Does your shoulder feel tight, tense, achy, or downright painful? It might be time to come see our chiropractor. While chiropractors primarily focus on the spine and neck, we are also able to examine other joints, diagnose problems with those joints, and perform manipulations on the area if appropriate. And while joint manipulation is not always the right treatment for a painful shoulder, our chiropractor can also help relieve your pain through techniques like therapeutic massage, acupuncture, and physical therapy. In short, there are no downsides to seeing a chiropractor for your shoulder pain, and there are plenty of potential benefits.
What’s Causing Your Shoulder Pain?
The shoulder is an especially mobile joint. In some ways, this is a great thing — it allows you to move your arm in a full circle and enjoy a wide range of motion. Without that range of motion, many of the daily activities of life, from getting dressed to reaching for something behind you, would become much more difficult. But the mobility of the shoulder also means that this joint is vulnerable to many different types of injuries. A few common types of shoulder problems include:
- Rotator cuff tears
- Rotator cuff tendinitis
- Shoulder dislocation and instability
- Ligament injuries
- Bursitis
- Frozen shoulder
- Arthritis
Injuries and chronic conditions like arthritis aren’t the only causes of shoulder pain. If you haven’t been injured recently and you aren’t sure why your shoulder hurts, the pain could be referred from another part of your body. For instance, the real problem might be with one of your internal organs and not your shoulder, but your brain may interpret your nerves’ pain signals as coming from your shoulder. Our chiropractor can help you figure out whether you are dealing with referred pain or an actual tissue injury in your shoulder.
How a Chiropractor Can Help Relieve Your Shoulder Pain
When you visit Denver Integrated Spine Center for shoulder pain, our chiropractor will begin the visit by gathering information from you. The more information you can provide, the better, so you may want to jot down a few notes before you go in for your appointment. Your chiropractor may ask questions like:
- How long has your shoulder been hurting?
- Can you describe what the pain feels like?
- Have you been in a car accident recently?
- Does any other part of your body hurt?
Our chiropractor will also perform a physical examination. This may involve looking at your spine for any subluxations (or misalignments), taking X-rays, and asking you to do specific range-of-motion tests.
After performing a thorough evaluation, the chiropractor will have a good idea what your problem is and how to treat you. Depending on what is causing your shoulder pain, they may perform manual manipulations of your spine and shoulder, use massage therapy to boost your circulation in the damaged area, or start you on a physical therapy regimen.
Relief From Shoulder Pain Could Be a Visit to the Chiropractor Away
Chiropractic care is an excellent way to get relief from your pain without relying on pain medications or surgery. Call us today if you’re ready to take the first step towards solving your shoulder pain.