Shoulder Pain
Shoulders are complex but rarely fragile. Most shoulder pain improves substantially with the right loading programme.
What is shoulder pain?
The shoulder trades stability for extraordinary mobility, relying on the rotator cuff and shoulder blade muscles to control the joint through enormous ranges of movement. When those muscles are overloaded, deconditioned or poorly coordinated, pain follows.
Most shoulder pain falls into rotator cuff-related pain, frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis), instability, acromioclavicular joint problems or referred pain from the neck.
Common symptoms
- Pain reaching overhead or behind your back
- Pain sleeping on the affected side
- Weakness lifting or carrying
- A painful arc of movement
- Progressive stiffness in all directions
- Clicking or a sense of instability
- Pain radiating into the upper arm
What causes it
- Rotator cuff tendinopathy or tearing
- Sudden increases in overhead work or training
- Frozen shoulder, sometimes without clear trigger
- Falls or direct trauma
- Prolonged desk posture and shoulder blade deconditioning
- Referred pain from the neck
How physiotherapy helps
Rotator cuff-related shoulder pain responds well to progressive strengthening — evidence shows exercise therapy performs comparably to surgery for many presentations. Frozen shoulder needs a stage-appropriate approach: pain management and gentle movement while it's irritable, then determined mobility and strength work as it thaws.
Hands-on treatment helps with symptom relief and range, but the strengthening programme is what changes the outcome.
- Differential assessment of shoulder and neck
- Progressive rotator cuff and scapular strengthening
- Joint mobilisation and soft tissue release
- Dry needling where appropriate
- Range-of-movement programmes for frozen shoulder
- Ergonomic and load advice
- Post-operative shoulder rehabilitation
When to seek treatment
- Pain lasting more than two to three weeks
- Night pain disturbing sleep
- Loss of movement or increasing stiffness
- Weakness lifting your arm after an injury
- Following shoulder surgery or dislocation
Frequently asked questions
Let's get you moving again
If this sounds like what you're dealing with, an assessment is the quickest way to understand it properly. Shoulder Pain responds well to the right plan.