Overusing your shoulders or using them in ways that you normally would not are both reasons that you may be suffering from shoulder pain. We rarely give our shoulders a second thought, until they begin to hurt. Then we find ourselves wishing that we had given them more attention and better care. Once the pain begins what should we do?
Why Does Your Shoulder Hurt?
You may have no idea when an injury has occurred. After weeks or perhaps a few years of normal use, pain suddenly arrives. Many just “deal with it,” becoming accustomed to such pain as a part of life. Shoulder pain can have many causes. Knowing when an injury has occurred can prevent a person from joint pain due to misuse or overuse.
Many times shoulder pain can be attributed to poor posture. This can be caused by a misalignment of the spine, particularly the upper two vertebrae in the neck. This misalignment will make the position of the head altered, even slightly tilted, leading to one shoulder being higher than the other. This causes overuse or abnormal use of the shoulder joints and, therefore, results in pain.
Muscle Strain – Whether a person is playing sports or lifting a baby, the wrong movement at the wrong moment can result in a pulled muscle. Sometimes a muscle pull is minor and will heal on its own as long as you give the muscle time to rest. Other muscle strains can create a bulge where the muscle is damaged. This often occurs if the strain is actually a complete tear. Other strain symptoms include loss of the range of movement and pain when the muscle is used.
Tendonitis – Tendons connect bones and muscles. When they are overextended or strained, the result is inflammation. This inflammation is referred to as tendonitis. The shoulder is a common location for this type of injury. Tendinosis is a more chronic condition and is usually the result of consistent overuse rather than a one-time injury. The inflammation associated with tendonitis does not present with tendinosis. Tendinopathy is a general term used for shoulder tendon damage and can refer to either of the above conditions.
Bursitis – This condition also results in inflammation and draws its name from the Bursa sac. Bursitis can be caused by a range of factors including injury, infection, and arthritis.
How Is Your Shoulder Problem Affecting Your Life?
When shoulder weakness or pain is involved even walking can be painful. Also when a shoulder is in pain simple things like eating and drinking can become miserable. In addition to these things when there is a shoulder problem every movement we make can cause the pain to increase and the injury to become worse.
Shoulder weakness and pain may also start to interfere with sleeping habits. Every movement while sleeping can be painful and cause trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Not being properly rested through the day will cause problems of its own. Shoulder problems are really something that needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.
No one should resign themselves to suffer in constant pain. The good news is that an upper cervical chiropractor may be able to help with your shoulder pain. How can the top two bones of your neck be related to your shoulder? Neck misalignments are actually the cause of many health problems, especially when it comes to joint pain and inflammation.
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