Chronic shoulder pain can prevent you from taking part in simple activities of daily living, including brushing your teeth or lifting something. Therefore, as soon as you start experiencing shoulder pain, you should seek treatment to relieve symptoms and promote comfort. Shoulder pain can be due to various causes, and determining the cause is essential for developing a treatment plan for you. Therefore, if you are experiencing shoulder pain and are interested in seeking relief and determining the cause, Dr. Kevin McElroy provides a solution to all your concerns. He works with other healthcare providers to offer the best treatment options available for shoulder pain to alleviate pain and ensure your need is taken care of. Let’s learn more about the causes and treatment options available for shoulder pain.
What are the causes of shoulder pain?
Some of the common causes of shoulder pain or injuries include:
Fracture
occurs when a bone cracks or breaks following a fall. Common shoulder fractures are humerus and clavicle fractures. In cases of clavicle fractures, your shoulder sag, and you cannot lift your arm.
Dislocation
usually occurs when your shoulder is rotated too far, pulled back too hard, or your arm pops out of the socket. In this case, you experience pain and weakness in your shoulder and bruising, swelling, and numbness.
Cartilage tear
when the cartilage surrounding your shoulder joint is injured, it results in a cartilage tear causing pain and weakness. You might also feel that the joint is grinding, catching, or locking.
Separation
occurs when there is a separation in the acromioclavicular joint due to damage to the ligaments whose purpose is to hold bones together. Therefore, if your clavicle is displaced, a bump is seen on your shoulder.
Bursitis
the fluid-filled sac around your joint, also known as the bursa, can get irritated due to repetition of the same movements resulting in inflammation. Inflammation of the bursa causes pain.
Other causes
additional causes like rheumatoid arthritis, heart attack, osteoarthritis, bone spurs, referred pain, and tendonitis also leads to shoulder pain.
How is shoulder pain diagnosed?
Initially, your care provider begins by performing a complete physical examination to help determine the extent of the injury. They also perform a test to evaluate your range of motion to determine the flexibility and strength of your injury. Additional tests performed include MRIs, x-rays, arthroscopy, CT scan, or electromyography.
What are shoulder pain treatment options available?
In case of separations, dislocations, or fractures, your care provider gets you back into position and holds it using a sling to ensure it remains in the correct place. But for other cases, your care provider may recommend ice, heat, rest, or medications, including ibuprofen or aspirin, to reduce swelling and pain effectively. If your shoulder pain persists after trying the above remedies, your care provider may decide to inject corticosteroids directly into the shoulder joint to alleviate pain and swelling. Rotator cuff tears, cartilage tears, or frozen shoulders require surgery.
Shoulder pain can affect your productivity at work because it is very uncomfortable. Therefore, if you are experiencing shoulder pain and seeking relief, you can get started by calling or booking your appointment at Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine.
