Shoulder and neck complaints are common at Tulsa Spine and Rehab and these can be related to cumulative issues, post-surgical or rotator cuff injuries. Many times patients are confused as to the source of their pain and will ask, “Is this pain coming from my neck or my shoulder?” One of the best things about our team here is their ability to actually tease out the real source of a patient’s pain.
Neck pain can be confusing because pain can radiate into the shoulder region and around the shoulder blade.
The disks in the neck region can actually defer pain into other areas. To further illustrate, when someone is having a heart attack, they generally feel pain in the arm or jaw as well as other areas, instead of the heart itself. Our necks are wired this exact same way and patients will feel pain along the inside of a shoulder blade on one side or the other. This pain deferral can often lead to misdiagnoses. Another area where this deferral occurs is in the Trapezius muscle which runs up the neck. People will report pain in their neck when, in fact, it stems from the shoulder. It is imperative that patients seek out treatment from someone skilled in assessing deferral pain.
Shoulder pain can originate from damage to a rotator cuff, which is a complex of four large muscles that provide stability to the shoulder. The joint itself can also incur damage and inside that joint is a structure called the Labrum which also provides stability. The Bicep Tendon might sustain damage and there are some joints that can get irritated. Our team can diagnose exactly where the pain is stemming from and recommend a treatment plan.
Treating an Injury
Conventional treatment utilizes passive modalities such as heat and soft tissue techniques. Our clinic in Tulsa goes about treatment a little differently, however, in that we get our patients moving as quickly as possible.
Let’s say we determine a patient has a rotator cuff injury and the tendon is irritated and inflamed. These symptoms mean this patient has a condition called Tendonitis and it can be a bit like a splinter in a finger as far as irritation is concerned. First we need to get the inflammation down, then we determine how much strength is in the shoulder. Following this determination, we use special tools, pulleys and other devices to help get your shoulder moving in a pain-free manner. If all goes well at this point, the patient is prescribed home exercises to begin improving strength in the rotator cuff. It’s important to remember that these exercises should not cause any pain and they should actually make your shoulder feel better in a short amount of time.
Tulsa Spine & Rehab takes pride in having a team which offers specialties in a variety of areas. Through the concerted efforts of this team, we are able to facilitate healing in our patients by providing accurate diagnoses and treatment plans tailored to each patient.
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