What is shoulder pain?
Shoulder pain is a common symptom which causes significant impairment to our everyday quality of life. It can be due to an intrinsic shoulder problem but pain can also be referred from other structures, such as the diaphragm, heart or the neck. It is the third most common cause of musculoskeletal consultation to medical professionals and one of the most challenging areas to treat. Clients more at risk from developing shoulder pain are:
- Psychosocial factors related including stress, job pressure and job satisfaction.
- Athletes who are involved in throwing sports, sports that involve repetitive arm movements such as tennis, golf and swimming.
What is frozen shoulder?
Frozen shoulder is a painful condition that affects movement of the shoulder itself. Frozen shoulder is also known as adhesive capsulitis or shoulder contracture. If you suffer with frozen shoulder, the amount of movement in your shoulder joint will be reduced, often significantly. In severe cases, you may not be able to move your shoulder at all. The most common symptoms for sufferers of frozen shoulder are pain and stiffness in the shoulder.
What causes frozen shoulder?
Frozen shoulder is caused when the flexible tissue that surrounds the shoulder joint, known as the capsule, becomes inflamed and thickened. Surprisingly, although frozen shoulder is very common, it is not fully understood what causes it. However we can treat it and we do know what is likely to increase the chances of its occurrence. For example:
- Shoulder injury or shoulder surgery.
- Diabetes.
- Heart attack and strokes.
- Dupuytren’s contracture. This is when thickened tissue forms in the hands or fingers.
Occupations prone to shoulder pain problems usually involve a repetitive process and include: keyboard operators, cashiers, hairdressers, plasterers. I specialise in treatment for frozen shoulder and can very quickly give pain relief and a long term solution.
What are the causes of shoulder pain?
Due to the complexity of shoulder pain it is best to narrow the problem down into different categories! The four most common causes of shoulder pain and disability in primary care are rotator cuff disorders, frozen shoulder, acromioclavicular joint disease and referred neck pain.
Intrinsic shoulder pain:
• Rotator cuff disorders: These muscles can create tendonitis particularly the supraspinatus tendon.
• Frozen shoulder.
• Acromioclavicular disorders.
• Biceps tendonitis.
• Shoulder instability.
Extrinsic shoulder pain:
• Referred pain: From the neck, heart or diaphragmatic pain e.g gallbladder disease.
• Polymyalgia rheumatica.
• Malignancy: apical lung cancers, metastases.
“Mario isn’t at all interested in superficial symptoms, and instead focuses on addressing the root cause. He has successfully treated various sports-related injuries from my wife and I and I simply can’t recommend him highly enough”.
