What causes shoulder pain?
Here are some common causes of shoulder pain:
degradation of joint surfaces (osteoarthritis)
damage to the cartilage within the shoulder joint (labral tear)
injury to various ligaments (acromioclavicular ligament tear is most common)
poor scapular motion while raising your arm overhead due to muscle imbalance (poor scapular mobility/timing)
tight or scar tissue compromised joint capsule where the upper arm meets the shoulder
tear/inflammation of the supraspinatus tendon due to arthritis, excessive use or improper muscle firing patterns (rotator cuff impingement syndrome/ rotator cuff tear/ rotator cuff tendinitis, painful arc syndrome)
inflammation of a fluid filled sac above the ball and socket joint (subacromial bursitis)
extensive formation of scar tissue within shoulder joint causing limited movement (frozen shoulder)
other medical condition (infection, cancer, bone spur, cardiovascular disease, etc.)
The determination of what is causing shoulder pain is extremely important in successfully treating it.
How can a physical therapist help?
Physical therapists use the specific history of your shoulder pain, your other health conditions that may contribute, description and location of the pain, visual movement analysis, palpation and specialized tests to determine where your pain is coming from (joint, muscle, nerve, ligament, bone, cartilage). Then, depending on what is going on with your particular case, we use the appropriate exercises and specialized methods to address the root of your pain.
What does the research show?
1. In one particular study, 3 out of 4 people demonstrated significant improvement with physical therapy for rotator cuff tears.3
2. In another study, manual therapy techniques used in physical therapy treatment demonstrated an significant decrease in pain levels.4
QUICK FACTS
Some studies show that shoulder pain can affect up approximately 50% of middle aged people.1
Shoulder pain is the 3rd most common issue people seek physical therapy for.2
SOURCES
1. Pribicevic M. The Epidemiology of Shoulder Pain: A Narrative Review of the Literature. InPain in Perspective 2012. InTech.
2. Barrett E. Examining the Role of Thoracic Kyphosis in Shoulder Pain [Phd Thesis]. Limerick: University of Limerick. 2016.
3. Kuhn et al. Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. 2013 October.
4. J Man Manip Ther. 2009; 17(4): 206–215. doi: 10.1179/106698109791352076.