Shoulder Pain

Sunderland Integrated Musculoskeletal Service (Sunderland IMS) is a NHS service that provide specialist and comprehensive assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal conditions to patients of Sunderland.   

If you are suffering from shoulder pain, Sunderland IMS have provided simple shoulder information, advice and examples of exercises that may be useful to help with your recovery. Please see the shoulder pain information below to get started today.

Shoulder pain is a common source of pain and can be caused by numerous conditions including:

• Rotator cuff related shoulder pain – The Rotator Cuff muscles are a group of four muscles that control and provide stability to the shoulder. They may cause pain in the shoulder or upper arm, particularly when lifting the arm, lying on it in bed or using the muscles during activities such as washing and getting dressed.

• Acromioclavicular joint pain – This joint is the bony prominence at the top of the shoulder and is the junction between the collar bone and the shoulder blade. Often pain in the joint presents over a gradually and is associated with osteoarthritis and normal degenerative joint changes; however it can also be injured with a trauma or fall.

• Frozen shoulder – This very painful condition is also associated with increased stiffness and restriction of all shoulder movements and activities. It is commonly extremely painful at night causing problems sleeping and is severely limiting with all activities such as washing and dressing.

• Referred shoulder pain – Shoulder problems most commonly causes pain in the upper arm and shoulder itself; however the pain and symptoms may actually be coming from another source such as the neck.

• Osteoarthritis – Osteoarthritis of the shoulder, is caused by normal age related changes within the ball and socket joint of the shoulder. It is much less common than arthritis in other joints of the body such as the knees or hips and may cause pain and stiffness over a period of months or years. Symptoms can sometimes be triggered after an injury or fall.

• Shoulder instability – This is often associated with an acute injury such as a dislocation, or with laxity and weakness in the shoulder muscles which cause excessive movement of the shoulder joint.