Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain can be related to many conditions including: rotator cuff disorders, frozen shoulder, instability disorder, acromioclavicular joint disorder, glenohumeral joint, inflammatory arthritis, septic arthritis, Paget’s disease, avascular necrosis. Pain can also arise from other places like the neck (known as referred neck pain).

Shoulder pain is assessed during an initial assessment to find out what symptoms you have, any underlying conditions and any other history related to the condition. In the physical assessment there will be a series of special tests and observations of movements to identify what condition it is so that we can come to a diagnosis .

The treatment options for this include stretching and mobility training exercises, strengthening exercises, cupping, acupuncture, ultrasound therapy, massage and joint manipulation. These treatments help to relieve shoulder symptoms like stiffness, limited joint mobility/stability and pain .

Rotator cuff disorder: this is an impingement in the shoulder causes pain usually at the top or sides of the ‘rotator cuff’ due to tendon instability.The main purpose the rotator cuff is to provide stability to the shoulder joint allowing us to make the usual movement like bringing our arm up, rotate it and being able to lift things. So when this weakens there is generally pain in the shoulder area, neck pain associated with it, weakness, popping /clicking, disturbed sleep. The testing for this is called the drop arm test where a person is unable to support the weight of their arm at a 90 degree angle therefore it will drop.