The shoulder is the most movable joint in your body.  The main joint in the shoulder is formed by the arm bone and the shoulder blade.  The socket of the joint is shallow which allows for a wide range of motion in the arm - the ability to raise it and rotate it all the way around.

The shoulder is anchored by muscles, tendons and ligaments. You often hear of the rotator cuff when speaking of the shoulder.  The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles that surround the arm bone.  The rotator cuff keeps the shoulder steady as the arm moves.

Cause of Shoulder Pain and Injury

A common cause of pain in the shoulder is stretch, strain or injury to the tendon of the rotator cuff.   It is the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle that rests on top of the shoulder.  The tendon travels under the bone on the outside of the shoulder and becomes injured because of its position between the bones.  As the tendon becomes sore and swollen it can become pinched between the bones. Another common cause is damage to the bursa, the sac of fluid that cushions the tendon.

If your rotator cuff is hurt the pain is usually in the front or outside of the shoulder.  It is usually worse when you raise your arm or lift something above your head.  The pain can be bad enough to keep you from doing even the simplest of things. 

Treatment of Shoulder Pain and Injury

Regenerative electro medicine will relieve the pain and help you restore your shoulder to normal function.  Our practitioners will ask you to avoid strenuous activities like lifting heavy objects or playing tennis while you are in treatment.  Simple range-of-motion exericises will help you avoid the serious complication of rotator cuff injury called a frozen shoulder.

Causes of Shoulder Injuries

Shoulder injuries can be caused by sports activities, work activities or even everyday activities like painting or washing walls, hanging pictures or lifting things above your head, or playing a sport that requires you to lift your arms.  Sports activities that involve a lot of overhead motion like swimming, tennis, pitching a ball, and weightlifting can cause shoulder injuries.  Athletes are especially susceptible to shoulder injuries. 

A shoulder injury often develops slowly through repetitive, intense training routines.  It can also happen acutely.