When You Should See A Chiropractor for Shoulder Pain

What is Shoulder Pain?

The shoulder is a very complex part of the body. The shoulder consists of a ball-socket joint that attaches your arm to your body. Surrounding that are ligaments, muscles, bones, and nerves that go down your arm, lead into your upper back and chest, and up into your neck. All these components allow your arm to function. 

Whenever there is discomfort in this area, it is generally referred to as shoulder pain. Because there is so much going on in this area, shoulder pain can be very difficult to diagnose, and even harder to treat. Doctors normally are limited in what they can do for shoulder pain—the most common remedies are pain medications or surgery. 

Signs and Symptoms of Shoulder Pain

There are many ways shoulder pain may present itself. For some people, the shoulder joint and surrounding tissue may feel tense or stiff. Others may feel a dull, continuous ache deep in the joint; some may experience a sharp or stabbing pain that is triggered by movement. 

Shoulder pain can make the arm feel weak or reduce the range of motion. Some people may experience numbness or tingling “pins and needles” feelings in the arm, and find it difficult to lift things or extend their arm. In severe cases, it can result in adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder, which is immobilizing. 

Shoulder pain can make daily tasks, work, and recreational activities difficult. It can even interfere with your getting a good night’s rest, as aches and pains may make it difficult to sleep through the night.

How the Upper Cervical Spine Affects Shoulder Pain

The source of shoulder pain is often rooted in the upper cervical spine. This is the part of your spine that sits just below the skull and runs down through the neck into the upper back. This part of the spine can be easily misaligned from jolts or poor posture, resulting in inflammation and nerve compression. 

A misalignment of the vertebrae in the upper cervical spine tends to cause the body to shift, putting undue pressure and stress on other joints, muscles, and ligaments. These kinds of injuries may not be initially detected, but the nerve damage and weakened muscle groups in surrounding areas will grow worse over time if the underlying misalignment is not treated. 

When Should You See A Chiropractor?

New research on the upper cervical spine is showing promise in treating shoulder pain using safe, non-invasive, drug-free methods. 

It is important to see an upper cervical chiropractor, like Dr. Noah Kaplan of Advance Upper Cervical Chiropractic, if your shoulder pain persists longer than two weeks, does not heal within four weeks, or gets increasingly more painful. 

How Our Shoulder Pain Treatment Works 

Dr. Noah Kaplan prefers to take a natural, non-invasive, drug-free approach to treat shoulder pain. He addresses the underlying issue in the upper cervical spine to restore the body’s proper alignment. Once that is accomplished, it reduces inflammation and allows the flow of signals through the nerves, facilitating the healing process. 

Dr. Kaplan is a specialist in upper cervical chiropractic treatments. He is the owner of the Advance Upper Cervical Chiropractic in Walnut Creek and a member of the Blair Chiropractic Society. The doctor is an expert in the Blair Chiropractic technique, which focuses on gentle yet precise manipulations of the upper cervical spine. 

At Advance Upper Cervical Chiropractic, Dr. Kaplan offers state-of-the-art 3D diagnostic imaging technology to calculate minute misalignments of the spine. This is the only office in the entire East Bay area that utilizes this advanced technology. Using Cone Beam computed tomography (CBCT) eliminates the guesswork in chiropractic corrections so that the doctor can coax your spine back into proper alignment with low-pressure manipulations.

Don’t allow shoulder pain to reduce your ability to do things, and rob you of the quality of life you deserve. Call Dr. Kaplan for an appointment. We are located in Walnut Creek, California, Dr. Kaplan also services Pleasant Hill, Concord, Lafayette, Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore.