Shoulder Pain Treatment in Bee Cave, TX
Shoulder pain can start in different ways. Maybe it followed an injury or a new workout. Maybe you've noticed it gradually getting worse over the years. Or perhaps there's no obvious moment when it started at all, but reaching overhead, sleeping on that side, getting dressed, or working with your arm has become uncomfortable.
The pain may be coming from the shoulder itself, the neck or upper back, repetitive use, an old injury, or a combination of factors. At Elite Wellness Chiropractic, Dr. Mikala Hiben, DC, looks at how your shoulder, spine, and surrounding areas are moving to understand what may be contributing to your symptoms.
Key Takeaways
- Shoulder pain can develop after an injury, from repetitive use, or gradually without one obvious cause. The shoulder isn't always the only area involved.
- Rotator cuff problems, shoulder impingement, neck or upper-back involvement, posture, muscle imbalances, repetitive movements, and previous injuries can all contribute to shoulder symptoms.
- Pay attention to what your shoulder is making harder. Trouble reaching overhead, putting on a jacket, carrying things, sleeping on one side, or exercising can tell you more than simply knowing where it hurts.
- Your first EWC visit includes a consultation, examination, posture assessment, and digital X-rays. You are not adjusted on the first visit.
- At the second visit, Dr. Hiben reviews your findings with you. Your first adjustment happens then only if you decide to move forward with a care plan.
- Care may include adjustments, exercises, movement recommendations, or changes between visits, depending on what Dr. Hiben finds.
- Improving shoulder symptoms can mean getting back to everyday things like sleeping comfortably, reaching overhead, carrying things, exercising, and moving your arm without the same stiffness or pain.
- EWC is a cash-pay practice. The $60 New Patient Experience covers the first visit, including the examination and digital X-rays.
Why Does My Shoulder Hurt?
There isn't always an obvious answer to that question.
Sometimes there's a clear starting point. You fell, injured your shoulder, increased your training, or spent several days doing work that required a lot of lifting or reaching.
Other times, the change is much more gradual. You start noticing that reaching into a cupboard hurts. You stop sleeping on one side. Your shoulder clicks when you lift your arm. Putting on a jacket or reaching behind your back takes more effort than it used to.
And sometimes the shoulder isn't the only place worth looking at.
Your shoulder works closely with your neck, upper back, shoulder blade, and the muscles that control your arm. Pain can be associated with an irritated tendon, a rotator cuff problem, repetitive overhead movements, an injury, or irritation involving the neck. Rotator cuff problems, for example, can develop gradually from repeated use or occur after trauma.
That's why an assessment involves more than asking where it hurts. Your history, range of motion, strength, and the movements that reproduce your symptoms can all provide useful information about what's happening.
Research on rotator cuff problems also supports exercise-based rehabilitation as an important part of treatment, while hands-on treatment may be used alongside exercise for short-term pain relief.
Dr. Hiben considers those details together when assessing your shoulder. Whether your pain started yesterday, has been bothering you for five years, or seemed to appear for no obvious reason, the details of your particular shoulder problem matter.
What Our Patients Say About Shoulder Pain Relief
“...I’ve been to multiple chiropractors over the years, and no one has been able to eliminate my shoulder pain, until now...”
Brittany T.
Your Shoulder Pain May Have More Than One Source
A shoulder can hurt because of something happening in the shoulder itself, but that's not the only possibility.
Your neck and upper back are part of the picture too. The way you sit, how your shoulder blade moves, how much you're using the arm, and whether a nerve is being irritated can all affect what you feel around the shoulder.
Some of the issues Dr. Hiben looks for include:
- Rotator cuff irritation or injury - The rotator cuff helps stabilize the shoulder while your arm moves. Repetitive use, training, work, or an injury can irritate these tissues.
- Shoulder impingement - Certain shoulder movements can put pressure on the tissues around the joint, which can make lifting your arm particularly uncomfortable.
- Neck or upper-back involvement - Pain felt around the shoulder doesn't always originate there. Irritation involving the neck can sometimes send pain into the shoulder and down the arm.
- Posture and movement habits - Hours at a desk, rounded shoulders, or repeatedly working with your arms in front of you can change how the shoulder and upper back move.
- Muscle imbalances - The muscles around your shoulder, shoulder blade, and upper back have to coordinate with one another. When that coordination changes, some tissues may end up doing more work than they're used to.
- Repetitive use or an old injury - That shoulder you injured years ago may not hurt every day. It can still influence how you move, particularly when you start lifting more, exercising differently, or repeating the same movement at work.
That's why the location of your pain isn't enough information on its own. Dr. Hiben looks at the shoulder alongside the neck, upper back, posture, and movement to work out what may be contributing.
The Little Things Your Shoulder Pain Is Making Harder
Shoulder pain has a way of showing up in places you wouldn't necessarily expect.
Maybe you can lift your arm, but only halfway before it starts hurting. Maybe putting on a jacket has become an awkward little routine. Maybe you automatically roll onto your other side when you get into bed because you already know what happens when you lie on the painful shoulder.
Those details matter.
Shoulder problems can show up as:
- Pain with movement, especially reaching overhead or behind your back
- Stiffness that makes the arm feel restricted
- Weakness when lifting, carrying, pushing, or pulling
- Clicking, popping, or grinding when the shoulder moves
- Pain at night, particularly when lying on the affected side
- Aching, sharp, or throbbing pain around the shoulder
- Numbness or tingling that extends into the arm or hand when a nerve is involved
You may also notice that certain activities have quietly disappeared from your routine. You stop reaching for things on a high shelf. You change how you exercise. You use your other arm to carry things. You sleep differently.
