Shoulder Pain Treatment In Jacksonville, FL.

Our shoulders are unique. They play such a crucial role in our daily lives. Nearly every movement involving your upper body requires the use of your shoulder joints. In fact, it has the most range of motion of all the joints in our bodies. Unfortunately, all this motion comes with a cost: shoulder pain occurs in around 70% of people at one or more points throughout their lives. Seventy percent! Part of the reason these joints are so prone to injury and pain is that their ball-and-socket joint makes them the most mobile joints in our entire body. The complex movement patterns of the shoulder joints mean that several essential muscles attach to the shoulder and make it move, making it easy (and common) for muscular problems to develop.

Not only are shoulder problems common, but they frequently last quite a long time. Some shoulder pain goes away relatively quickly, and some of it persists for a long time: 50% of cases of shoulder pain resolve in 8-12 weeks. On the other hand, 40% of them become chronic and last for more than a year.

One of the leading causes of shoulder pain is poor posture. As we all become increasingly terrible in terms of our posture – think about our phones and tablets and just how many people are sitting all day long – the prevalence of posture-related shoulder problems is rising. The good news is we can improve our posture with effort and a little help! Some other causes of shoulder pain are beyond our control, such as trauma, osteoarthritis, repetitive movements, and stress. Managing our stress levels and improving our posture are two things anybody can start to improve, no matter where you’re starting. One of the other leading causes of shoulder pain is joint misalignment, both in the shoulder and the neck.

It’s important to understand that pain felt in the shoulder can both refer TO other areas and FROM other areas. This means that we often need to look beyond just the shoulder when finding the cause of the pain. The chiropractor’s job is to find areas of misalignment in your spine and correct them. That takes pressure off the nerves and allows for healing and recovery from pain, which is why we put effort into looking for problems in the cervical spine.

The best thing to do is take early action! Have an evaluation to see if and how we might be able to add YOU to our list of former shoulder pain-suffering friends!

How We Treat Shoulder Pain in Jacksonville, FL

The Importance of X-rays for Shoulder Pain

At Beyond Bones, we put a lot of emphasis on the importance of X-rays. During our evaluation process, we gather lots of information as we investigate what’s causing your shoulder pain. We focus on your spine, however, we also look closely at your shoulder. If we have reason to believe that the shoulder joint itself is causing your pain, we may take X-rays of that joint. The x-rays allow us to visualize your shoulder joint very clearly. That way, we can be sure that there are no complicating conditions or pathologies. It’s imperative that we know exactly what we’re dealing with before we get started.

X-rays are one of the best ways to see exactly what’s happening with the shoulder joint. They allow us to locate problems and determine how to get them corrected. If misalignment, either in the shoulder joint or in the neck, is causing your pain, it’s crucial that we know that as early as possible. This helps guide us in correcting the misalignments and keeping them that way so that you’re able to feel great and get back to living life on your own terms

How Chiropractic Works to Eliminate Shoulder Pain

The shoulder ‘joint’ is so complicated because it’s actually made up of a few different joints. The sternoclavicular joint connects your clavicle (collar bone) with your sternum (breastbone). This joint supports the shoulder, and it’s the only joint directly connecting the arm to the body. The glenohumeral joint links up the upper arm with the scapula (shoulder blade), while the acromioclavicular (AC) joint hooks the clavicle to the scapula. Each joint plays an essential role in the shoulder’s overall range of motion. They all work together in a coordinated fashion to allow your shoulder to remain as strong and stable as possible while allowing impressive movement.

Besides the global benefits resulting from adjusting the spine, we’ll also want to take a close look at the shoulder itself. Because the shoulder comprises multiple joints, there’s a high chance of misalignment of the shoulder. We’ll investigate carefully to identify which particular joint(s) are stuck or out of alignment. Getting those joints moving again, or back in alignment, is often the key to getting the shoulder feeling and working much better again for the long term.

Mobility and Stability: The Perfect Balance for Shoulder Pain

The shoulder joint is complex. Moving them involves complex and coordinated actions. Our shoulders are generally strong and allow us to engage in a wide range of activities such as throwing, reaching, pulling, and rotation. The trouble is that movement requires many muscles, and each muscle group is subject to imbalances, weakness, and damage.

One of the main principles of rehabilitating the shoulder joint is that we try to find precisely the right balance between mobility and stability. The shoulder needs to be able to move but can’t move too much. Too much of either can start us down the path toward significant problems.

One visible and very common example of a muscular imbalance related to the shoulders is forward head posture. We’ve all seen this in many people. The head shifts way forward, and when it does, it puts lots of pressure on the nerves in the neck, upper back, and shoulders. Forward head posture is much more than just an aesthetic problem. It can dramatically negatively impact a person’s health unless we work to correct the problem. At Beyond Bones, we use chiropractic adjustments and home exercises and stretches for mobility and stability to get rid of shoulder pain.

Posture and Shoulder Pain

Nearly everybody understands that posture is really important, but they often don’t quite understand why. Part of it is aesthetic. Good posture is simply more attractive. It expresses confidence, and this is important. But there are other, more important reasons. Your posture has everything to do with the state of health of your spine and the rest of your body. When your spine or other joints are stuck out of position, there can be pressure on the nerves, which leads to pain or other symptoms. When that happens, we can also see clear signs of the problem (or future problem) in the person’s posture. In other words, somebody whose posture is noticeably off is either in pain, in their shoulders or otherwise, or they probably will be in the future.

