Sore Shoulder

The shoulder joint is surrounded by a group of four muscles that are designed to both move it and keep it stable when it's in motion.

These muscles are called: supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor.

Together as a group they are called the Rotator Cuff - although some people shorten this to simply call them the Rotary Cuff of the shoulder.

Each muscle is joined to the bones of the shoulder by a tough bit of gristle called a tendon and these tendons can be vulnerable to either inflammation (tendonitis) or tearing. A tear in the rotary cuff muscles often ends up needing surgical treatment - most often in the form of a decompression procedure where the bone is trimmed back to make more room for the swollen and inflamed tendons.

Supraspinatus is the most common of the rotary cuff muscles to be injured - and if it becomes damaged the the pain is felt around the shoulder and sometimes also a little way down the arm.

Frozen shoulder is a common condition.

It affects mostly women in their 50's and 60's but is also very common in diabetics. The pain is felt around the shoulder although it often spreads down the arm towards the hand. How far the pain spreads is a reflection of how inflamed the shoulder is inside.

Some people can remember some kind of a tweak or twist in the shoulder - for others it just seems to arise out of the blue.

The sore shoulder associated with a frozen shoulder problem tends to last for many months - up to 18 months if you're one of the unlucky ones. Stiffness is also a big problem but it's the pain both during the day and at night that most people find distressing.

You can read lots more about frozen shoulder soreness on Doctor Cameron's website at www.jointenterprise.co.uk - where there's also an 88 page ebook available for download.

There are lots of possible causes for neck pain and a sore neck is often associated with a sore shoulder for many peoople.

A sore neck might arise from bones or joints or from the muscles of the region. The nerves from the neck run down through the shoulder so there is a connection there that can trigger ongoing difficulty.

Nerve root pain is usually sharp and shooting.

Pain from the joints or bones is more likely to be dull and aching and often spreads over the trapezius muscles and down the upper part of the arm or shoulder region.

You can actually learn quite a lot from the nature of neck pain and shoulder pain. Nerve pains have their own characteristic qualities and doctors now are trained to recognize this so called neuropathic pain at an early stage and to apply specific remedies.

My shoulder hurts ....

If you suffer from a pain in or around the shoulder joint then you'll know the frustration that this can cause. Shoulder pain is often associated with stiffness and loss of function and both of these can last for weeks or months in some cases.

If your shoulder hurts then the key thing to deal with initially is finding out what the proper diagnosis is. You can make some headway with this yourself but for most of us getting a diagnosis of our shoulder pain needs a visit to a doctor or to a physical therapist with skills in this area of work.

The articles on this site cover lots of information about shoulder pain and it's causes - but when push comes to shove you should not rely on sites like this to make a diagnosis for you.

Treatment of shoulder pain needs to be directed carefully to the specific cause.

Some cases need oral medication or anti inflammatory drugs, others need physical therapy, some need a joint injection and a few require surgery.

Soreness around the shoulder can sometimes point to a problem in the joint itself or in the group of muscles around the area. The commonest shoulder muscles to be injured are the rotator cuff group.


Many people with a sore shoulder find that the pain is worse at night - particularly if they try to lie on that side.


There are several possible causes of soreness around the shoulder. It's important to have a proper diagnosis made by a doctor or a physical therapist. Don't try to do it yourself - even experienced doctors find it almost impossible to do this properly.


Some likely causes include

• bursitis around the shoulder
• tendonitis of the rotator cuff muscle groups
• frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis
• impingement syndrome or the problem that arises after muscle inflammation or chronic bursitis
• arthritis in the shoulder joint
• referred pain from the neck or referred pain from the cervical spine
• referred pain from the abdomen or diaphragm region

Frozen shoulder is a common condition and I've written about it extensively elsewhere on my shoulder treatment website.

I don't often publish articles by others on  my site but the one below is excellent both in it's scope and in the way that it outlines the nature of the problem and the type of exercises you can use to deal with it.

Adhesive capsulitis is a long term condition in which the pain can last for many months. It brings with it low mood, loss of function and sometimes secondary changes in other joints. Neck pain is a common side effect.

Carlos Mapa in the article below gives good guidance on the kind of exercises you can do to ease the discomfort.