Those changes can be just as important as the pain itself.
When Dr. Hiben assesses your shoulder, she wants to know what you can no longer do comfortably, not just where you can point to the pain. That gives her more useful information about how the problem is affecting the way you actually move.
What Happens When You Come to EWC for Shoulder Pain?
You won't walk in, get adjusted, and be sent on your way. Shoulder pain can have several possible sources, so the first visit is about getting enough information to understand what you're dealing with.
Start With an Exam and X-Rays
Your first visit includes a consultation, physical exam, posture assessment, and digital X-rays. Dr. Hiben will ask about your symptoms and assess your shoulder, neck, and upper back (there is no adjustment).
Review Your Findings
At your second visit, Dr. Hiben will explain your exam and X-ray findings, answer your questions, and discuss your care options. Your first adjustment happens at this visit if you choose to begin care.
Build Your Care Plan
Your care is based on your specific findings and may include adjustments, exercises, movement recommendations, or changes between visits. Your progress is reassessed as your pain, movement, and strength change.
What Could Change When You Get Treatment
Shoulder care isn't just about getting the pain number down. Think about what the pain is currently stopping you from doing.
Maybe you can't sleep on your favorite side. Reaching into a high cupboard has become something you avoid. You have to think twice before lifting weights, playing a sport, carrying a bag, or reaching behind your back. Or you've simply gotten used to moving around your shoulder because that's easier than dealing with the pain.
As your shoulder symptoms improve, you may notice changes in some of those everyday things:
- Reach overhead more comfortably, whether you're putting something on a shelf or getting dressed.
- Sleep in your usual position without waking up because your shoulder hurts.
- Use your arm more normally for lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, and other daily tasks.
- Get back to exercise or sports that you've been modifying because of your shoulder.
- Move your arm through a greater range without the same stiffness or pain.
- Spend less time thinking about your shoulder throughout the day because it isn't constantly reminding you that something is wrong.
Is Your Posture Making Your Shoulder Work Harder?
Your shoulder doesn't work on its own. The way you sit, hold your head, and position your upper back can affect how your shoulder moves throughout the day.
Take the quick posture quiz to see what your everyday posture may be doing to your shoulders.
Takes just 2 minutes!
Common Questions About Shoulder Pain & Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care may be appropriate for some shoulder pain related to the spine, joints, muscles, or movement. That can include pain that gets worse when you reach overhead, stiffness that makes your arm harder to move, or shoulder symptoms that appear alongside neck or upper-back problems.
Not every shoulder problem is a chiropractic problem, though. Your symptoms, history, examination, and other findings all help determine whether this type of care is appropriate.
Yes. The neck and upper back are closely connected to the muscles, joints, and nerves around the shoulder. Irritation in the neck can sometimes cause pain or other symptoms that travel into the shoulder or arm.
That's one reason Dr. Hiben doesn't assess the shoulder in isolation. She also looks at your neck, upper back, posture, and how everything moves together.
We perform thorough assessments, including initial X-rays, to identify specific misalignments in the neck, upper back, or shoulder joint complex that are often the underlying cause of your shoulder pain. Precise adjustments then work to correct these issues for lasting relief and improved mobility.
Chiropractic adjustments aren't automatically appropriate for every shoulder problem. Before recommending an adjustment, Dr. Hiben reviews your health history and symptoms and performs an examination to determine whether chiropractic care makes sense for you.
Your findings also help determine which areas should be treated and what other forms of care may be useful.
There isn't a reliable number of visits that applies to everyone.
Someone dealing with a recent, mild problem may respond differently from someone who has had shoulder pain for years. Your symptoms, how long you've had them, what is contributing to them, and how you respond to care all matter.
Dr. Hiben can discuss what she is seeing and what to expect after evaluating your particular situation.
Digital X-rays are part of the first visit at EWC for adult patients, with exceptions for pregnant women and children under five.
The X-rays provide information about the spine and its structure, while your history and physical examination provide information about how you're feeling and moving. Those pieces are considered together when deciding what care is appropriate.
Possibly. Depending on what Dr. Hiben finds, your care may include exercises or movement recommendations between visits.
These could be aimed at improving mobility, building strength, or helping you change a movement or activity that's aggravating your shoulder. What you're given depends on your particular findings rather than everyone receiving the same exercise routine.
It depends on what's causing the pain.
Repetitive overhead movements, training, changes in activity, and certain injuries can all affect the shoulder. Your assessment helps determine whether chiropractic care is appropriate and whether other types of care or evaluation may be needed.
For someone who has started avoiding certain exercises because their shoulder hurts, the assessment can also help identify which movements are currently aggravating the problem.
Your first visit is focused on figuring out what's going on. You'll discuss your health history and shoulder symptoms, have an examination and posture assessment, and receive digital X-rays when appropriate.
You won't be adjusted on your first visit.
At your second visit, Dr. Hiben reviews your Report of Findings with you. You can ask questions and discuss whether corrective care makes sense for your situation. Your first adjustment takes place during that visit only if you decide to move forward with a care plan.
Elite Wellness Chiropractic is a cash-pay practice, so care is paid for directly rather than billed through health insurance.
The $60 New Patient Experience covers your first visit, including the examination and digital X-rays. Auto injury cases are handled separately.
If you're considering care for your shoulder, you can discuss the costs and care options with the team before deciding whether to move forward.
Still Dealing With Shoulder Pain?
You don't have to keep changing how you sleep, exercise, work, or reach for things just to avoid irritating your shoulder. Dr. Hiben can evaluate your shoulder, neck, and upper back to see what's contributing to your symptoms and whether chiropractic care is appropriate for you.