What causes pain in the shoulder?

The first thing to note about shoulder pain is that it is almost always a symptom of something else. While painkillers can help you to control the pain and function normally, you need to discover what the underlying cause of the pain is and resolve it.

If the pain persists for more than 3-5 days you should see your doctor and find a physio near me, they can help to alleviate pain and identify the cause of the issue.

Of course, you can look on the internet and you’ll find hundreds of potential reasons for your shoulder pain, some of which will be truly terrifying. That can be the problem with too much information!

Fortunately, if you pause to consider the events before the shoulder pain, you’ll be able to narrow down the options to the one that is most likely. But, this should not be a substitute for proper medical advice. Understanding common causes simply helps you to predict and understand what your doctor is talking about.

Stiff Shoulders

IF your shoulders gradually become stiffer and the pain lasts for months, or even years, there’s a good chance you’ll have frozen shoulder or some type of arthritis in your shoulder. Frozen shoulder can usually be helped by your physio and your doctor will help you live with arthritis comfortably.

Increasing Pain

If your shoulder pain gets worse every time you use your arm then you may have tendonitis, and impingement, or even bursitis. These are generally injury-related and will heal over time. However, you may experience some swelling and your doctor may need to monitor this. 

It’s a good idea to get your physio to give you exercises to maintain movement while it recovers.

Tingling Sensations

Tingling in your shoulder, or a feeling of weakness or numbness is often connected to shoulder instability. In fact, this is often caused by hypermobility, but you’ll want a proper diagnosis to confirm this.

Sudden Pain

This is usually the easiest to identify as the pain starts suddenly and is usually the result of trauma. If you’re in pain and find it difficult to move your shoulder or arm then you may have suffered a dislocated shoulder, or a broken bone in the area, such as your collarbone. It can also be a result of a ruptured tendon.

Pain On The Top Of Your Shoulder

If the pain is intense and roughly where the collarbone and shoulder joint meet, then you have a problem with your acromioclavicular joint. Although this sounds serious the good news is that you’ve probably stretched or torn a ligament and they will heal.

Don’t forget, if you have shoulder pain you can use painkillers and you should maintain as much movement as you can. You should also make sure your posture is good and see your physio for advice.

If it doesn’t heal after 5 days, get your doctor to have a look and diagnose the exact issue, you don’t need to live with any pain.

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