About Shoulder Pain

Two of the most common causes of shoulder pain are tendonitis and bursitis.  Conservative treatment for shoulder problems should be your first choice.  Who provides great physical therapy in Flatbush?  Who specializes in shoulder problems?  MBF Rehab.  We want to share more about bursitis and tendonitis in this post.

The human shoulder is a very intricate ball and socket joint system with a wide and quite versatile range of motion. It is made up of three main bones and has a crucial layer of cushioning cartilage to protect them all. When something goes wrong with any of these moving parts, the limitations of movement and pain involved can become quite severe and even debilitating. In fact, we’ve even seen patients that have had back surgery, neck surgery and shoulder pain and most report shoulder pain to by the most severe of the three.

Shoulder problems are usually caused by acute injury (sudden onset), age related health conditions like arthritis, or by repetitive motions causing a wearing down of one or more of the anatomical components of the shoulder (those being bones, ligaments, cartilage, bursae, and tendons).

Bursitis and Tendonitis are two of the more common causes of such discomfort associated with the shoulder.

Bursitis – A condition involving the bursae (plural, bursa is singular), which are small sacs filled with fluid that are located between the rotator cuff and the shoulder bone. These sacs are actually present in many other areas of the body as well, but the shoulder is one of the most common areas of the body to suffer from the inflammatory condition known as bursitis. When these sacs become inflamed from repeated motion or overuse, the result can be quite problematic, making simple acts like combing your hair or brushing your teeth a painful process.

Tendinitis – Your shoulder consists of four rotator cuff tendons and one of the two bicep tendons. They all serve as cords that connect muscle to bone. Tendinitis is a source of pain that arises from one of these connecting cords becoming inflamed. Some common causes of this condition include athletic-related overuse, age-related arthritis, and even infection.  While physical therapy is not appropriate treatment for infections, most other movement disorders of the shoulder respond very well with conservative, drug-free treatment …therefore, physical therapy.

To support our statement consider this information from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons:

Most problems in the shoulder involve the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, rather than the bones. Athletes are especially susceptible to shoulder problems. In athletes, shoulder problems can develop slowly through repetitive, intensive training routines.

Some people will have a tendency to ignore the pain and “play through” a shoulder injury, which only aggravates the condition, and may possibly cause more problems. People also may underestimate the extent of their injury because steady pain, weakness in the arm, or limitation of joint motion will become almost second nature to them.
As reported on the AAOS website.

When you analyze all of the common causes of pain in the shoulder like:

• Impingment (pinching of the rotator cuff tendons),
• Rotator cuff tears,
• Shoulder instability (when the humerus moves out of the socket of the shoulder),
• Tendonitis,
• Bursitis,
• Calcific tendonitis,
• AC separation, and
• Frozen shoulder,

almost all of them respond to conservative care.  Therefore you should try it first.

Don’t Suffer with Pain

Ever seen a leak in your roof?  What will happen if you ignore it?  Yes, you know, it will get worse and worse.  The same goes for shoulder problems.  As common as these problems are, there is still no need to suffer.  Treatment can either minimize the pain or eliminate it completely. While aggressive options exist for people with shoulder-related ailments, these come at much with greater risks than physical therapy.  Nevertheless, they have their place but only after you try physical therapy first.  If you need physical therapy for your shoulder and live in the Flatbush area, don’t wait and don’t suffer.  Get treatment for your shoulder pain at MBF Rehab.

Please contact us today for more information.