Do you feel pain in the back of your shoulder that doesn’t seem to go away? Does it hurt more when you move your arm, or feel stiff and difficult to move the way that it should? This is a common complaint. According to experts, 14 out of every 1,000 patients every year complain about shoulder pain to their primary practitioner.
Your posterior shoulder pain could be due to one of many causes. It may also appear during your normal activities, such as when you’re on a run. Thankfully, physical therapists are trained to pinpoint the source of your shoulder pain, and many common shoulder conditions can be treated with physical therapy.
What is causing my posterior shoulder pain?
There are a number of reasons why you might be experiencing posterior shoulder pain. Some of the most common sources are:
- Tendinitis — Shoulder tendinitis can occur when the muscles of the shoulder are placed under too much stress. This causes microscopic tears in the tendons that connect the muscles to the shoulder bones, resulting in tenderness and pain.
- Shoulder impingement — If your shoulder hurts more when you raise your arm above your head, you may be suffering from a shoulder impingement injury. This happens when a tendon in your shoulder rubs against the bone or against another tendon. This condition is painful and also causes stiffness and inflammation.
- Rotator cuff injury — A more severe cause of posterior shoulder pain could be a rotator cuff injury. Your rotator cuff may be injured if you feel pain when you extend your arm outward.
- Frozen shoulder — A frozen shoulder makes your shoulder not only difficult to move freely, but also very painful. It happens when the part of your shoulder that connects to your upper arm becomes severely inflamed. The symptoms of a frozen shoulder can last a long time.
How can physical therapy help treat my posterior shoulder pain?
There are many methods a licensed physical therapist can use to treat posterior shoulder pain. After they have examined your aching shoulder and determined the source of your pain, they may use one or more of the following techniques to address it:
- Joint mobilization — If your painful shoulder is accompanied by stiff and inflexible joints, physical therapists can use joint mobilization techniques to help. These techniques employ gentle movement and pressure to restore range of motion to your joints.
- Soft tissue mobilization — Pain in your shoulder muscles can be treated using hands-on manual therapy techniques such as soft tissue mobilization. This method helps to break up scar tissue that may be causing stiffness, as well as relieving pain and reducing inflammation.
- Electrical stimulation therapy — Using a special machine, and adhesive nodes attached to your painful shoulder, a physical therapist can use electrical stimulation to loosen and relax your muscles. This can help relieve pain and stiffness.
Where can I turn for my posterior shoulder pain treatment?
If you are experiencing shoulder pain and want to explore your treatment options, our team of licensed physical therapy specialists are here to help. At Panther Physical Therapy, we will work with you to determine the source of your pain and craft a physical therapy program perfectly suited to your needs.
Contact our team today for more information about help for shoulder pain or to schedule an initial appointment.