If you fall off your bike and brace yourself for the fall, it’s pretty easy to understand why you wake up with shoulder pain the next day. However, not all shoulder conditions develop as a result of acute trauma. In fact, it’s quite common to develop shoulder pain seemingly out of nowhere.
What are these non-injury causes of shoulder pain, and how can you overcome these issues? We take a closer look at five non-injury causes of shoulder pain in today’s blog.
Causes Of Shoulder Pain Without Acute Injury
If you find that you’re dealing with dull or worsening shoulder pain throughout the day, consider that one of these five issues may be at play.
- Posture Problems – Poor posture doesn’t just affect your neck or back, it can also have a major impact on your shoulders. Bad posture habits can put uneven or prolonged stress on your shoulders and the area that supports the shoulder complex as a whole. Working to improve your posture and your spinal alignment throughout the day can help address posture-related shoulder problems.
- Muscular Imbalances – Poor posture can contribute to muscular imbalances in the shoulder, but so too can an inefficient workout routine or repetitive actions. When certain muscles are overworked and others are underutilized, the shoulder joint isn’t supported as it needs to be, and this can lead to instability or related muscular imbalance problems. Working with a physical therapist to strengthen specific muscle groups can help correct these muscular imbalances.
- Repetitive Strain and Overuse – Although it may not feel like you’re overloading your shoulder with stress, repetitive actions and frequent strain on the area can serve to damage tissues in the shoulder. We don’t want you to avoid straining your shoulders, because inactivity can increase your risk of shoulder problems as well, but too much strain can lead to tissue tears or other stress-related problems. Rest and physical therapy can oftentimes help you overcome a repetitive stress-related shoulder condition like bursitis or tendonitis.
- Rotator Cuff Tears – Rotator cuff tears can certainly develop as a result of acute trauma on shoulder, but much more innocuous actions can also lead to damage to the supportive tissues that make up your rotator cuff. This is especially true in order for adults who have put decades of normal wear and tear on the joints over time. What may begin as some light shoulder discomfort during normal physical activity could lead to more severe symptoms if the tears grow or go untreated. Physical therapy may be paired with rest or following surgery to help patients overcome rotator cuff injuries.
- Nerve Compression – A final issue that could lead to discomfort in your shoulder is nerve compression. There are a variety of major and minor nerves that transverse throughout the shoulder region, and if one of them becomes impinged, pain can develop in the shoulder or be felt along your arms or hands. Nerve issues are treated based on what’s causing the compression, be it inflammation, bone spurs or a related cause. Rest, anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy and a minimally invasive decompression operation are all common ways to address nerve compression in the shoulder.
If you believe you may be dealing with one of the above issues, don’t put off treatment any longer. Instead, connect with a shoulder specialist who can quell your discomfort before it gets worse. For more information, or for help with an acute shoulder issue, reach out to Dr. Holloway’s office today at (865) 410-7887.
