There are various different body ailments that an experienced chiropractor can help you with. It’s not just back issues that chiropractors can help you with. A lot of people suffer from some form of neck pain, shoulder pain, or both.
However, just because you experience some mild shoulder and/or neck pain or discomfort due to everyday activities, doesn’t mean you need to run off to your friendly neighborhood chiropractor at the drop of a hat. It’s a perfectly normal part of the human living experience to have some pain and discomfort from time to time (especially in their neck and shoulder area); give yourself a few day of rest and good posture to see of there is any improvement and if there isn’t any, go ahead and make an appointment with your chiropractor.
Listing Neck and Shoulder Ailments
Rotator Cuff
Rotator cuff injuries can be VERY painful and the healing time can be quite long depending on the amount of damage and how quickly your body can heal itself. In some cases surgery is required so you should see a doctor for an examination if you are suffering from chronic shoulder pain.
What causes rotator cuff pain usually is known as bursitis and tendonitis. Either can be painful to the point of ruining your sleep, and if you’re sleep is being interrupted you need to see a doctor to get yourself on the path to healing.
Inflammation of the “bursa” known as bursitis. The bursa is fluid sac in your shoulder joint area moving with your tendons and bone. With tendonitis it’s just like it sounds; caused from inflammation of your tendons.
Torn Muscles
There are a lot of different tendons and muscles in motion with neck and shoulder movement. In some cases (due to accidents or sports injuries usually) muscles in the neck or shoulder area can tear. This causes a lot of pain and healing may take up to many months to for a complete recovery.
Your chiropractor can help by being part of your healing process. There are different approaches a chiropractor can take in order to give you some much needed relief as your healing process is under way.
Frozen Shoulder(s)
Also known as an adhesive capsulitis, a frozen shoulder is a persistent and painful stiffness that often limits range of shoulder movement. Frozen shoulders mostly occur when there is swelling, tightening, or thickening of tissues that surround the shoulder. Diabetes and stroke are risk factors.
People with frozen shoulders find simple tasks such as dressing impossible. You may also not be able to drive and even sleeping becomes a chore. In worst cases, you may not be able to move your shoulder at all.
Shoulder Instability
The shoulder joint comprises a ball and a socket. The top of the upper arm bone forms the ball which then fits into the socket formed by the shoulder blade. When you have shoulder instability, it means that the ball has not fit perfectly in the socket. Maybe there is slipping, or it could be a total shoulder dislocation.
Shoulder instability can cause tingling, weakness, numbness, or fatigue in the arm. Some people may also experience clicking or locking and feel a popping sensation on the affected shoulder.
What to Do if You Experience Shoulder and Neck Pain
If you all of a sudden get extreme pain in your shoulder, neck and jaw it may be a sign of heart attack so you should have someone call 911 to get checked out immediately. However, this a rare occurrence. With 99% of cases your shoulder and neck pain or discomfort with come after you’ve had some kind of physical trauma such as accident, a fall, or sports injury.
The first hing to try is applying heat and ice where the pain is located. Always try ice first. Apply the ice pack to the inflamed area for 10 minutes, then give it a 5 minute rest, then apply heat for 5 minutes. Then repeat. If after a day or two you find the pain just isn’t subsiding, get into see a doctor for further examination.
This may result in you heading off to get X-rays (or some kind of imaging work) done to further diagnose the exact cause of the inflammation. As the healing process moves on you would be greatly benefited if you can manage to afford physiotherapy and/or a chiropractic care.
We’d like to finish with a video today. Check it out below!
