Shoulder and neck pain is a common condition. Driving a golf ball, cleaning windows or reaching for a jar can strain and injure shoulder muscles and tendons, especially in people who are out of condition. Fortunately, this discomfort rarely suggests a serious condition.
Causes of Shoulder and Neck pain:
- Poor posture and/or unnatural sleeping positions. Sleeping on a soft mattress can give you a stiff neck the next morning.
- Tension and stress. When you feel tense, the muscles around your neck can go into spasms.
- Tendinitis, inflammation of a tendon, the cordlike tissue that connects muscles to bone. Left untreated, tendinitis can turn into “frozen shoulder,” a stiff, painful condition that may limit your ability to use your shoulder.
- Bursitis, inflammation of the sac (bursa) that encases the shoulder joint. Bursitis can be caused by injury, infection, overuse, arthritis or gout.
- Osteoarthritis. Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis develops from normal wear-and-tear of the joints as we age or from repeated injuries. Aging can cause the joints to wear out, producing bony spurs that can press on nerves and cause pain.
- Accidents and falls. Collarbones can break after falls or auto accidents.
- Motor vehicle accidents. You can develop a whiplash injury when your vehicle is hit from behind.
- Pinched nerve. Arthritis or an injury to your neck can pinch a nerve in your neck. Pain from a pinched nerve usually runs down the arm and one side only.
Sometimes shoulder and neck pain signals serious medical problems, especially with other symptoms such as stiff neck, sudden and severe headache, dizziness, chest pain or pressure and/or loss of consciousness.
Prevention
- Stretching and strengthening routines, especially before exercising, help prevent tendinitis. So can using the right equipment and following the proper technique.
- Avoid injuries to the shoulder by wearing seat belts in cars and trucks and using protective gear during sporting events.
- Avoid vigorous exercise unless you are fit. If you are out of condition, start to strengthen your muscles gradually, and slowly increase exercise intensity.
- Don’t sleep on your stomach. You are likely to twist your neck in this position.
- Sleep on a firm mattress. Use a feather, polyester or special neck (cervical) pillow. Use a thinner pillow or none at all if you have pain when you wake up.
Keep the muscles in your shoulders strong and flexible to prevent injury. These exercises can help:
- Stretch the back of your shoulder by reaching with one arm under your chin and across the opposite shoulder, gently push the arm toward your collarbone with the other hand. Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat five times, then switch sides.
- Raise one arm and bend it behind your head to touch the opposite shoulder. Use the other hand to gently pull the elbow toward the opposite shoulder. Hold for 15 seconds. Repeat five times, then switch sides.
- Holding light weights, lift your arms out horizontally and slightly forward. Keeping your thumbs toward the floor, slowly lower your arms halfway, then return to shoulder level. Repeat 10 times.
- Sit straight in a chair. Flex your neck slowly forward and try to touch your chin to your chest. Hold for 10 seconds and go back to the starting position. Repeat five times.
- Sit straight in a chair. Look straight ahead. Slowly tilt your head to the right, trying to touch your right ear to your right shoulder. Do not raise your shoulder to meet your ear. Hold for 10 seconds and straighten your head. Repeat five times on this side and then on your left side.
| Questions to Ask… | YES | NO |
| Along with the shoulder and neck pain are you: Feeling pressure in your chest, especially on the left side, Short of breath or having trouble breathing, Nauseated and/or vomiting, Sweating, Anxious, Having irregular heartbeats |
Seek emergency care | Go to next question |
| Did you experience a serious injury that caused shoulder and/or neck pain that is not going away and/or is getting worse | Seek emergency care | Go to next question |
| Do you have a stiff neck along with a severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting | Seek emergency care | Go to next question |
| Do you have any of the following: Severe or persistent pain, swelling, spasms or a deformity in your shoulder, A shoulder that is painful and stiff with reduced ability to move it, Stabbing pain, numbness or tingling, Pain, tenderness and limited motion in the shoulder |
Seek a Doctor | Go to next question |
| Is the shoulder pain severe, interfering with your sleep. Is the shoulder stiff in the morning, swollen, tender or hard to move | Call a Doctor | Provide Self-Care |
| Self-Care Procedures: Unfortunately, no matter how careful people are, injuries do occur. Injured tendons, muscles and ligaments in any part of the body can take a long time to heal. Longer, in fact, than a broken bone. Don’t ignore the aches and pains. Studies show that exercising before an injury has healed may not only worsen it, but may greatly increase the chance for reinjury.Put the arm with the injured shoulder in a sling when you take the person to the doctor. Treating Tendonitis:
R.I.C.E R — Rest the injured shoulder. Rest prevents further inflammation, giving the tendon a chance to heal. Resume your activities only after the pain is completely gone. I — Ice the injured area as soon as possible. Immediately putting ice on the injury helps to speed recovery because it not only relieves pain, but also slows blood flow, reducing internal bleeding and swelling.
C — Compress the shoulder injury. Wear a sling to keep the shoulder from moving, to prevent further damage and to remind yourself to take it easy. E — Elevate the shoulder whenever possible to further reduce the swelling. The swelling is usually eased within 48 hours. Once the swelling is gone, apply heat to speed up healing, help relieve pain, relax muscles and reduce joint stiffness.
Liniments and balms also relieve the discomfort of sore muscles. They provide a cooling or warming sensation. Although these ointments only mask the pain of sore muscles and do nothing to promote healing, massaging them into the shoulder increases blood flow to help relax the muscles. Treating Bursitis:
Treating neck pain from whiplash injuries or pinched nerves:
After first checking with your doctor, you can ease neck discomfort by:
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