Shoulder Pain

Shoulder pain does not always start in the shoulder. The neck and upper back share so much of the same muscle and nerve supply that a stiff upper back often shows up as a sore shoulder. Whether yours came from a collision, a sport, years of the same repeated motion, or simply time, we look at the whole area rather than only the spot that hurts.

Shoulder pain is deceptive, because the shoulder isn't really one joint. It's a shallow ball and socket held in place mostly by muscle and tendon, riding on a shoulder blade that has to glide across the ribs, connected through the collarbone, and served by nerves that come out of the neck. A problem anywhere along that chain can end up being felt in the same spot on the outside of the arm. That's why two people who describe their pain almost identically, sore reaching overhead and worse lying on that side at night, can have very different things going on. It's also why an exam that tests the shoulder from several angles is more useful than matching your symptoms against a list online.

The usual sources are an irritated rotator cuff, tendons that get pinched under the bony arch as the arm lifts, a frozen shoulder, age-related change in the joint, and pain referred up from the neck and upper back. That last one deserves its own sentence, because it's frequently the missed piece. A stiff neck and a shoulder blade that doesn't move well change how the whole shoulder works, and shoulder pain that keeps coming back after the shoulder itself has been treated is often a neck and upper-back story. Anyone who has taken a fall, played an overhead sport, or spent years at a keyboard has a plausible route into that pattern, which is part of why we ask about all of it.

A first visit for a shoulder is a hands-on exam. Dr. Shelly Hogan and Dr. Nicole Edwards check how far the arm moves when you move it and how far it moves when they move it for you, which tell them different things. They test the muscles around the shoulder for strength, watch how the shoulder blade tracks as your arm rises, and look at the neck, because that referral pattern is too common to leave out. You'll get a plain description of what was found and a plain answer about whether this is something we should be working on, which isn't always the same conversation. Bring the details you might assume are irrelevant too: the fall two years ago, the month you spent painting a ceiling, the change in how you sleep. Shoulders tend to carry a history that explains the present better than the current symptoms do.

Where care fits, it usually combines adjustments to the neck and upper back, work on the shoulder joint and shoulder blade themselves, hands-on treatment for muscles and tendons that have been overloaded, and progressive strengthening, because a shoulder that doesn't get stronger tends to keep having the same problem. Frozen shoulder is its own animal and moves on a slow timeline, and we'd rather be honest about that up front than imply it can be hurried. Expect homework as part of it, and expect it to be dull, because most of what holds a shoulder in place is muscle you have to actually train. The office is at 3407 Wells Branch Pkwy, Suite 625, in Wells Branch, North Austin, with parking right at the door, serving North Austin, Wells Branch, and Pflugerville. Book online or call (512) 255-1777.