Shoulder pain

Please note the conditions below are only possible causes of your pain and many other structures can be the source of your symptoms. Therefore a thorough evaluation by a physiotherapist is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis and treat not only the symptoms but also the origin of the pain.

Rotator cuff injuries and impingement

The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles positioned around the shoulder that act to stabilise the shoulder. It usually gets injured with overuse due to repetitive micro-trauma in the tendon. The other causes of injury can be due to anatomical abnormality of the scapula or instability in the shoulder.

Signs and symptoms:

Pain is experienced during overhead activities such as throwing, swimming, painting etc. Activities undertaken at less than 90° abduction are usually pain free. Night pain is common.

Treatment:

Joint mobilisation techniques of either the shoulder joint, AC joint, SC joint or cervical vertebrae will have a neurophysiological effect and will help with decrease in pain, stiffness and will restore joint kinematics.

Soft tissue treatment and dry needling is used to decrease muscle spasm and stiffness.

Neural mobilisation is used to restore neural mobility.

Taping is used to either improve joint stability or aid in normal joint biomechanics.

Rehabilitation: To restore normal control, strength, coordination and balance in the shoulder joint for it to function optimally again.