After the spine, shoulders are the most common joint in the body to be painful. However a painful shoulder is not necessarily a “frozen shoulder”; there are many other causes of pain. Many pains over the shoulder area are referred from the neck so a thorough assessment is essential to determine exactly where the pain is coming from.
One of the most common conditions seen by physiotherapists is “impingement” where tendons get nipped between 2 bones on certain movements- typically reaching out to the side or behind, “fly” type weight-lifting or putting a jacket on.
Test yourself- stretch your arms out in front of with the thumbs facing the floor. Get someone to push down on your arms while you push up towards the ceiling- if this is painful you have some tendon impingement.
This condition is aggravated by periods of unaccustomed activity eg decorating, cutting hedges or cleaning windows or by poor “round-shouldered” posture.
A Chartered Physiotherapist can successfully treat this and other shoulder conditions with hands-on mobilisation/manipulation techniques, electrotherapy such as ultrasound, acupuncture (with needles or laser if you prefer), taping to re-position the shoulder and specific exercises and stretches to prevent the problem recurring in the future.
If you have pain on lying on your shoulder when sleeping this may indicate arthritis of the joint. If you are losing mobility of your shoulders often the first movement to be reduced is hand-behind-back eg to do up your bra. It is vital to seek assessment and treatment from an expert to prevent this loss of movement increasing and becoming permanent.
To see a Chartered Physiotherapist privately you do not need to be referred by your doctor.