If you read my earlier post about a new treatment for rotator cuff injuries (“Is There a Miracle Cure for Rotator Cuff and Other Joint Injuries?”), you know that shoulder pain isn’t something you can just shrug off.
It is such a common occurrence that medical researchers say nearly 70 percent of adult women and men will experience significant shoulder pain at some point in their lifetime.1 While it is usually associated with aging and generally starts between the ages of 30 and 60, shoulder pain can strike at any time and without a known reason.
Although some people feel they can trace their shoulder pain back to a clear cause — an injury, for example — most shoulder pain is due to normal wear and tear over years of use (or misuse), internal inflammation, or other underlying issues.
That said, understanding the factors that can cause or contribute to shoulder pain is important in order to provide effective treatment. In many cases, several factors need to be addressed. In this post, I explore the many causes of shoulder pain and describe the multi-layered approach we now recommend to our patients here at PROVOKE Health to alleviate the pain, repair any damage, and restore strength and range of motion.
Common Causes of Shoulder Pain
While those of us who have never lived with it may think that it only affects baseball pitchers, competitive swimmers, or football quarterbacks, serious shoulder pain can arise from many factors, including one or more of the following causes:
- Acute injury: Shoulder dislocation or subluxation (partial dislocation), often due to trauma, can cause ongoing pain and stiffness.
- Inflammation or damage to the rotator cuff: Damage or inflammation of the rotator cuff tendons, due to injury or overuse. (The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder and allow for its extensive range of motion.) Inflammation may be diagnosed as tendonitis (or tendinopathy, pitcher’s shoulder, or swimmer’s shoulder) or bursitis (inflammation of the bursa, a small fluid-filled sac that protects the rotator cuff).
- Shoulder impingement: A condition that occurs when the rotator cuff tendons are compressed against the bone.
- Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis): Thickening and tightening of the connective tissue surrounding the shoulder joint.
- Arthritis: Inflammation/degeneration of bone or cartilage that comes in a variety of flavors, so to speak, including: osteoarthritis — degeneration of the cartilage in the shoulder joint; and rheumatoid arthritis — an auto-immune condition that can cause inflammation in the shoulder joint.
- Labral tears: Injury to the ring of cartilage that surrounds the shoulder socket.
- Biceps tendonitis: Inflammation of the tendon that connects the biceps muscle to the shoulder, often due to overuse.
- Shoulder instability: Loose or unstable shoulder joint, often due to repeated dislocations or other shoulder injuries.
- Postural issues: Poor posture, for example, tensing your shoulder muscles during the day or sleeping in a position that strains your shoulder.
- Overuse injuries: Repeated activities or lifting heavy objects (or employing an improper lifting technique).
- Infection: A bacterial or viral infection of the shoulder joint.
Diabetes or metabolic syndromes: People living with diabetes or metabolic syndromes, such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and irregular cholesterol levels, may also experience inflammation in the body, which can impact the health of the shoulder and rotator cuff, particularly leading to adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder). As we age, inflammation can set in and cause adhesions and drying out of the joint spaces. The shoulder, due to its wide range of motion and complicated rotator cuff anatomy, is more prone to injury than many other joints.
But you don’t have to suffer.
A Layered Approach to Treating Shoulder Pain and Optimizing Range of Motion
At PROVOKE Health, we take a layered approach to treating shoulder pain and rotator cuff injuries with the goal of alleviating pain, repairing any damage, and restoring strength and range of motion. Our patients include professional athletes, weekend warriors, and baby boomers who just want to continue playing pickleball.
Our approach includes the following four steps
- Medical imaging and guidance: If you need an MRI or similar imaging to visualize the shoulder, we can order those tests. Sometimes a neck injury can aggravate the shoulder and may require evaluation. We can perform an initial examination and provide guidance on the next steps to take. Providing treatment without understanding what’s going on beneath the surface can do more harm than good.
