Can Chiropractic Help Shoulder Pain?

Although most people think of chiropractic as a treatment only for back pain and neck pain/headaches, do you know the third-most common condition seen in chiropractic offices? Shoulder complaints.

Did you know that about half of all people have shoulder pain in any given year? And that only about half of all people with new shoulder pain have their conditions resolved within six months?

Chiropractors are carefully trained to note muscle, nerve, and joint dysfunction not only in the spine, but in all the joints of the human body. The shoulder is particularly susceptible to injury, and chiropractors are well-versed in the many shoulder complaints and treatments.

It is very likely that your shoulder pain is the result of problems in your neck: problems that you didn't even know you have! Since all the nerves which supply your shoulder exit the spinal cord in the neck, neck pain or neck stiffness can tend to cause pain that feels as though it originates in the shoulder. This is why Dr. Johnson will be careful to examine your whole body, and not just your shoulder.

If your shoulder pain is the result of muscle or tendon problems, Dr. Johnson has an array of techniques to help reduce the pain and, even better, to help solve the cause of the pain. Our goal is to ensure that your pain does not return. The chiropractic adjustment has been proven to help many conditions arising from muscular imbalances around the acromioclavicular joint, shoulder blade, and shoulder joint. Tendonitis and bursitis respond particularly well to ultrasound therapy. Cold laser therapy has proven effective for adhesive capsulitis. Painful trigger points in the muscle can be eliminated with cold laser therapy, Activator work, and other soft tissue therapies.

It is also vital that your shoulder rehabilitation begin quickly. Since the shoulder joint is supposed to be in motion, the sooner you can resume normal activities and low-level exercises, the better. Dr. Johnson will work with you to make sure that your shoulder can move freely in all the directions it should.