Suffering From Shoulder Pain?

There are many ways someone can injure a shoulder, and it’s also a joint that is commonly susceptible to arthritis. Both injury and arthritis can cause severe pain in the shoulder, which can be unbearable since the shoulder is used for many different types of motion – most of which go unnoticed until it becomes painful to do such movement.

Chiropractic is one form of treatment that can provide shoulder pain relief.

Shoulder Pain in Pittsburgh

Signs you may need to visit a chiropractor sooner rather than later:

• Pain persists for more than a few days
• Pain recurs over history, even if it seems to settle on its own each time
• Cannot carry anything with that arm
• Cannot use that arm
• Pain occurs during rest
• Cannot raise the arm
• Bruising or swelling in the shoulder
• Body shows signs of infection (fever, redness, swelling, warmth)

Like with most forms of pain relief, the sooner you can eliminate the pain, the easier recovery is going to be in the long run. However, people can feel similar types of pain for different reasons. It’s important to accurately treat the injury or arthritis for the specific problem because not all methods of pain relief work in the same way.

If you are unsure about why your shoulder hurts, it’s best to seek out a chiropractor who can help analyze your shoulder and help you create a treatment plan.

Common Treatments For Shoulder Pain

As effectively as pain relief medication seems to work, remember that it’s not actually a treatment and instead masks the pain insteading of solving the problem.

Therefore, we recommend some of these solutions as a good place to start for shoulder pain relief. Before starting any of these treatments on your own, we recommend talking with a professional as there are some treatments that can make a shoulder injury worse (such as stretching muscles and tendons when they may be torn or sprained).

• Rest: Proper rest can give the shoulder time to heal on its own. By avoiding strenuous activity, you avoid injuring the shoulder further. However, too much rest or immobilization can cause frozen shoulder, which is medically known as adhesive capsulitis and means you will experience a loss of movement in the shoulder joint.
• Ice/Heat: Hot and cold treatments can relieve pain by reducing inflammation in the joint. There are certain times to ice a joint and others when it is better to use heat. Not sure what to do? Ask us!
• Stretch: Muscles and tendons may be tight or knotted, which cause pain. Stretching and massaging the shoulder can provide pain relief. However, this treatment can cause more pain in different types of injuries.
• Exercise: Physical rehabilitation helps heal the shoulder joint fully, especially after a severe injury or surgery.
• Anti-Inflammatory Medication: Feeling shoulder pain because of arthritis, bursitis, or tendonitis? Medication that reduces inflammation can provide pain relief because it eliminates the extra pressure within the joint that causes pain.
• Cortisone Injections: This powerful medication helps treat inflammation. It is a serious form of treatment that has great benefits but also is quite invasive and may have unwelcome side-effects.

Visit Morreale Chiropractic in Pittsburgh to learn which form of treatment is best for you. We want you to be pain free as soon as possible!

Schedule your free consultation now and get a free 15 minute massage.