Shoulder Pain Treatment

Shoulder and back pain can be closely related - sometimes one leads to another and sometimes the two share a common source related to nerve entrapment.

The shoulder joint and all of its muscles and soft tissues are derived from the same part of the embryo as the fifth vertebra and nerve of the neck. This means that lower neck pain and shoulder area pain can be directly related.

Sometimes shoulder pain and back pain between the shoulder blades can also occur. Irritation of the lower segments of the neck will typically send pain down into the area between the shoulder blades - this pain is called referred pain. It is often dull and aching in quality and made worse by movements of the neck. This type of shoulder related back pain often causes trigger points to form in the muscles and these can be felt as acutely tender spots.

Labels: back pain, frozen shoulder, pain control, shoulder and back pain, shoulder blade, shoulder nerve, shoulder pain

Whiplash Injury Treatment

How to treat acute whiplash neck injury

New research has confirmed what many involved in treating whiplash injury patients already know. If the initial treatment is too intensive or aggressive then recovery can be delayed not quickened. There may be something to be said for going back to an inital period of rest in a neck collar - something doctors, physiotherapists and chiropractors had moved away from recently.

The new research study was published in the May 25 Early View issue and June print issue of the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism.

"Although there are few effective treatments for curing whiplash, a growing body of evidence suggests that the delivery of intensive aggressive health care shortly after the injury may lead to a longer recovery period" said one of the researchers.

The study showed that those who simply attended their family doctor got better quicker than those who had early intensive hands on treatment from a chiropractor or a physiotherapist.

The results add to the body of evidence suggesting that early aggressive treatment of whiplash injuries does not promote faster recovery.

In particular, the combination of chiropractic and general practitioner care seemed to significantly reduce the rate of recovery

Labels: joint pain, neck pain, pain control, whiplash

Surgery for Back Pain

Should you have an operation for chronic back pain?

The majority of those with chronic back pain will get better or find pain relief without surgery but new research shows that an operation may speed recovery for some

The New England Journal of Medicine have published new research to compare surgery with the simple passing of time for people with severe back pain. Those in the study mainly were known to have a slipped or herniated disc or sciatica

A spine specialist in Holland looked at 283 patients who had suffered from sciatica for at least six weeks before the study began. He found that 95 per cent of patients reported recovery after one year, whether or not they had surgery.

But about 40 per cent of the participants assigned to conservative wait-and-see care also opted for surgery, which seemed to relieve symptoms more quickly than would otherwise have been expected.World recognised spine expert: Richard Deyo of the University of Washington in Seattle - said in a journal editorial

"For patients with persistent sciatica, there seems to be a reasonable choice between surgical and nonsurgical treatment, which may be influenced by aversion to surgical risks, the severity of symptoms, and willingness to wait for spontaneous healing,".

Most experts agree that surgery should only be considered an option if the pain has persisted for at least six weeks .

Labels: arthritis, back pain, joint pain, pain control

Shoulder replacement surgery is not a new option for patients with severe pain due to shoulder arthritis - but there is an intriguing new approach available which seems to be yielding great results.

Surgeons are putting in the new shoulder joint "in reverse"

With the new reverse shoulder prosthesis, the classic ball-and-socket shape of the joint is basically reversed.


The shoulder is made up of a ball and socket joint and a rotator cuff. The ball connects to the arm, the socket connects to the shoulder blade. The rotator cuff is muscle that surrounds the joint and helps lift and rotate the arm. But in patients suffering from a torn rotator cuff or arthritis, this protection is gone and bone painfully scrapes against bone.

Now a new procedure can help.

Instead of the ball being on the arm side, now we see a socket on the arm side, and the ball is actually on the shoulder side, or the socket side. What the reverse prosthesis does it allows us to stabilize the shoulder, normalize the center of rotation, thus improving function and relieving pain.

The surgery takes about 90 minutes and usually leads to a full recovery in around four months.


Surgeons in Europe have been performing RSP, or reverse shoulder procedure surgery, for 15 years with excellent results. Now the FDA has approved the surgery, but it still will take a while for it to catch on across the country.

Read more about Reverse Shoulder Surgery here

Labels: arthritis, pain control, shoulder pain, surgery