Physiotherapy for Shoulder Pain
What Is Shoulder Pain?
Shoulder pain can take many different forms. It could be a nagging ache in both shoulders that makes your desk job a real pain, or it could be a sharp jab when you try to carry the shopping inside or throw the ball in your local basketball game.
No matter what kind of shoulder pain you have, you shouldn’t ignore it. The shoulder is a complicated part of the body, and there are a ton of things that can cause shoulder pain. This means that there is no ‘one size fits all’ to identify and fix shoulder pain. That’s why you should pop down to your local physio so that they can give you an individual assessment and the correct plan to kick the pain to the curb.
Common causes of shoulder pain
The shoulder deserves a round of applause for being one of the biggest and most complex joints in our whole body. The downside to this is that there are lots of possible problems that can occur.
Some of the best known causes of shoulder pain include muscle aches across the shoulders (as any person who has ever had a very painful shoulder massage will tell you), alongside a pinched nerve, ‘frozen shoulder’, arthritis, tendinopathy, and bursitis. When you see ‘itis’ in a word, it often means ‘inflammation’. We can take a deep breath and bore you with a lot of complicated shoulder anatomy and possible tendons, cuffs or fluid filled cushioning sacs becoming inflamed, or we can give you the overview you will actually remember. We think we will stick with the overview. Your main problems in the shoulder happen when something gets injured, inflamed, overused, or pinched. Your treatment plan will depend on what the mechanism of the pain is, and what could be causing it. In an appointment for shoulder pain, we will conduct a thorough physical examination to identify the root causes.
Common Injuries
Nearly every time we use our arms, we also use our shoulders - so they get pretty good daily use. In sports or workouts they cop a lot. These are some of the most common shoulder injuries that we treat at Sycamore:
Dislocation
Broken shoulder bone
Rotator cuff tears
Tissue trauma or overuse
Frozen shoulder
Pinched nerve
Tears
these occur when the tendon that connects the muscle to the bone becomes disconnected. Rotator cuff tears are some of the most frequent ones that require treatment.
In some cases injuries may require surgery. We love providing tailored 'prehabilitation' before surgery to get you in the best possible position to recover well and reduce the chance of complications. We also have a proven track record for prescribing effective rehabilitation plans to minimise recovery time and get you back to your physical best. Typically, this involves a return to:
- Full pain-free range of motion – no more pain reaching overhead to hang clothes or wash your hair
- Psychological readiness – we can’t have you apprehensive and fearful of reinjuring your shoulder!
- Strength in all planes of motion
- Accurate joint position sense (called proprioception) - important for driving or holding a cup of coffee for example
We have a range of tests to determine when you’re ready to progress and take pride in our ability to accommodate a rehabilitation plan that suits you and your interests. This means we won’t get you throwing heavy weights around in a gym or handstand walking the corridors if these aren’t your goals!
How is Shoulder Pain Treated?
Shoulder pain is treated individually, depending on the cause. The shoulder can be affected by structures in the body that surround it, and by a person’s lifestyle, habits and movement. We conduct a thorough assessment to identify which factors could be contributing to your shoulder pain. Next, we will run you through your options for recovery. We aim to increase any limited range of motion, reduce pain, and prevent the injury or problem from recurring, or manage any chronic conditions with ongoing options for symptom reduction. These may include exercises or lifestyle changes to promote positive function.
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How Sycamore Health Can Help
Our friendly, qualified physiotherapists will work together with you to help you to identify the root cause of your shoulder pain and plan for pain management and helpful strategies to address the problem at its cause.
There are many benefits to choosing Sycamore:
- Two Convenient Locations in Morayfield and Sippy Downs.
- Easy online bookings: we offer a straight-forward online booking system so that you can book your appointment in seconds, no matter the time of day.
- Same-day appointments: we understand that sometimes you need to be seen by our team as soon as possible, so we keep a number of appointments each day for those who need help urgently.
- Private treatment rooms: our treatment is provided one-on-one in private rooms to make sure you are comfortable.
- A range of physiotherapy services: we offer a range of physiotherapy services, including hands-on treatment, custom home exercise programs, gym-based rehabilitation and tailored advice.
- Qualified, highly-trained physiotherapists: our team of physiotherapists are all highly-skilled and fully qualified.
- Customised therapies: we know that your situation is unique and will tailor your program and exercises to suit you.