What causes shoulder pain?

Shoulder pain is one of those health issues that every person faces somewhere in their whole life. The Shoulder is a very complex joint and is surrounded by many structures that make it difficult to assess. This joint is the most mobile joint in our body and that makes it the most unstable joint also. Due to a high degree of movement and less stability shoulder joint is become very prone to getting injured. Injury may be dislocation, sprain, strain, tendonitis, capsulitis, fracture, etc.

A person may get these injuries from any sports activity like- cricket, football, volleyball, hockey, basketball, etc, and other activities in which there is a need for shoulder movement more frequently. It is very important to keep your joints healthy in sports and it is more important in team sports.

A Shoulder injury can cause due to – fall with an outstretched hand, over-stretching of the shoulder, repeated movement of the shoulder, inadequate training of shoulder muscles, and lifting heavyweight without a warm-up.

Common conditions which cause shoulder pain are-

  • Frozen Shoulder,Shoulder Impingement,Tendinitis,Ligament strain,Muscle sprain,Dislocation,Fracture,Osteoarthritis,Cartilage tear,Cervical radiculopathy, etc.

Physiotherapy management of shoulder pain:

  • Therapeutic modalities use to relieve your pain and inflammation such as-
    • Shock wave therapy,High-intensity laser,TECAR Therapy (TR Therapy),Super Inductive System (SIS),Cryo-Air, etc
  • Other methods to reduce pain such as:
    • Cupping therapy,acupuncture/Dry needling,Manual therapy,Mobilization,Deep tissue release technique,Kinesio taping, etc.
  • Exercise to strengthen shoulder muscles includes:
    • Prone T/Y/I/W on the gym ball.Exercise with thera band or any other resistance band,Straight anterior lats pull down.Side plank stability with the kettlebell.Side-lying external rotation with weight/dumbbell.Single-arm dumbbell row.Prone scapular retraction.Side-lying shoulder External rotation.Internal rotation at 90-degree abduction against the resistance of band/tube.90-90 scapular retraction with External rotation.
  • Exercise to stretch shoulder muscles such as:
    • Clasp hand behind the back.Grab elbow behind the back.Pectoral stretching against the wall.Pectoral stretch with end-range external rotation lifts off.
  • Shoulder mobility exercises-
    • Wall ladders,Pendulum exercise,Pulley assisted shoulder abduction and adduction,PVC mobility drills.
  • Shoulder stability exercises-
    • Open kinetic chain shoulder stability exercises;
      • Unilateral flexion with abduction with the resistance band,Kettlebell stability training,Banded Y.
    •  Closed kinetic chain shoulder stability exercises;
      • Front plank with banded External rotation,Side plank with banded External rotation,Close chain Horizontal abduction,High plank shoulder taps,High plank on bosuball & balancing basketball over it.