Chiropractic Care Can Provide Relief from Shoulder Pain
The shoulder contains the most mobile joint in your body. It is a shallow ball and socket joint that is held together by the tendons, muscles, and ligaments that surround the joint. Without them, your shoulder would easily be dislocated. The nerves that control all your shoulder functions originate in the cervical spine (neck). There is a series of 5 nerves (the brachial plexus) that originate from the cervical spine (neck), and run down your arm all the way to the tips of your fingers.
We use our shoulders all the time, from an activity as simple as walking or running to brushing our teeth every morning. Just about every movement of our arms involves the use of our shoulders. So any injury to, or pain in our shoulders can greatly hinder our lives and prevent us from being able to do many things. Many shoulder injuries occur from bad posture, overuse, and repetitive motions.
Some of the Most Common Causes of Shoulder Pain.
- Arthritis:
Arthritis is the gradual degeneration or breakdown of the protective cartilage in your joints, which can be caused by small misalignments over time. The AC joint, or acromioclavicular joint, is the most common joint in the shoulder to develop arthritis. - Bursitis:
Bursitis is a very common shoulder injury. The bursa lies between a tendon and skin, or between a tendon and bone protecting the joint and helping to create fluid movements. Shoulder bursitis of the rotator cuff is an inflammation of a fluid-filled sac or bursa. - Cervical Spine Misalignment:
When the spine in your neck is misaligned (subluxation) the nerve supply to the tissues that make up the shoulder girdle is decreased, which in turn creates muscle weakness, imbalance and instability. - De-conditioning of the Shoulder Muscles:
Chronic poor posture and lack of proper exercise. - Frozen Shoulder: (a.k.a. Adhesive Capsulitis)
Frozen shoulder occurs when the tissues that make the shoulder capsule thicken and become tight. This is a common condition that leads to stiffness of the shoulder joint and can lead to the development of scar-like adhesions in the joint. These adhesions can actually cause inability of all joint movement. - Rotator Cuff Tear:
Rotator cuff tears can be damage to either tendons or muscles causing separation of the tissues from the bone. Surgery is sometimes necessary when this occurs. - Rotator Cuff Tendonitis:
Tendonitis is when tendons become compressed on a rigid bone. Inflammation or damage to the compressed tendons can cause pain. Tendonitis can actually occur from repetitive motions in our daily activities. - SLAP Lesion:
The SLAP lesion is a type of labral tear. This occurs when there is damage to the cartilage that forms your shoulder socket. A common cause of this injury can be a simple fall onto an outstretched hand.
How Chiropractic Can Help with Shoulder Pain
Chiropractors are trained in diagnosing misalignments in the joints and spine. They are experts at correcting subluxations (misalignments). Shoulder pain and problems is a condition that chiropractors successfully treat on a daily basis. Even if the shoulder is in proper alignment, it could be a misalignment in the cervical spine (neck) that is causing your problem. We work to find the underlying source of your problem, correct it, and make sure the surrounding ligament and muscles in your shoulder are able to function properly, and pain-free. When everything is properly aligned and the nerves supply is optimal, your shoulder will function better and be less injury prone.
Chiropractic Care and Arm Pain
Arm pain can manifest itself in various ways. It can include discomfort or numbness, or even tingling into the arms and hands. Chiropractors successfully treat arm pain for our patients on a daily basis.
The most common cause of arm pain comes from the cervical spine (neck) when the nerves that exit the spine and run down your arms are pinched, irritated, or have pressure on them. This can be caused by subluxations (misalignments in the vertebrae – very common), disc degeneration in the neck, or even osteoarthritis.
When you have pain in your arm or in your shoulder — aside from an injury — the underlying cause may have been progressing for several years. Only 10% of your nervous system feels pain, so pain is often the last warning that something is wrong and needs to be corrected.
How Chiropractic Care Treats Arm Pain and Shoulder Pain
Chiropractic care is a natural, non-invasive means of finding and correcting the underlying cause of your pain. It has a strong track record of successfully treating arm and shoulder pain. Therefore it is highly recommended to look to chiropractic care before considering any surgery. When you visit a chiropractor for arm or shoulder pain, the chiropractor will conduct exams to determine the exact cause of your pain. These exams can include chiropractic, orthopedic, neurologic, computerized nerve testing, and x-rays as needed. After the exams have been done the results will be thoroughly reviewed before recommending any treatment. 98% of the time, we are able to locate and correct the underlying cause of your pain.
If you or someone you know is suffering from shoulder pain or arm pain, please contact Tuckahoe Family Chiropractic at 804.740.3434 to arrange a consultation. If you feel the information in this article can help you or someone you know, please recommend this article to them.