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Are You Tired of Living With Nagging Shoulder Pain?
Shoulder Pain Can Get In The Way, But Physical Therapy Can Help
Shoulder pain can take many forms – it can rear its ugly head when you’re reaching toward the top shelf to put dishes away or when you’re struggling to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Sometimes you just can’t get through a day without feeling a dull aching pain in your shoulder and neck. It can show up as a result of an injury, making you feel as if your shoulder is immobile.
There are numerous reasons why someone may experience shoulder pain, and the severity can range from the temporary discomfort of a pulled muscle to the agonizing bone-on-bone friction of arthritis.
Whatever may be the cause of your shoulder pain, Core Physical Therapy & Sports Performance is dedicated to offering you natural pain management modalities. Request an appointment at our clinic in Morgan City and Thibodaux today to learn more about our various treatment methods for shoulder pain.
The importance of our shoulders
You use your shoulder for many tasks. It is capable of accomplishing tons of physical feats and has the greatest range of all the joints in your body. However, with its complexities also comes the possibilities of pain and discomfort.
The shoulder is a “ball-and-socket” joint, meaning the head of the upper arm bone, or “humerus,” fits perfectly in the corresponding space within the shoulder blade or “scapula.” The ends of the bone are protected by a thick layer of cartilage, protecting the bones from rubbing together.
Fluid-filled sacs called “bursae” also protect the tendons from rubbing against the bones. Tendons attach the bones in the shoulder to a set of bones, known as the rotator cuff. If something goes wrong with the intricacies that make up the mechanical interplay of the shoulder, pain can result.
The type of pain you feel in your shoulder can vary, depending on what is causing it. Pain from impingement, for example, typically occurs as you raise your arm up, and begins at a certain point in the range of motion.
Pain resulting from a degenerated shoulder may create persistent aches every time you move your arm in certain directions. Acute injuries can result in sudden and intense pains that make it impossible for you to move your shoulder at all.
Common shoulder pain conditions
As previously stated, the complexities of the shoulder joint present many opportunities for pain-causing conditions. Some of the most common causes of shoulder pain include:
Arthritis
The two main forms of arthritis that affect the shoulder are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis occurs when the cartilage in the shoulder joint experiences significant “wear and tear,” typically due to age or excessive overuse.
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the immune system decides to attack the membranes surrounding the shoulder joint, resulting in pain and inflammation. Both of these result in loss of motion, weakness to the shoulder muscles, and difficulty performing normal, daily tasks.
Frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder results in a painful loss of motion in the shoulder with a tightening of the shoulder joint that severely limits motion. The condition can occur if your arm has been in a cast or sling for a while, or if you have been bedridden for an extended period of time. It is also known as “adhesive capsulitis.”
Some ethnicities are more predisposed, and women from 40-60 years of age tend to have more instances of this condition than men.
Impingement
Impingement typically occurs because of abnormal movement and tracking of the humeral head as you lift your arm overhead. Pain typically occurs when lifting your arm at or above 90 degrees.
Tendinitis
Tendinitis occurs when the shoulder joint is excessively overused typically due to the physical demands of a person’s job, overhead activity, or sport. Another factor is also poor posture because this alters the normal forces on the tendons, and can set you up for tendon injury. This causes the tendons to undergo ongoing inflammation, resulting in swelling and painful impingement when raising your arm.
Rotator cuff tear
According to the American Physical Therapy Association, “A recent study from Finland asserts that when it comes to the treatment of nontraumatic rotator cuff tears, physical therapy alone produces results equal to those produced by arthroscopic surgery and open surgical repair.”
Depending on the severity and situation, sometimes surgery is needed, but often the correct physical therapy treatments can help reduce pain and restore strength to the rotator cuff to compensate for the partial tear. If surgery is needed, physical therapy is an integral part of the rehabilitation to a full recovery.
Those who experience rotator cuff injuries or “torn shoulders” generally report a dull ache deep in their shoulder, arm weakness, difficulty reaching behind their backs, and disturbed sleep due to pain. At Core Physical Therapy & Sports Performance, our natural and non-invasive methods can help relieve your shoulder pain and heal your rotator cuff injury.
What to expect with physical therapy treatment for shoulder pain
Our physical therapists are movement experts, trained to pinpoint the cause of your pain through a variety of diagnostic techniques. During your evaluation, we will examine your range of motion, strength, coordination, medical history, joint mobility, and mechanics of your joint motion.
Physical therapy is a natural, easy, and comfortable way to find relief for shoulder pain, without the need for harmful drugs or invasive surgery. Our Morgan City and Thibodaux physical therapists have treated a number of conditions resulting in shoulder pain, with patients finding improvement and relief after just a few short sessions.
Once our therapist has established the cause of your shoulder pain, they can create a specialized combination of physical therapy methods to manage and relieve your pain.
Your treatment plan may involve gentle manual therapy, which helps to restore normal joint movement, ease soft tissue restrictions, and promote circulation. It could also include specific therapeutic exercises to restore strength and the correct sequence of muscle activation around the shoulder joint.
Another benefit of physical therapy is that you’ll learn new ways to move your body to enhance your strength and to prevent the recurrence of future shoulder problems.
Ready to experience relief?
Shoulder pain doesn’t have to control your life. Our Morgan City and Thibodaux physical therapy practice will get you the help you need to start living your normal life once again.
Contact Core Physical Therapy & Sports Performance today to request your appointment and get started on your path toward pain relief.
