Chiropractic Care for Shoulder Pain

I wanted to give you some more information with regards to chiropractic care for your shoulder. There are various conditions that a person can have that can create problems and pain in their shoulder. I’ll go over these one by one. 

AC Joint Separation

The AC joint separation is where the clavicle (collarbone) and the acromion process actually separate. The acromion process is a special place on the shoulder blade that’s shaped so it meets the clavicle and creates a joint. In this situation, the clavicle will kind of raise up and separate away from the joint itself. 

Arthritis in the Shoulder

There can be some arthritis or an arthritic condition. What happens here many times is the AC joint will get arthritic. Or the humerus as it meets the scapula, forming the glenohumeral joint, will get arthritic. People begin to have kind of grinding sensations and pain in the shoulder and they can’t move it the way they used to. 

Bursitis or Tendonitis

Bursitis or tendonitis occurs when the bursa sac, which protects the tendon from the bone, gets inflamed, or displaced and inflamed. This creates a tendonitis situation that can be pretty painful. A person can’t move their shoulder the way they want to.

Frozen Shoulder

All of the problems above can relate to the problem of a frozen shoulder. Basically, a frozen shoulder is where the capsule surrounding the joint is really inflamed and has developed some fibrotic tissue. A person with this problem cannot raise their arm very well. You’ve really got to work on the mobility of the shoulder to improve their ability to move it so the person can do what they need to do during the day. 

Frozen shoulder is also known as adhesive capsulitis. It’s a very painful situation that responds very well to chiropractic adjustments and moving that shoulder.

Rotator Cuff Muscle Tears

Then you have rotator cuff muscle tears. The muscles of the rotator cuff include: 

1. Supraspinatus
2. Infraspinatus
3. Teres minor
4. Subscapularis. 

Together, these are referred to as the SITS muscles from their initial letters. The one that’s probably most frequently injured would be the supraspinatus muscle. Patients can get tears in that. In some cases, but not all, those have to be surgically repaired.

Pinched Nerves in the Neck

The other problem that arises often comes up when a person has a direct impact to the shoulder like they slip and fall, or they have an auto accident, or there’s some other situation where their shoulder gets jammed. They injure the rotator cuff muscles or the joints or they separate the shoulder. They can also get a pinched nerve in their neck. 

This pinching can cause abnormal nerve supply into the rotator cuff muscles. It can cause abnormal nerve supply into the joints. And, as a result of that, it can cause abnormal motion of the shoulder and start to create some of these conditions like arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis or a frozen shoulder. It can also create a situation where rotator cuff muscle tears can occur much more easily.

Chiropractic Care for This Problem

If a person has a shoulder problem, it’s a good idea to get it checked out by a chiropractor. That’s because you really want to trace it back, look at that neck, see if there’s any involvement of the neck that relates to the problems that you might be having with the shoulder. 

Many times there’s so much pain in the shoulder, you don’t even know you have neck pain or a neck problem until you actually get it checked out by a chiropractor.

If you have any questions about your shoulder problems or if you know somebody that has a shoulder problem, I hope you’ll recommend that they call us at (314) 310-6454.