Chronic Shoulder Pain Treatment

I have Shoulder pain since last two years? What could be the cause?

There are multiple causes of persistent shoulder pain. Impingement is the most common cause.

What are the reasons for Shoulder Impingement?

Shoulder impingement most commonly occurs due to tightness of shoulder capsule & weakness of muscles around the scapula leading to mal-positioning it which in turn causes impingement. Other causes of Impingement are due to bony overgrowth of the bones in the shoulder

Why there is tightness of the shoulder?

Long hours of working away from the body like on a PC keeps the shoulder capsule tight constantly leading to stiffness which alters the axis of shoulder movement. This leads to the rotator cuff getting impinged under the acromion & pain

What happens if there is persistent impingement of the shoulder?

Due to persistent impingement the rotator cuff gets thinned out & eventually tears off. This leads to permanent shoulder impairment unless treated.

How can one identify is it impingement or something else?

Impingement pain occurs classically while lowering down the arm, it aggravates while working away from the body, there can be pain at night. Pain increases while taking the hand behind the back. Pain can come down till the elbow but doesnt go below that. Any pain going along the arm till the wrist is usually not from the shoulder.

There can be neck pain due to shoulder impingement too once has to keep that in mind

How can neck pain be related to shoulder impingement?

Persistent shoulder stiffness leads to extra strain on the neck due to which neck muscles go into spasm &  lead to neck pain. So in such people unless the shoulder stiffness is taken care of neck pain wont subside

How can Impingement be treated?

As explained earlier Impingement usually occurs due to capsular tightness in the shoulder. Specific exercises focussed on reducing this tightness relieves impingement

PS- Shoulder impingement can lead to full blown rotator cuff tear in future so it needs to be tackled early