that are not balanced in terms of which muscles are being strengthened or lengthened.
The goal of physical therapy for shoulder rehab is to determine the weaknesses within the neck, shoulder, thorax, core, and even down to the lower extremities. We will address these weaknesses with specific exercises to mobilize, strengthen, or lengthen appropriate structures as well as include manual techniques to compliment the exercise program. Save days, months, or years of pain and come see us about your shoulder pain!