Shoulder Pain: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment
Written By: Dr. Mohamed Ghanem
Updated On:January 29, 2025
What is Shoulder Pain?
The human body's shoulder joint has the greatest range of motion. The shoulder's extensive range of motion is provided by the rotator cuff, a collection of four muscles and their tendons. Shoulder pain may be brought on by rotator cuff swelling, injury, or bone changes. When you raise your arm above your head or move it in front of or behind your back, you might experience pain. In short, shoulder pain refers to any discomfort in or near the shoulder joint.
Causes of Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain is a result of the rotator cuff tendons getting caught under the shoulder's bony area. In cases like these, the tendons swell up or sustain damage. This is also known as bursitis or tendinitis of the rotator cuff.
Other causes of shoulder pain include the following:
- Inflammation of the shoulder joint
- Bone growths near the shoulder
- Bursitis or an inflammation of the bursa, a fluid-filled sac that typically cushions the joint and facilitates smooth movement
- Shoulder fracture
- An injury to the shoulder
- Having a frozen shoulder, which is when the muscles, tendons, and ligaments inside the shoulder stiffen and movement becomes painful
- Overuse or damage to neighboring tendons, such as those in the arm's biceps muscles
- Shoulder movement that is irregular due to nerve damage
- Tendon tears in the rotator cuff
- Poor posture of the shoulders
- Heart attack
Sometimes, shoulder pain may be brought on by an issue with the neck or lungs, among other body parts. This type of discomfort is called referred pain.
Symptoms of Shoulder Pain
Common signs and symptoms of shoulder pain include the following:
- Warmth or redness around your shoulder area
- Backache, arm-ache, or neckache
- A clicking, popping, or grinding feeling when moving the shoulder
- Rigidity and weakening in the shoulder muscles
- Having only a small range of motion
When to see a doctor for Shoulder Pain?
If you have a fever, difficulty moving your shoulder, persistent bruising, heat and tenderness around the joint, or pain that lasts more than a few weeks after trying home remedies, you should see a doctor.
Call medical help right away if your shoulder discomfort is unexpected and unrelated to an incident. That might indicate a heart attack. Additional indicators of a heart attack include chest stiffness, breathing difficulties, extreme sweating, vertigo, and/or neck or jaw pain.
Shoulder Pain Risk Factors
The likelihood of suffering from shoulder pain may be impacted by the following factors:
- Age. With age, the likelihood of suffering a shoulder injury rises. The majority of shoulder injuries occur in adults over 60.
- Your profession. Carpentry and painting jobs that call for repeated overhead arm motions can cause shoulder damage over time.
- Certain sports. Those who play sports like baseball, tennis, and weightlifting are more likely to have certain forms of shoulder problems.
- Family background. As shoulder problems seem to run in particular families, there may be a genetic component involved.
Shoulder Pain Complications
Without treatment, shoulder joint weakening or permanent loss of motion may result from shoulder pain. Hence, the best course of action is to seek medical advice to treat your shoulder pain.
Shoulder Pain Diagnosis
Your doctor will want to determine what is causing the pain in your shoulder. Both a physical examination and a request for your medical history are made.
The doctor will examine your range of motion and joint stability while feeling for soreness and edema. An X-ray or an MRI can also be recommended to create precise images of your shoulder that can aid in the diagnosis.
Your doctor could also ask you questions, such as the following:
- Is one of your shoulders hurting or are both shoulders hurting?
- Did the discomfort start all of a sudden? What were you doing, if so?
- Do other parts of your body begin to experience pain?
- Can you identify the location of the pain?
- When you're not moving, does it hurt?
- Do specific movements make the pain worse?
- Is the pain piercing or just a dull ache?
- Has the painful area been bloated, heated, or red?
- Does the discomfort keep you up at night?
- What worsens it and what improves it?
- Have your shoulder pain-related activity restrictions been necessary?
Shoulder Pain Treatment
The reason and degree of the shoulder discomfort will determine the course of treatment. A sling or shoulder immobilizer, physical or occupational therapy, or surgery are a few possible treatments.
Also, your doctor might recommend drugs like corticosteroids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Strong anti-inflammatory medications known as corticosteroids can be taken orally or administered intravenously by your doctor to treat shoulder pain.
Moreover, you can manage some minor shoulder pain at home. Pain can be lessened by applying ice to the shoulder three or four times each day for a few days. Because putting ice directly on your skin might result in frostbite and burns, use an ice bag or wrap the ice in a towel.
It is essential to take a rest, too. The shoulder should rest for a few days before getting back to normal activities, and painful motions should be avoided. Some at-home remedies include applying an elastic bandage to the area to reduce swelling and taking over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to help with pain relief and inflammation.
Shoulder Pain Prevention
Common ways to prevent shoulder pain are listed below:
- Listen to your body: After any activity, if your shoulder starts to hurt, pay attention to it. See your doctor if the pain is severe and doesn't go away.
- Follow a healthy lifestyle: Regular exercise and a nutritious diet will help you keep your body in good physical condition. It can keep you healthy and keep you from being hurt.
- Exercise correctly. Prior to working out, warm up. If you haven't participated in a sport or activity in a while, start out carefully. Discover the proper technique for lifting weights. Don't lift excessively.
- Work considerations: Be careful not to suffer a shoulder injury at work. To do that, you would need to maintain good posture, lift objects safely, and stretch out and move around if you work on a desk.
- Don’t strain your shoulder: Avoid bending over to get what you need. If you have to reach higher spots, use a step stool.
References
Brox, J. I. (2003). Shoulder pain. Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology, 17(1), 33-56.
Mitchell, C., Adebajo, A., Hay, E., & Carr, A. (2005). Shoulder pain: diagnosis and management in primary care. Bmj, 331(7525), 1124-1128.
Murphy, R. J., & Carr, A. J. (2010). Shoulder pain. BMJ clinical evidence, 2010.
Stevenson, J. H., & Trojian, T. (2002). Evaluation of shoulder pain. Journal of family practice, 51(7), 605-611.
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