Sore Shoulder

Have you heard about shock wave treatment for shoulder pain - or problems related to the shoulder tendons?

Extracorporeal shockwaves - waves of pressure delivered to the outside of the body - have been used in medicine for a number of years, but mostly in the context of treating kidney stones or gall stones. It's only in the last year or two that they've been used for joint and muscle problems.

Shoulder tendon problems seem to respond well to this kind of treatment - particularly when calcium deposits are present. The waves work internally to create new blood flow to the area and to help remove and restore injured or scarred tissue.

The treatment can be painful but the results seem very good from several published research studies.

Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis is a common cause of a sore shoulder - and it causes severe problems with stiffness and loss of function.

If you're unlucky enough to experience it then the loss of sleep and inability to focus at work or at home can really lead to low mood and depression at times.

Doctor Gordon Cameron has created a unique support pack - check it out on the video above.

One of the most interesting treatments for shoulder pain at the moment is when warm salty water is injected into the joint in an attempt to improve the range of movement and decrease the pain of a frozen shoulder.

This is sometimes called hydrodistension treatment, sometimes hydrodilation or it can be described in some hospitals as a therapeutic arthrogram.

Many of those who struggle with sore shoulder and arm pain think that there might be two problems going on at the same time. Actually it's nearly always just the one source for the shoulder pain problem.

The body has a way of tricking the brain about where a pain is coming from. This is called referred pain. The brain misinterprets where the pain is coming from and "blames it" on the arm when in fact the actual injury or pain source lies insider or around the shoulder.

Shoulder conditions like frozen shoulder can send pain spreading all the way down to the hand - and even tendonitis or bursitis can cause a pain that seems to be coming from as far down the limb as the elbow.