When you feel shoulder pain, you may assume it is not a big deal or that it will disappear. This can be true in some cases. But not all cases of shoulder pain are harmless, and there are essential things you should know about how to treat shoulder pain and how to prevent it from becoming worse than it already is.
Below, you will find everything you need to know about shoulder pain and whether it’s something you should be concerned about or if it is simply part of an otherwise healthy body.
What is the Anatomy of the shoulder?
The shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint. The ball is the end of the upper arm bone (the humerus), and the socket is the top of the shoulder blade, called the scapula.
Ligaments are structures that connect bones. These ligaments include the acromioclavicular ligament, which connects your clavicle (collarbone) to your scapula, and the coracoacromial ligament, which connects the coracoid process of your scapula to the acromion process of your clavicle on top.
Types of shoulder pain
There are three types of shoulder pain: muscular, bursitis, and nerve.
- Muscular: Muscular pain is the most common and can be caused by a number of things, like overuse or injury. This type of pain will often subside on its own and can be treated with rest, ice packs, medication, or physical therapy.
- Bursitis: Bursitis is an inflammation of a bursa sac near the joint that causes excess fluid to build up around the joint.
- Nerve: This kind of shoulder pain is nerve-related, and usually stems from damage to the brachial plexus (a group of nerves originating in the spinal cord).
If you suspect you may have this type of shoulder pain, you should consult your doctor immediately as it may require surgery.
Causes of shoulder pain
One of the most common causes of shoulder pain is rotator cuff inflammation and bursitis.
What is the rotator cuff?
A rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that stabilizes the shoulder joint by keeping it in place while it moves. When one or more of these muscles are inflamed, they can’t stabilize the joint and move as they should. This leads to pain, weakness, and sometimes limited motion in the shoulder.
What is Bursitis?
Another cause of shoulder pain is bursitis. A bursa is a fluid-filled sac that reduces friction between bone and soft tissue in your body. It sits below the rotator cuff muscle on your upper arm bone, called the humerus, where it meets with your collarbone at your acromion process (the top part of your shoulder blade).
The bursa acts like a cushion when you use your arm. If there is too much pressure from something like arthritis, repetitive stress, overuse, or injury in this area, it can lead to an inflamed bursa.
Bursitis can be painful, causing swelling and redness around the shoulder joint. Like rotator cuff injuries, it also restricts mobility in the shoulder.
How to treat shoulder pain
Treatment for shoulder pain can vary depending on the severity of the injury. If you experience sudden or intense pain, it is best to seek medical attention immediately.
For minor cases, over-the-counter medications such as ibuprofen may be enough to provide relief, but a doctor should still be consulted.
Heat therapy and ice therapy are two other options that have been shown to provide some relief from shoulder pain.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may also be prescribed by your physician.
Surgery might need to be considered in more severe cases where there is damage to your rotator cuff muscles. Surgery would involve arthroscopic debridement (removal of torn tissue) and repair of damaged ligaments in the joint capsule.
When to seek medical attention
It can be challenging to determine when it is time to see a doctor about shoulder pain. Generally, if you have pain for more than two weeks or experience any of the following symptoms, you should seek medical attention:
- Pain that wakes you up at night or pain that doesn’t go away after taking ibuprofen and rest
Loss of range of motion in the shoulder - A feeling of catching or crunching in the shoulder when moving
- Swelling in the shoulder or around the collarbone
- Unusual stiffness and difficulty with arm movements
- Constant arm pain
- Hearing a popping sound coming from your shoulder joint
Experiencing numbness in one of your fingers may mean there are pinched nerves as well as other problems such as tendonitis, bursitis, impingement syndrome, and rotator cuff injury. The best thing to do if you experience these symptoms is to get an evaluation by a physician before deciding on treatments such as therapy and surgery.
How to find the best Doctor for Shoulder pain
Finding the best doctor for shoulder pain can be difficult because there are so many options. Thankfully, we have a few suggestions to help you out. Our first suggestion is to see the best orthopedic doctor in Jaipur.
This type of doctor specializes in joint pain and injuries and will be able to accurately diagnose what is going on with your shoulder without any guesswork. If that doesn’t work, our second suggestion would be to find the best shoulder pain doctor in Jaipur.
These doctors specialize in treating all kinds of joint pain and disorders. They are typically trained orthopedic surgeons specializing in shoulder pains and other joints.
So, if a physician or physical therapist has told you that surgery may be necessary for relief from your shoulder pain, it may make sense to find the best orthopedic doctor in Jaipur or the best shoulder replacement surgeon in Jaipur to make sure that surgery is the right option.
Bottom Line
You may not need to be concerned about your shoulder pain if you are one of the many people who experience intermittent pain from time to time. On the other hand, if your pain is constant and progressively worsening, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible.
Talk to a doctor about your symptoms and have an MRI done to rule out serious causes of shoulder pain. If your doctor determines that surgery is necessary, find the best orthopedic doctor in Jaipur.
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