- Physical interventions: We encourage our patients to seek therapy in various forms, such as chiropractic adjustments, massage, ultrasound, physical therapy, shockwave therapy, cold laser or acupuncture, to name a few. All of these therapies can be helpful in healing. Our healthcare providers are knowledgeable in physical medicine and are genuinely interested in finding out what you have tried, what has helped, and what hasn’t. If these interventions are not providing the results you expect and desire, we can provide direction on other treatments to include in your plan of care.
- Peptide therapy: Body Protection Compound 157 (BPC-157) and other peptides, such as Thymosin Beta and Sermorelin, can help to improve healing, accelerate joint recovery, and build resilience. You can take BPC-157 via in-office injections, at-home injections (beneath the skin either near the site of injury or systemically), or orally. Which method is best is up for debate, but we have found that all of these options can work; your choice comes down to you and your doctor’s preference.
- Exosomes: If you are not responding as expected to BPC-157 or other peptides, we can add exosomes — tiny, yet powerful, particles that play a crucial role in stem cell therapy by acting as messengers, delivering regenerative signals to cells throughout the body. The exosome therapy we use at PROVOKE Health as part of a plan of care includes a comprehensive secretome, not just exosomes. Secretome is a collection of substances such as hyaluronic acid, collagen, and growth factors, that cells release into their surroundings. These elements work together to hydrate, rejuvenate, and restore the body’s cells, promoting natural healing processes.
As I explained in my previous post, “Is There a Miracle Cure for Rotator Cuff and Other Joint Injuries?, I too have struggled with shoulder pain, and I tried everything short of surgery to alleviate the pain and get back to working out, hiking, and playing basketball and tennis. At one point, even putting on a shirt was a painful challenge. For me, using the BPC-157 peptide was a highly effective treatment that has kept me active and on the basketball court. Speaking from experience, it has enabled me and many of my patients return to their active lifestyles.
If you are experiencing pain and stiffness in your shoulder or any other joint in your body, I encourage you to consult with a functional medicine practitioner for advice and treatment. Joint pain can be debilitating and can lead to a host of other health conditions in addition to negatively impacting your quality of life. Get help now. Print out this blog post and take it with you to your next doctor’s appointment, or contact us for a free 10-minute consultation.
References:
- Prevalence and incidence of shoulder pain in the general population; a systematic review. By JJ Luime, BW Koes, IJM Hendriksen, A Burdorf, AP Verhagen, HS Miedema, JAN Verhaar | Year: 2004 | Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology | Volume: 33 | Issue: 2 | Page: 73-81 | Digital Object Identifier: 10.1080/03009740310004667
——–
Disclaimer: The information in this blog post about treating shoulder pain is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect current medical thinking or practices. No information contained in this blog post should be construed as medical advice from Dr. Matthew Lewis, Functional Healthcare Group, PLLC, or PROVOKE Health, nor is this blog post intended to be a substitute for medical counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this blog post should act or refrain from acting on the basis of any information included in, or accessible through, this blog post without seeking the appropriate medical advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a licensed medical professional in the recipient’s state, country or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.
——–
About the Author: Dr. Matt Lewis, D.C., DACBN, CFMP® specializes in diagnosing and treating the underlying causes of the symptoms related to chronic and unexplained illness through nutrition, lifestyle, chiropractic, and other natural approaches to whole-health healing at PROVOKE Health in Tampa, Fla. Dr. Lewis has 20 years of experience practicing nutritional and holistic medicine. He earned his B.S. in Biology from Shenandoah University, his Doctorate in Chiropractic from Life University, his Diplomate status in Clinical Nutrition from the American Clinical Board of Nutrition, his CFMP from Functional Medicine University, and his certification as a Digestive Health Specialist (DHS) through the Food Enzyme Institute. Dr. Lewis’ passion for health and wellness stems from his own personal experience. With a family history of autoimmune conditions and diabetes, and his own lab tests showing his genetic susceptibility to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (autoimmune thyroid), Dr. Lewis has learned how to restore his own health and vigor to prevent the onset of these and other illnesses, and live an incredibly active life. Through this process, he acquired a deeper understanding of health and wellness, which he now offers his patients in Tampa and elsewhere.
Leave A Comment