Have you ever had shoulder pain? Ever heard of Frozen Shoulder? When you have pain in your shoulder, most people will try to quit using that arm. Problem with that scenario is if you quit moving your arm due to pain, you will end up with Frozen Shoulder. Frozen shoulder is NOT FUN and super hard to “fix“.

Where Is the Pain Coming From?

So your chiropractor can identify what kind of shoulder pain you are having. Believe it or not, shoulder pain has many “types“. It can be true shoulder pain, the pain can be referred from your neck, or it can be a combination of both.

Referred pain: there is a big branch of nerves and blood vessels that exit the front of both sides of your neck. This is called the “Brachial Plexus“, the Brachial Plexus supplies blood and nerve innervation to your arms and fingers. When you have severe problems with your Brachial Plexus you can end up losing strength in your hand along with numbness of your fingers!

When you have issues with your neck or the muscles in your neck, you can have issues with the Brachial Plexus, which will cause pain down your arm all the way down to your fingers (as well as shoulder blade pain!). So that shoulder pain may actually be coming from your neck.

True Shoulder Pain

So we have ruled out neck issues and it is a true shoulder issue. There are a few types of shoulder pain that is most common in my office: Rotator Cuff pain, Bicipital Tendonitis, and muscle strain from either Biceps or Pectoralis major and/or minor.

In my office depending on the true “cause” of pain, I will use a combination of therapies. High volt with ultrasound, Interferential current, Cold Laser, Acupuncture and Active Release Technique (and of course ADJUSTMENTS!).

Stretches to Help Strengthen Your Shoulder

Once we have gotten a good grip on your pain, I like to give a couple of exercises to help with pain and strengthening the shoulder complex.

1. The 90, 90 Shoulder Stretch –

Stand in a doorway, holding your arms up so your elbow is at a 90 degree angle and your arm forms a 90 degree angle to your body at the shoulder. Place each hand on one of the sides of the door frame, placing one foot forward as you stand up straight aligning your neck with your spine. Lean forward as you brace yourself against the door frame. Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds. Repeat 2-3 times.

2. Y to W Stretch – 

Stand straight up. Bring your arms over your head in the shape of a Y. Bring elbows down to your sides, keeping arms directly to your sides. (If it helps you can stand with your back to the wall.) Do this slowly until you feel the stretch in the front of your shoulder/chest area. (Stop if it is painful.) Repeat 4-5 times.

 3. Shoulder Blade Pinch –

Start with your elbows tucked to your sides and forearms straight out in front of you. Without moving your elbows off your sides bring your fists out to your sides, while pinching your shoulder blades together. Make sure you are standing/sitting straight up. To make it more difficult you can use a TheraBand for resistance. Hold one end of the band in each hand. (You will feel this stretch in the front of your shoulders more.) Hold for a 5 count, repeat 3-5 times.

4. Anterior Shoulder Stretch –

Start by placing your right arm across the front of your body. Place your left hand by (or on) your elbow and pull your towards you. You will start to feel a stretch in your upper right shoulder blade area and back of your shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds. Repeat on opposite side.

Go See Your Chiropractor

When you get the okay from your chiropractor, go ahead and do one or all of these stretches. If stretches are done too quickly, it can make the pain worse. Make sure you know where your pain is coming from. Sitting ergonomics also plays a key role in posture and pain. Also, have you chiropractor check your leg length. Being balanced can play a huge part causing pain anywhere in your body! As well as the food you are consuming can cause inflammation and creating pain! So knowing your food allergies is very helpful!

~Dr. Lacey~
Carder Chiropractic Clinic, INC.
El Reno, OK 73036