Shoulder Pain and Treatment From Our Kenosha Chiropractor
When you think of supremely difficult physical tasks involving the shoulders, you may envision a weightlifter holding a massive barbell on his shoulders, or even the legendary Atlas supporting the entire weight of the world. But when you're one of the many sufferers of shoulder pain, even opening a kitchen cabinet or pulling your shirt over your head can seem like an impossible feat. Discomfort in this flexible but vulnerable joint can strike you all at once or come at you slowly and sneakily over a period of years. If the thought of having to undergo debilitating surgery for your shoulder ailment is too much to bear, relax. Chiropractors known how to deal with shoulder issues -- and our Kenosha chiropractor at Jeranek Family Chiropractic, Dr. Janet Jeranek, can prescribe a mix of non-surgical treatments to help you enjoy genuine relief.
Why You're Shouldering the Burden of Shoulder Pain
To really understand the nature of shoulder pain, it helps to understand a few things about the shoulder itself. The shoulder joint is a classic "ball-and-socket" arrangement that permits an uncommonly wide range of motion. The shoulder is articulated by a set of four muscles called the rotator cuff. These muscles are attached to the muscles by tendons. Sacs of fluid known as bursae prevent these tissues from rubbing against the bones. All of these structures usually work together beautifully -- but it only takes injury or inflammation in one of them to make even the slightest movement extraordinarily painful or even impossible. Common causes of shoulder pain include:
- Tendinitis - Even a small musculoskeletal misalignment can cause a tendon to rub against other shoulder components in the rotator cuff incorrectly, producing damage that leads to the pain of tendinitis. Chronic overuse of a shoulder, as is so common in many athletic activities and job functions, can also leave you with tendinitis.
- Rotator cuff strains/sprains - Repeated excessive stress (or sudden acute stress) on the muscles or tendons in the rotator cuff can stretch or tear them, a condition known as a strain. Shoulder ligaments may suffer the same fate; a stretched or damaged ligament is called a sprain.
- Shoulder bursitis - Those fluid-filled sacs are supposed to prevent surrounding tissues from getting inflamed, but in doing so, they can become inflamed themselves. The resulting pain is called bursitis.
- Frozen shoulder - This odd stiffness of the shoulder tissues, also known as adhesive capsulitis, often occurs after you've been forced to keep your shoulder immobile for long periods of time. But it can also occur for no known reason.
- Osteoarthritis - The cartilage in the shoulder joint may naturally degenerate. This causes the familiar pain of osteoarthritis.
- Dislocation - There's no mistaking the agony of a dislocation, in which the ball of the joint is pushed out of the socket. Once you've had a dislocated shoulder, you're at greater risk for a repeat of the problem.
- Referred pain - Did you know that your shoulder pain may not have anything to do with the health of the shoulder itself? Sometimes chiropractors find that a pinched nerve near the spine is relaying pain signals to the shoulder.
Chiropractic Adjustment and Other Non-Invasive Answers to Your Discomfort
Your shoulder is in good hands here at Jeranek Family Chiropractic. Our Kenosha chiropractor, Doctor Janet Jeranek, will administer X-rays to evaluate both your shoulder anatomy and your spinal alignment. We will discuss your athletic or work habits, your symptom severity and onset, and and underlying medical issues that might be contributing factors to your discomfort. Once we understand exactly where the pain is coming from and what caused that underlying issue, we can prescribe a customized "whole-body" treatment and pain relief plan just for you. That plan might include:
- Chiropractic Care to fix a dislocated shoulder (or relieve nerve compression from a spinal misalignment)
- Corrective exercises to rehabilitate damaged shoulder muscles, tendons or ligaments, or to increase range of motion in arthritic shoulders
- Physiotherapy to provide non-pharmaceutical pain relief, loosen tight tissues, and accelerate healing
- Lifestyle recommendations to help you stop sabotaging your shoulder through awkward work positions, sports over-training or other missteps
- Once we have your shoulder working and feeling more like its old self, we can continue to provide you with ongoing tips, guidance, and preventative screenings as needed to keep the joint as pain-free as possible.
Let Our Chiropractor in Kenosha Free You of Shoulder Pain
Atlas had to carry the world on his shoulders, but you don't have to carry your shoulder pain around for life. Call our chiropractor in Kenosha, Doctor Janet Jeranek, at (262) 694-7833!