Shoulder Pain Specialist

What causes shoulder pain?

Your shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint with a shallow socket. The shallowness affords you a great range of motion, but it also increases the stress on the muscles, ligaments, and tendons that make up your shoulder’s rotator cuff.

Spraining or straining any of the tissues in your rotator cuff can cause pain and limit your arm’s mobility. Activities that can lead to a rotator cuff tear include:

• Reaching your arms overhead
• Swinging a bat or other object
• Throwing something

You might also experience acute shoulder pain because you were in a vehicle accident or suffered other trauma, such as a blow or fall. Shoulder pain might not even originate in that joint; sometimes, a neck injury radiates downward, causing pain and stiffness in your rotator cuff.

Some common reasons for shoulder pain include:

• Rotator cuff tears
• Sprained or strained ligaments, tendons, and muscles
• Inflamed tendons, or tendinitis
• Fractures in your collarbone or upper arm
• Pinched nerves
• Arthritis

When should I get treated for shoulder pain?

If you experience an acute injury to your rotator cuff, getting early treatment from Dr. Ngu reduces your chances of complications, including a “frozen shoulder” in which your shoulder becomes stiff, painful, and difficult to move, sometimes for years.

Chronic shoulder pain that’s persisted for more than 12 weeks should also be treated so you can restore your mobility and quality of life.

Typically, when an injury or condition causes you pain or impairs your activities, you should seek help from a medical professional.

How do doctors treat shoulder pain?

Dr. Ngu diagnoses your shoulder pain and identifies other contributing factors, including neck injuries and pinched nerves. He takes a detailed medical history, conducts a physical exam, and may order CT scans or X-rays. Depending on his findings, he may recommend:

• RICE protocol (rest, ice, compression, elevation)
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain and swelling
• Antispasmodics to relax muscles and alleviate spasms
• Antidepressants to block pain
• Physical therapy to strengthen tissues in your rotator cuff
• Epidural steroid injections to provide pain relief for months

If you experience shoulder pain, frozen shoulder, or stiff shoulder, contact Dr. Ngu to relieve pain and restore mobility. You can book your appointment online or call the helpful and friendly Premier Spine Institute staff.