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Physical Therapy Can Relieve Upper Extremity Pain
Whether you’re experiencing pain due to an injury, ailment, or some other underlying condition, it can greatly impact your quality of life. Imagine your typical morning: you get out of bed, brush your teeth, shower, get dressed, make breakfast, and begin your commute to work.
At this point, you’ve already used your elbows, wrists, and hands hundreds of times – and you’re still at the beginning of your day! If you are doing all this with pain, it can make everyday mundane tasks become really painful. You might even find it difficult to navigate your own home independently.
You use your elbows, wrists, and hands constantly throughout the day – but nothing will make you realize just how much you use them like feeling the aches and pains within them. Fortunately, you can find relief or even experience a full recovery by working with a licensed physical therapist in Morgan City and Thibodaux at Core Physical Therapy & Sports Performance. What are you waiting for? Request your appointment now!
What causes elbow, wrist, and hand pain?
There are many reasons you might be experiencing upper extremity pain. Listed below are a few of the most common conditions that may be the culprit for the pain you are feeling:
Arthritis
There are many different forms of arthritis, but it is typically caused by repetitive motions or an injury that impacts the cartilage in the joints of the elbow, wrist, or hand.
Arthritis is a very common condition that affects approximately 53 million Americans. In fact, according to the Arthritis Foundation, it is the most common form of disability in the United States. Physical therapy helps to improve joint motion, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the surrounding supportive muscles.
Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
When pressure is put on the cubital tunnel and surrounding nerves, it can cause pain, numbness, and tingling, especially to the ring and pinky fingers.
Cubital tunnel syndrome is a common form of nerve compression damage that can lead to elbow, wrist, and hand pain. It is caused by repetitive pressure on the ulnar nerve, which is located inside of the elbow and is known as your “funny bone.”
Elbow Bursitis
At the end of the elbow is a fluid-filled sac called the “bursa” that serves as a cushion to the elbow bone, or “ulna.” When that bursa is compressed due to an injury or repetitive motion, it can lead to pain and swelling. Because of this, it is common to see the condition in athletes and students.
Golfer’s Elbow/Tennis Elbow
Both of these injuries are a result of repetitive use injuries and can be attributed to a variety of different tasks, not just the sports they are named after.
Tennis elbow refers to pain on the lateral or outside aspect of the elbow, whereas golfer’s elbow refers to pain on the medial or inside aspect of the elbow.
Physical therapy is the best treatment for either of these conditions, because it restores the underlying joint and soft tissue limitations that are causing strain to the tendons, and reduces the inflammation quite rapidly.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
The main job of the carpal tunnel is to protect the median nerve on the inside of your wrist, in addition to the tendons you use to bend the fingers. However, it is possible for this tunnel to become constricted, and when it does, nerve compression can result, leading to a variety of symptoms, such as numbness and tingling to the thumb, 1st, and 2nd fingers.
Carpal tunnel syndrome impacts approximately 5% of all Americans, according to the American Physical Therapy Association. In addition pain to the wrist, hand as well as swelling to the hand and fingers is even possible. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) can be caused by an injury or by repetitive job-related use, such as assembly-line work, keyboard-heavy work, or driving heavy machinery.
Sprains/Strains
Strains refer to muscle or tendon injuries, whereas sprains refer more to the ligaments, which connect bone to bone. These injuries typically occur from quick over-stretching of the ligaments or tendons, such as a fall on an outstretched arm, or catching something heavy.
If you are experiencing any of the symptoms caused by the conditions above, or if you have persistent pain that won’t seem to go away, don’t depend on harmful medications to combat your symptoms. Contact our office in Morgan City and Thibodaux as soon as possible for an appointment.
Symptoms you may notice with upper extremity pain
Everyone deals with pain symptoms differently when it comes to upper extremity pain. You may consider your pain level to be between mild and severe, and it may also be intermittent, meaning it comes and goes at different points throughout the day. Regardless of your pain level, don’t expect it to disappear on its own.
Short-term pain in the elbow, wrist, or hand typically results from an injury, but long-term chronic pain may indicate illness or other underlying factors.
Other symptoms accompanying the pain may include numbness or tingling in the extremities, especially in the fingers.
This can make it difficult for you to physically perform in a range that is normal for you, creating issues with work or completing everyday tasks, depending on the seriousness of your condition.
Physical therapy can help alleviate elbow, wrist, and hand pain
In many cases, physical therapy treatments can alleviate, or even help you eliminate the need for harmful painkillers or invasive surgical procedures for nerve-damaging conditions like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and arthritis.
Our physical therapists create a personalized treatment plan unique to the specific needs of your condition. The advanced treatment options we provide here at Core Physical Therapy & Sports Performance can help relieve your pain, restore your range of motion, and get you back to living your normal life. Whatever the cause of your elbow, wrist, or hand pain may be, physical therapy can help you.
Therapy may include any combination of specialized treatments, such as manual therapy, pain, and inflammation-reducing modalities, and specific therapeutic exercises to restore strength and pain-free motion.
Ready to find relief with physical therapy?
If your quality of life has been affected negatively due to hand, elbow, or wrist pain, it’s time to make a change. If you are looking for a Morgan City and Thibodaux physical therapist, contact our office today for an appointment and to meet with one of our dedicated team members. We are skilled, attentive, and ready to get you back to living the healthy and physically active life you deserve!
