You go to the back of your car and suddenly your shoulders break. Or it may start clicking during your weekly tennis game. Whatever the reason, you want to get rid of the pain. Our sports medicine experts share common causes of shoulder pain and which treatments work best …
Being flexible is great in yoga classes, on the dance floor, and when playing Nintendo with your kids. But when it comes to your shoulder, it’s a mess.
This is because a highly flexible joint, known as hyperactivity, causes instability in the shoulder and increases the risk of injury and pain.
If you sit behind a desk all day, you are at risk.
“Women in traditional management roles – who spend hours sitting at the desk – often do so because of poor room conditions,” says Dr. Gambardella.
Just the birth of a woman can cause chronic shoulder pain. Some studies show that hormonal changes during pregnancy – especially the release of Relson, a hormone that relaxes the joint muscles in preparation for birth – can make the shoulder joint more flexible and less stable.
So how does shoulder pain help you? Read about the most common causes of shoulder pain in women and doctor’s advice.
Frozen shoulder
Do you feel severe pain when you reach for the cabinet, comb your hair or hook your bra while lifting your arm? This is a sign of frozen shoulder, or sticky capsulitis. This condition causes the soft tissue ring around the joint to thicken and harden, called the capsule, which then becomes swollen.
“A frozen shoulder can be caused by something, an injury that keeps you from throwing your arm, or because you stop moving because of the pain,” says Gambrela.
Women aged 45-55 are at the highest risk of this condition, but experts do not know the cause.
According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetics are also at higher risk, possibly due to abnormally high reserves of collagen, a protein that is the primary building block of connective tissue in the shoulder.
Relieve shoulder pain: Do not delay treatment. Treated early, the frozen shoulder can heal in 4-6 weeks. Wait a few months, and recovery may take up to a year.
Explaining, Dr. Gambardella said, “It takes a long time for a healthy person to develop in a few months.
Treatment may include anti-inflammatory drugs such as Celebrex and Anaprox and / or cortisone injections to relieve inflammation. Physical therapy is another option.
“A physical therapist will manually move the joint to pull it out and move the [synovial] fluid in the joint,” said Renee Garrison, a physical therapist at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Synovial fluids nourish and help fill your shoulder.
Rotate cuffs, tension and tears
Unlike a frozen shoulder, rotator cuff tension causes pain but does not limit your range of motion.
“You can move your arm upwards or outwards, but it hurts when you do,” explains Dr. Gambardella.
Common symptoms of rotator cuff muscle problems, which stabilize the shoulder joint, include pain at night, aches or pains when reaching the back of your car when in the back of your pants. You tie the shirts.
Sports often involve stress and injuries that require excessive activity, such as tennis or volleyball.
They can also get out of bad currency, for example, like hunting on a computer keyboard for a long time.
But just getting older can motivate them.
Dr. Gambardella says: “Rotating cuff injuries can also be caused by age-worn clothing and tears.
In fact, people over the age of 60 are more likely to have rotator cuff injuries than other age groups, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Relief from shoulder pain: It is treated to the extent of injury. Dr. Garrison says that for stress relief, such as octamine, ice and anti-inflammatory drugs are needed, but surgery is needed to repair total muscle tears.
Regardless, doctors usually recommend taking a break from traumatic activities and several months of physical therapy before resorting to surgery.
Trauma syndrome
This condition is also called swimmer’s (or thrower’s) shoulder because “distance from the body causes discomfort,” says C. David Gere, director of sports medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
This is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain when the front part of the shoulder blade meets the rotator cuff.
Normally, your shoulders hurt and movement is limited, but it is not weak or unstable, Dr. Gear says. Untreated, amputation syndrome can develop up to the frozen shoulder.
Getting rid of shoulder pain: Early treatment includes ice therapy: ice packs, ice massages and / or commercial gel ice packs, relax and avoid overhead movements.
A doctor may also prescribe anti-inflammatory