Shoulder in itself a very complicated joint which consits of various structures for the great mobility. However, the type of pain you feel can be influenced by the kind of shoulder injury you have. The majority of shoulder pain problems involve the muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and tendons. The following type of injuries will help you to understand your pain:

  • Rotator cuff tear can cause dull, achy shoulder pain. However, tears caused by a traumatic event may cause severe pain. A rotator cuff tear can be caused by a wearing down of the rotator cuff tendons over time or from a traumatic event, such as a fall.  It may be accompanied by weakness in the arm and can cause difficulty reaching behind your back or overhead. Often the pain will disturb your sleep, especially when lying on the injured shoulder.

  • SLAP tear, which is a tear to the cartilage that rings the shoulder’s socket, often causes a deep, achy shoulder pain that’s hard to pinpoint. Pain may be felt at the back of the shoulder; if the SLAP tear involves the biceps tendon, you may feel pain at the front of your shoulder. Some SLAP tears develop over time, whereas others result from an acute injury, like a fall. Commonly, the symptoms of a SLAP tear are similar to many other shoulder problems. They include a decreased range of motion, a sensation of grinding, popping or locking, and pain with lifting or movement, especially lifting overhead or holding the shoulder in specific positions.
  • Frozen shoulder is a shoulder condition that causes achy pain around the shoulder and sometimes in the upper arm. Pain tends to increase early on, before decreasing in later phases. The cause of this condition is unknown, but it usually affects people age 40 to 60.
  • Shoulder osteoarthritis, can cause deep, achy pain in the joint, as well as pain at the back of your shoulder. Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition, meaning your cartilage wears down over time. Although this condition is most commonly found in adults over 50 years old, it’s also seen in younger people following a dislocated shoulder or fracture.Aggravated by activity, the most common symptom of arthritis of the shoulder is pain. There is usually a limited range of motion and painful grinding or clicking can be felt or heard upon shoulder movement. Night pain is often present.
  • Rotator cuff tendonitis can result in pain radiating from the outside of your arm near the topmost part of your shoulder. This condition is caused by repetitive, overuse of your arm, as is common in sports like weightlifting and swimming.Tenderness in the front of the shoulder or the midpoint of the arm is often caused by rotator cuff pain. When lifting your arms you also might experience shoulder pain and stiffness. Symptoms of night pain and difficulty sleeping are also problems associated with rotator cuff pain.
  • Dislocated shoulder or Shoulder instability occurs as the body's most mobile joint is the shoulder, which makes it susceptible to dislocation. An injury in which your upper arm bone pops out of the cup-shaped socket that's part of your shoulder blade defines a dislocated shoulder.A shoulder dislocation can cause weakness, numbness or tingling near the injury. The intensity of pain might increase if the muscles in your shoulder spasm from the disruption. Symptoms of a dislocated shoulder may include the obvious visibly out-of-place shoulder, intense pain and inability to move the joint.
  • Fibromyalgia is a long-term or chronic disorder. It’s associated with widespread pain in the muscles and bones, areas of tenderness, and general fatigue. Its symptoms are subjective and there isn’t a clear known cause, fibromyalgia is often misdiagnosed as another disease. It is often associated with areas of tenderness, which are called trigger points or tender points. These are places on your body where even light pressure can cause pain.