close
Health

Causes of Shoulder Pain

Shoulders are synovial joints that contain bone, cartilage, and ligaments that hold the scapula in place. It is also one of the most flexible joints in our body and the wrist because both rotator cuff muscles and deltoid muscles allow a free range of motion in the glenohumeral joint.

Injury to any one of these disks can cause pain in the shoulder and affect its movements negatively. If you have been playing many sports over the years, injuries in your shoulders are likely more common than in other joints. There is always a risk of damage due to their flexibility. You need to seek treatment from a specialist in shoulder pain in Brunswick so you can resume regular activity. Some of the common reasons that can cause shoulder pain are highlighted in this article.

  • Muscle Strains

This is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain, and it occurs if you use too much force in your shoulders when they can’t take it anymore. The muscles get strained due to an impact or sudden jerk, causing them to tear out from their original state.

Muscle strains can be of two types: Grade I and Grade II, and the former is less severe than the latter. There is stretching and damage of tiny fibers in grade I, while it is more extensive in grade II, with some fibers getting ruptured completely.

  • Dislocations

Dislocations are also among the common types of aches that athletes commonly face. An injury generally occurs if your deltoid gets pulled out due to sudden jerks or movements. This typically happens because of an impact or a fall that causes it to dislocate.

Dislocations can also be divided into acute and chronic, and the former is much more severe than the second one. In acute dislocations, your rotator cuff muscles stretch out completely, whereas only partial tears occur in chronic dislocations.

  • Avascular Necrosis

Avascular necrosis is an injury generally sustained by athletes who play sports that involve frequent overhead movements. It occurs when blood supply to your shoulder joints gets disturbed due to an impingement on the subacromial bursa causing it to die out.

  • Rotator Cuff Injuries

A rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that allow the proper functioning of your shoulder joints. Injury to this region can cause significant problems such as impingement syndrome and tendonitis because the overworked rotator cuff gets swollen up, thus increasing pain significantly.

  • Tendonitis

This condition occurs as a result of injury to tendons that help keep your shoulder joints in place. Pain is felt when you try to move your shoulders and may become worse with time.

  • Bursitis

Bursae are fluid-filled sacs that reduce the friction between tendons and joints. Injury to bursae can cause them to swell up, causing problems in your shoulders. It may cause stiffness and swelling that increases with time and returns to normal after resting for an extended period.

In summary, shoulder pain can affect your ability to move the shoulder joints. You can experience shoulder pain due to many different reasons, such as bursitis, tendonitis, and rotator cuff injuries. Dislocations and muscle strains are also common causes of shoulder pain. Although it happens rarely, you may develop avascular necrosis, which can also cause pain in the shoulder.