Shoulder Pain

 

Are you experiencing pain in your shoulder?

 

Do you feel as if the pain is deep in the shoulder joint?

Do you feel the pain mainly when moving the shoulder?

Do you feel weakness or stiffness in the shoulder and upper arm, making it feel like it tires easily?

Do you hear a clicking or popping noise when you move your shoulder?

Do you find it difficult to reach behind your back?

Is it painful to sleep on your side?

Are you unable to lift your arm above your head, making it difficult to wash or brush your hair?

Do you have difficulty completely straightening your arm?

Do you feel a sharp pain when you rest your elbows on a table or desk?

Do you also have neck pain?

Are you unable to turn your neck backwards making driving or riding a bicycle very difficult?

Do you also feel any pain, swelling, numbness, tingling or burning in the arm or hand?

 

Pain in the shoulders can often be mistaken as: Bursitis, angina, tendinitis, muscle strain, compressed cervical nerve root, rotator cuff injury and adhesive capsulitis

 

Possible causes for muscular pain of the shoulder: Keeping your arms in a contracted position for extended periods of time (keeping your arms outstretched in front, driving a car, working to hold heavy tools, carrying a baby or small child, typing at a computer), whiplash, carrying a heavy backpack, prolonged immobilization of the shoulder (having your arm in a cast for months), repetitive exercise that exhausts the arms and shoulders (gymnastics, swimming, tennis, rowing, throwing a ball, et al.), and chest breathing (versus breathing with your diaphragm).

 

Muscles that cause shoulder pain can also have the following effects: Pain can extend all the way down the upper arm, forearm and into the hand, wrist and fingers, especially when nerves and blood vessels are entrapped by tight muscles of the shoulder girdle.

 

 

What can you do to ease your pain?  Taking a paracetamol for muscular pain only temporarily and artificially resolves the problem. Once the medicine wears off, the pain returns---sometimes even worse. Massage will address the source of the pain to alleviate the stress to the particular muscles and soft tissues involved, as well as affect the nervous system to produce hormones that make us naturally feel better.