As we talked about last week (read here), shoulder pain is all too common, especially with repetitive overhead activity and reaching behind the back. It’s typically seen in overhead sports like swimming, volleyball, tennis, and baseball pitchers along with professions such as carpenters, painters, and electricians. These repetitive movements often lead to a condition known as shoulder impingement syndrome where there’s reduced space between the acromion (top of the shoulder blade) and humerus (upper arm) which creates “pinching” on the surrounding tissues.

Shoulder pain is something we see often in the office and a common reason for someone to seek out care. There are a variety of reasons that can lead to shoulder pain so it’s important to get the care you need sooner rather than later. Otherwise, a nasty cycle can start to develop – a person with minor shoulder pain avoids using the shoulder, tissues around the area go into “protective” mode and tighten up, now when trying to use it more severe pain is felt so the shoulder is used less, and so on.