Shoulder Pain Specialist

In addition to common joint problems like arthritis, injuries like rotator cuff and labral tears often cause shoulder pain. Whatever’s causing your condition, the orthopedic and pain medicine specialists at Alliance Spine Associates, LLC in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, can help. They offer cutting-edge treatments for shoulder pain, including steroid injections into the joint and surgery if needed. Call their office or book an appointment online today for treatments that get to the cause of your shoulder pain.

What causes shoulder pain?

Shoulder pain has many causes. Some of the causes the Alliance Spine Associates, LLC team sees most include:

Bursitis

Bursitis is inflammation in the joint’s bursae — small sacs of fluid that cushion the shoulder. It’s usually caused by repeatedly making the same shoulder movements.

Tendinitis

Tendinitis is inflammation in the tendons that attach your muscles to your shoulder bones. Like bursitis, it’s usually an overuse injury.

Rotator cuff injuries

Your rotator cuff enables you to lift and rotate your arm. Common injuries include partial or complete tears of the rotator cuff tendons and muscles. The rotator cuff often tears during a shoulder dislocation when the bones in the joints separate. Dislocation can also tear the labrum, a ring of cartilage that secures ball-and-socket joints like the shoulder and hip.

Shoulder impingement

Shoulder impingement is where the top of your shoulder blade rubs on the rotator cuff tendons as you raise your arm.

Arthritis

Osteoarthritis (a wear-and-tear condition) is the most common form of shoulder arthritis. Other kinds that often cause shoulder pain include rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. You can also get post-traumatic arthritis (similar to osteoarthritis) after a severe injury like a dislocation or fracture.

Dislocations and rotator cuff tears can also cause shoulder instability. This is where your shoulder feels weak and unstable and can easily dislocate again.

How is shoulder pain diagnosed?

The Alliance Spine Associates, LLC team diagnoses your shoulder pain after examining the joint in detail. They need to know how your pain began, how it’s developed since it started, and if anything makes it better or worse. They also look at your medical history and ask about activities you do that could stress your shoulder.

Following your exam, your doctor might want to see some diagnostic images. X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs are the most common. They might do nerve conduction velocity (NCV) tests and an electromyogram (EMG) if there could be nerve damage.

How is shoulder pain treated?

The Alliance Spine Associates, LLC team personalizes your treatment program to match your needs. They’re likely to recommend changing your activities and using a sling to rest your shoulder. Medications help by reducing tissue inflammation and pain.

It’s also essential that you do shoulder exercises and physical therapy. This helps the damaged tissues heal, reduces pain, and stops your muscles and connective tissues from weakening or wasting away. If you don’t do your physical therapy, you might get adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder) from lack of use.

Alliance Spine Associates, LLC offers cutting-edge joint injections and radiofrequency ablation to patients whose shoulder pain doesn’t improve. Surgery could help with severe shoulder pain if nothing else is working.

Call Alliance Spine Associates, LLC or book an appointment online today to find effective shoulder pain relief.