Frozen Shoulder Exercises - Easy and Effective



By Carlos Mapa

Frozen Shoulder, known medically as Adhesive Capsulitis, is a disease common in the 40 to 60 year age range, especially among diabetics. Men have it as often as women, and there is seemingly no connection to arm dominance, as people get it on the non-dominant shoulder just as commonly as on the dominant one. Unlike diseases such as bursitis, torn ligaments, and injuries suffered from overstressing the affected body part in some way, Frozen Shoulder's causes remain unknown. All we know is that symptoms of dull pain and limited range of arm movement stem from an inflammation of the tissues around the arm-shoulder joint. Also, bands of tissue called adhesions form in the area, and the result is a shoulder joint that is "frozen," with the patient often unable to raise the arm above the head or reach to the middle of the back.

The value of Frozen Shoulder exercises as a simple, easy-to-do therapy that works and works quickly cannot be over-emphasized. For the millions of people all over the world who are stricken with reduced arm mobility and pain due to the condition, just a few minutes per day doing simple stretches can spell the difference between suffering nothing more than a week or two of shoulder pain and stiffness, and having to live with up to three years of crippling physical limitations.



It is therefore these limitations in motion that Frozen Shoulder treatment exercises focus on. Usually, a doctor will prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs for the condition, but these slow, gentle movements can be done even when one is undergoing a course of medication, and the two therapies will work together for faster recovery.

Common to all these stretching exercises is the need to first warm up the stiff shoulder with a 10- to 15-minute hot shower or bath. Immediately afterward, the following movements are done.

The first stretch, called "walking the wall," involves placing the fingers of the affected arm on a non-slippery wall, with the arm reasonably straight. Slowly, "walk" your fingers up the wall, so that the arm, still relatively straight, is slowly raised, with the armpit opening up. Continue this until you feel resistance or if the normal dull pain increases. Slowly let the arm down.

Another way to do this movement is to put the hand of your affected arm, assisting it with your strong arm, on a shelf or surface at about face level while standing. Bracing yourself with the strong arm against another shelf or a railing, slowly bend your knees so that your armpit opens up. Do this until you feel resistance, then return to the standing position, and repeat. Often you will find that when you repeat the movement, your armpit will open a little more every time.

Do these exercises plus gentle stretches in all directions with your affected arm, and you should see great improvement in the range of motion in only a few days. Remember, warm up first before you do these Frozen Shoulder exercises and keep the movements gentle and pain free.

Cure frozen shoulder with these frozen shoulder exercises

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carlos_Mapa

http://EzineArticles.com/?Frozen-Shoulder-Exercises---Easy-and-Effective&id=3859670

So - there you have it. Warm up your shoulder, keep things on the move and you'll have a fair chance that your sore shoulder will ease as time goes past. It does need perseverance however and you might find that the pain seems worse before it gets better.

Tendons are the tough bits of gristle that join muscles on to bone.

Muscle pain around the shoulder is probably not the commonest reason for people suffering a sore shoulder.

Several muscle groups surround the shoulder and help it both with movement and with remaining stable as it does so.

Commonest are the rotator cuff muscles - supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis and teres minor. They all act close to the shoulder and help to rotate it in the socket but also are crucial in keeping it stable and secure as we move and go about our day to day life.

The larger deltoid muscle overlies the rotator cuff and is the muscle that forms the rounded shape of our shoulder. The deltoid muscle is closely related to the pectoral muscles of the chest wall.

Paradoxically though the commonest reason for sore shoulder muscles is likely to be due to fatigue in the trapezius muscles - the large diamond shape group that attach from the neck down to the lower part of the scapula. These often become sore and painful after workouts or unaccustomed use of the arms in the overhead position.

Sore shoulder is a common problem that many of us face.

Here are a list of the common causes of shoulder pain:

• frozen shoulder - common at all ages but frozen shoulder is more often found in women and in diabetic patients
• shoulder bursitis - the bursa is a small sac of fluid under the shoulder muscles - it's designed to produce lubrication and friction free movement. Inflammation in the shoulder bursa is called bursitis
• tendonitis in the rotator cuff - the rotator cuff muscles are a small group of strong muscles that allow us to move and stabilise our shoulder - inflammation or injury to the tendon is called tendonitis
• referred pain from the neck - not all shoulder pain actually arises in the shoulder. It's quite common to have a pain problem start in the neck and then spread to the shoulder.
• shoulder arthritis - shoulder joint arthritis is not as common as for example knee arthritis or hip arthritis but it does happen sometimes - often after previous injury to the rotator cuff muscles
• problems in the abdomen - gall bladder or pancreas or sometimes liver pain can seem as if it is coming from the shoulder