A shoulder joint, which is made up of there crucial bones: the scapula, clavicle, and humerus, is one of the most complicated joint systems in the human body. And if any of these bones are injured or inflamed, you will experience severe pain in your shoulder. Apart from that, there are several other causes of shoulder pain, that we will discuss in this post.
According to Springfield Physical Therapy, “Shoulder pain can occur for a variety of reasons but is typically from poor posture, weakness of rotator cuff muscles or injury.”
Shoulder pain can affect your ability to move your hand freely. For example, if you are experiencing pain in your shoulder, you will find it difficult to lift your hand to pick something from an overhead shelf, tie your hair, hold your child in your arms, and scratch your back.
Causes of Shoulder Pain
Dislocation
When a bone in your shoulder joint slips out of its actual position due to an injury, it is called dislocation. Dislocation cause a lot of pain, swelling, and discomfort. It’s better to seek quick medical attention to treat shoulder dislocation.
Fracture
If you break scapula, clavicle, or humerus, you will experience severe pain in your shoulder. The severity of the pain changes depending on the number of bones you break. If you have more than one broken bone, you are bound to experience enormous pain.
Rotator Cuff Tear
Rotator cuff tear injuries are also a common cause of shoulder pain. The rotator cuff is nothing but a group of muscles and tendons that play a crucial role in keeping your shoulder intact. It’s common among people who play sports that put pressure on their shoulder. For example, tennis players and baseball players are more vulnerable to rotator cuff tear.
Tendinitis
Tendinitis is also a common shoulder problem that leads to pain and discomfort. It occurs when a tendon attached to a bone in the shoulder joint gets inflamed.
Arthritis
Arthritis, which has over 100 different forms, is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. Rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, avascular necrosis are some of the common types of arthritis that affect shoulder.
Now, let’s take a look at how to treat shoulder pain.
Physical Therapy
Physical therapy is a drug-free and surgery-free treatment for relieving shoulder pain. If your shoulder injury is not that severe, then you shouldn’t look for any other treatment option, apart from physical therapy.
However, if you are experiencing unbearable pain, then you can combine medicines along with physical therapy. You can take painkillers to subside the pain immediately if you are unable to bear it. However, you must remember that they can’t treat the root cause of your pain.
An experienced physical therapist can treat the primary source of your pain naturally. Therefore, it’s better to rely on them. They do not create a care plan for you until they find out the root cause of your pain. And to discover the actual cause of your pain, they will conduct a physical examination, evaluate your signs and symptoms, and check your medical history.
For example, if you haven’t experienced any shoulder injury, and the pain in your shoulder worsens during the morning time after you wake up from the sleep, then it might be because of arthritis. Patients with both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis experience pain and stiffness in their joints in the morning.
So, if arthritis is the primary cause of your shoulder pain, then your physical therapist might try to reduce it with the help of manual therapy, wherein they will use skilled hand movements to offer relaxation to you.
Apart from that, they might also use therapeutic exercise to strengthen the muscles surrounding your joint and to relieve pain.
However, if the pain in your shoulder is due to an injury, then your therapist might use heat and cold therapies to subside it. The best part of consulting a physical therapist is that you can avoid expensive treatments such as surgeries.
Yes, you got that right. If you see a physical therapist as soon as you start experiencing the symptoms of shoulder pain, they can control your condition from worsening by offering you the right treatment.
Apart from that, if you are someone who has already undergone a surgical treatment to cure your shoulder condition, you can still seek physical therapy to shorten your recovery period. You need to restore your flexibility, strength, and range of motion after the surgery. And consulting a physical therapist is the best way to achieve this goal.
They will include a wide range of flexibility and strength building exercises in your care plan to help you return quickly to your normal life. Your therapist will keep on tracking your progress, and in case they observe that the treatment techniques that they are using are unable to speed up your recovery process, they will make changes to your care plan quickly.
Apart from seeking physical therapy, you should also focus on providing nutritious food to your body to strengthen your bones and muscles. You should consume a lot of dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt. Besides, you should also up the intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, egg, and nuts.
And to reduce joint inflammation, you should also include anti-inflammatory foods in your diet. For example, you should eat a lot of blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries. You should also include salmon, sardines, and mackerel in your diet because they contain omega-3 fatty acids.
