Throwing the football around with your buddies. Playing airplane with your grandkids. Driving to work. These are just a few of the times when shoulder pain can really make things tougher.
Sadly, you’re much more likely to have to deal with shoulder pain than you might think. Medical research suggests that up to 70% of people will have some form of shoulder pain in their lifetime. Physical therapists can offer effective treatment for many types of shoulder pain; they can also help you learn the reason that your shoulder is hurting in the first place.
The top three reasons people need shoulder pain treatment
Shoulder pain treatment can be necessary for a wide variety of reasons, but here are three main reasons that could cause this pain to develop:
- Rotator cuff injury — The rotator cuff is the collective term for the four muscles and tendons that surround the ball-and-socket joint in your shoulder. This structure keeps the ball of your humerus, or upper arm bone, in your shoulder socket. An injury to any part of the rotator cuff may cause you to have shoulder pain.
- Pinched nerve — Nerves control every aspect of your body, such as telling your muscles to extend or contract when you’re exercising. A pinched nerve occurs when a nerve is caught between two body structures and unnaturally compresses, which causes pain. Since there are so many muscles, tendons and bones in your shoulder, anything that moves slightly out of alignment can cause a pinched nerve and result in shoulder pain.
- Dislocated shoulder — A dislocated shoulder is when the ball of your upper arm bone is forced out of your shoulder socket in some way. This condition can occur anytime strong forces act on your arm or shoulder, such as when playing sports, in the event of a car accident or if you have a bad fall. When your humerus is out of place, the muscles and tendons in your shoulder will face extreme stretching, causing a lot of pain in your shoulder.
You should seek shoulder pain treatment from a certified physical therapist for any of these reasons.
Border Therapy Services can help you with shoulder pain treatment
At Border Therapy Services, our team of physical therapists has a defined process for treating your shoulder pain. We always start by doing a free screening of your shoulder to determine what part of it is causing your pain. One of our certified physical therapists will then create a customized treatment plan for you, which may include treatments such as:
- Therapeutic exercises
- Manual therapy
- Aquatic therapy
- Blood flow moderation training
- Virtual care
- At-home therapy
Contact our team today for more information about how we can help treat your shoulder issue or to schedule your free screening.