Shoulder Pain

Chiropractor Callum Sibbald is helping patients in Basingstoke who suffer with shoulder pain.

Shoulder pain is a very common complaint, and can present with a complex pattern of muscle and joint injuries. These injuries can be traumatic in nature, or a consequence of repetitive postural stress.

Postural strain, due to sitting for long hours at a computer can erode the integrity of the shoulder girdle and rotator cuff muscles. These muscles can fatigue over time, and are at an increased risk of straining when performing simple manoeuvres such as throwing a ball, reaching for a seat belt, or pushing a weight in a gym. As the muscle strain builds, it develops trigger points at areas of increased stress. This in turn stiffens and weakens the muscle, which is almost always accompanied by acute pain.

Stiff weak muscles increase the risk of stiff joints, which in turn increases the risk of degeneration of the joint and muscles, which over time can lead to a chronic pain pattern.

These pains, weather acute or chronic, can be localised to a specific muscle or joint of the shoulder, but can also refer and take in large areas of the shoulder and refer into the arms and neck, and in many cases cause headaches. Many headache sufferers have a chronic build-up of trigger points in the shoulder girdle and rotator cuff muscles.

Shoulder pain can be very complex and present as several separate identifiable conditions: frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), rotator cuff tear, painful arc syndrome, scapular instability, acromio-clavicular joint injury, calcified supraspinatus tendonitis.

Chiropractic treatment can be very effective at treating all these  shoulder conditions and relieving the pain and headaches that accompany them. Basingstoke Chiropractic Chiropractor Callum Sibbald deals with all of these conditions in his practice with great success.