GeneralWhat’s Causing My Shoulder Pain And What Can I Do About It?

You know how you don’t truly appreciate your nasal passages until you have a cold? Shoulders are another body part we use frequently without thinking about it. Consequently, frequent shoulder pain makes you truly appreciate the role shoulders play in our daily lives. Whenever you engage in heavy lifting or throw a ball, your shoulders are at the base of those actions. Whenever you reach around to scratch that itch in the centre of your back, your shoulders are facilitating that range of movement. Whenever you need to align your hands to use a keyboard and mouse, your shoulders are holding your arms in place (albeit more passively). It only follows, then, that shoulder pain will draw attention to our daily reliance on our most mobile joints.

You shouldn’t have to shoulder this burden alone.

As devised by native state, all the joints in the human body, shoulders have the greatest range of movement. However, with great mobility comes lessened stability, and this is often the root cause of shoulder pain. Eighty percent of the time, the culprit is rotator cuff tendinopathy. This is a condition whereby the four muscles forming the rotator cuff can no longer keep your humeral head centred on your glenoid. If that sounded like Double Dutch, the important thing to note is that the shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint. The humeral head is the ball, and the glenoid is the socket. Now imagine that humeral ball dislodging from the glenoid socket. If the issue is rotator cuff tendinopathy, this dislodgement is a consequence of the weakened rotator cuff muscles. Their job is to keep the ball and socket in alignment.

If something feels off, seek advice from a physiotherapist or your GP.

Rotator cuff tendinopathy happens due to overload. When overloaded, muscles weaken, and weakened muscles cannot perform optimally. Sometimes, you can trace this condition back to an isolated incident, such as excessive heavy lifting. However, it more frequently happens from a gradual build-up of overexertion, making the condition more difficult to detect. Although this condition is the most common, there are other shoulder injuries and pathologies. However, many of them will somehow relate to the rotator cuff, which is like the sticky tape holding your shoulder joint in place.

So, what can I do about it?

Recovering from rotator cuff tendinopathy is not straightforward. Unfortunately, the issue is not self-resolving, and 40 percent of rotator cuff ‘tendinopaths’ (for lack of a better word) will still experience pain for up to 12 months following shoulder restoration. The first step would be to see a physiotherapist, who can accurately assess the situation and form a tailored treatment plan. However, you can also kick-start your healing with some tendon-strengthening exercises.

A physiotherapist can help assess the situation.

If the rotator cuff muscles are too weak to hold your shoulder joint in place, then we need to strengthen them. Typically, this is about a 12-week process, so patience is key. Moreover, common sense will play a large role here. If you’re not in the habit of lifting weights or attending the gym, lifting heavy weights will exacerbate your condition. Start small and don’t push your body to progress when it isn’t ready. Once you have acclimatised your body to lifting weights by your side, you can gradually increase the height and weight. By the 12th or 16th week, you should be able to lift your—somewhat heavier—weights above your head, which will help restore strength to the rotator cuff muscles.

This guy could probably start off with at least 20kgs.

It’s important not to rush the process. Bear in mind that your shoulder injury was likely due to overload, and that rushing the process can result in further overload. Provide the appropriate amounts of rest and rejuvenation. Avoid exertion in your day-to-day activities, but work incrementally to restore tendon strength. Know the line between pushing through discomfort and pushing too far. If there’s someone in your life willing to massage your shoulders, take them up on that offer. Releasing tension in the shoulder muscles actually complements the strengthening process. Other helpful hints include using a heat pack on your shoulder, and supporting your arm at night.

If the condition is severe, you can seek medical advice from Evoker or other trusted professionals. They can prescribe medication for pain and inflammation relief. Occasionally, surgery may be necessary to correct torn tissue, or to remove scar tissue, but there are few conditions that rest and exercise won’t fix.

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