| Because the shoulder is one of the most mobile joints | | | | increase muscle integrity and strength. Physical therapy |
| in the body, shoulder pain can be a very common | | | | has been shown to help alleviate the pain when it is |
| condition. If you have shoulder pain, you should not | | | | prescribed together with medical treatment. |
| ignore it, because like any other condition, the quicker it | | | | Medications. Most simple pain killers can be obtained |
| is managed, the better the results. | | | | over-the-counter. The most common of these being |
| When a heath care professional starts treatment for a | | | | aspirin and non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs. |
| shoulder injury, it is vital that they gather sufficient | | | | Acetaminophen such as Tylenol, and Ibuprofen such |
| information. This information should consist of the | | | | as Motrin and Advil, are some common medication |
| cause of the injury, exam findings, and ultimately, the | | | | that can be used to treat this pain. These medications |
| diagnosis. These are the measures by which the | | | | usually only have short term pain relief and should be |
| treatment plan is based. Naturally, formulation of a | | | | prescribed along with other treatments. |
| treatment regimen must depend on the cause of the | | | | Alternative Therapies. These are conservative |
| shoulder problem. The most common causes are | | | | treatments that use various hands-on techniques to aid |
| frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tears, referred pain from | | | | in shoulder mobility and elimination of pain. |
| the neck, or degenerative disorders such as arthritis | | | | Massage--Massage is very beneficial when dealing |
| and avascular necrosis, labral tears, calcific tendinitis, | | | | with shoulder problems. Massage helps to relieve the |
| joint laxity, age, and tendon rupture. | | | | muscle spasms surrounding the shoulder, which can |
| Because the causes listed above have different levels | | | | increase circulation and facilitate healing. |
| of severity, we will focus on the more basic ways of | | | | Acupuncture--Acupuncture is a technique which utilizes |
| treating shoulder pain. Here are some forms of | | | | needles inserted to the different areas of the body |
| treatment that can be used for general shoulder | | | | where there is pain or discomfort. There has been |
| conditions. | | | | evidence proving acupuncture to be an effective |
| Rest. This is the hallmark of all treatments. All | | | | complementary therapy. |
| conditions should undergo a period of rest, especially if | | | | Chiropractic-- Recognized as being the third largest |
| the area is swollen and extremely painful. However, | | | | area of medicine, chiropractic treatment deals with pain |
| careful consideration should be made when it comes | | | | relief through specialized spinal manipulations that |
| to the number of days of rest. For the shoulder, two or | | | | target the musculoskeletal and the nervous system. |
| three days of rest and immobilization is appropriate, as | | | | The chiropractor evaluates not only shoulder pain, but |
| too much rest may lead to a more debilitating condition, | | | | an individual's overall health, including formulation of diet |
| which is known as frozen shoulder or adhesive | | | | and exercises based on a person's lifestyle. |
| capsulitis. | | | | Even though shoulder pain can be problematic, there |
| Physical Therapy. The principles of physical therapy | | | | are many conservative things that you can do before |
| incorporate application of hot and cold in the acute, | | | | resorting to surgery. Giving these things a try can allow |
| subacute, and chronic stages of healing. This then | | | | you to get relief, without having to resort to drastic |
| precedes range of motion exercises. Exercises are | | | | measures. |
| initially passive and then progress to resistive to | | | | |