Here’s a simple test you can use to see if your posture is off and if that might be related to your shoulder pain:

• Stand with your back against a wall
• Press your heels, butt, upper back, and head against the wall
• Bring your arms up so that your shoulders and elbows bend at 90°
• Press the backs of your hands against the wall
• Pay attention and notice what you feel

Ideally, you’ll feel those parts of your body resting gently against the wall without noticing any areas that feel strained or out of balance. That’s what somebody whose posture is good and balanced feels.

On the other hand, if you feel that one shoulder is higher than the other, or one side of your upper body is out away further from the wall, or any areas of excessive tightness, those are signs that your posture is off and your body is dealing with more stress than it needs to. Very likely, there’s pressure on some parts of your nervous system, which may already be causing you pain in one or both shoulders.

Smaller problems are much easier to solve than bigger ones. A thorough evaluation will show exactly how and how much we can help!

Common Causes of Shoulder Pain in Jacksonville, FL

Bursitis

The bursae are the small, fluid-filled sacs that cushion your bones, tendons, and ligaments near your joints. Bursitis is the condition where the bursae become inflamed. The most common sites for bursitis are the shoulder, elbow, hip joints, and other joints that experience frequent, repetitive motion. The affected joints might look swollen and red, feel achy or stiff, or hurt more when you move or press them. When we engage in repeated movements, we put pressure on the bursae, often resulting in bursitis pain. Lifestyle factors related to bursitis include repeatedly throwing a baseball, kneeling for long periods for work or a hobby, and being overweight.

Fortunately, there’s hope for people suffering from bursitis. This painful condition can be prevented by exercising regularly, taking regular breaks, stretching, warming up properly before working out, and using proper lifting techniques. Once the bursitis pain has already started, there are few options for treatment. Physical therapy, ice and heat, laser therapy, and steroid injections have all provided bursitis relief.

Frozen Shoulder

A frozen shoulder can be a very frustrating and upsetting condition to suffer through. Also called ‘adhesive capsulitis,’ frozen shoulder is caused by inflammation and scarring of the shoulder joint. A layer of soft tissue (the capsule) surrounds and contains the shoulder joint. Over time the folds of the capsule become scarred, limiting the joint’s motion and causing pain. Besides inflammation, immobilization (after surgery, an injury, a fracture, or a stroke, for example) can also lead to frozen shoulder.

A frozen shoulder is diagnosed by a physical examination (including range of motion, among other things) and sometimes X-rays. Conservative care is very effective at correcting frozen shoulder, but in some rare and extreme cases, surgery may become necessary. Exercises for increasing range of motion are also beneficial for frozen shoulder. Finally, chiropractic adjustments to the shoulder joint and sometimes the neck can be exceedingly helpful. Reintroducing motion into the spine and the shoulder joints are an excellent way of helping get rid of frozen shoulder.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. It’s also known as ‘wear and tear arthritis’ or degenerative joint disease. It’s most frequently found in the hands, knees, and hips, although it’s also known to cause shoulder pain. Some risk factors for osteoarthritis are joint injuries, age, weight, and repeated stress on the joint.

With OA, the cartilage within a joint breaks down, and the bone underneath begins to change. This change results in the symptoms of osteoarthritis: tenderness, loss of flexibility, stiffness, swelling, and bone spurs. Because of the damage to the cartilage, osteoarthritis isn’t reversible, but chiropractic care can help manage it. Staying active and maintaining a healthy weight are some of the best ways to manage OA because that minimizes the stressful wear and tear on the affected joints.

Rotator Cuff Problems

The four muscles of the rotator cuff can be easily remembered with the pneumonic ‘SITS’: subscapularis, infraspinatus, teres minor, and supraspinatus. Those muscles work together to stabilize the glenohumeral (GH) joint. They all start at the scapula and attach to various points on the humerus (upper arm) to help with the various complicated movements of the shoulder’s ball and socket joint. Because these muscles are relatively small and because we use our shoulders so much, the rotator cuff is prone to injury.

Rotator cuff injuries are widespread, and they increase with age. They tend to occur most frequently in those whose occupation requires them to repeatedly perform overhead motions, like painters and carpenters. Rotator cuff injuries are more often repetitive strain-type injuries rather than one that occurs from a single incident or accident. When that does happen, it’s important to seek help quickly because you might need surgery. In most cases, physical therapy exercises are enough to strengthen the injured muscles and help them recover.

Shoulder Sprain vs. Strain

‘Sprain’ and ‘strain’ are often used interchangeably, but they actually mean different things. A sprain involves the bands of tissue that hold two bones together (ligaments), while a strain involves an injury to a muscle or tissue that attaches a muscle to a bone (tendons). In many cases, when a sprain occurs, it can be traced to a specific incident that comes with a ‘popping’ sensation. Common signs of a sprain include pain, bruising, limited mobility, and swelling. One very common type of sprain is an ACL tear.

The first step in taking care of a sprain or a strain is usually the simple but helpful R.I.C.E. protocol: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. When those things don’t help, or when the pain is steady or constant, an X-ray may be necessary to rule out a break in the bone. Regardless, it’s important to follow a protocol of stretching and exercises at the appropriate time to increase the shoulder’s stability, maximize healing, and minimize the risk of future sprains.

Frequently Asked Questions