Shoulder Pain
Shoulder pain, weakness and stiffness usually come from the rotator cuff, impingement, frozen shoulder or instability, and many shoulder problems, including some rotator cuff tears, can be treated without surgery. Our physical therapists in Laguna Niguel find what is behind your shoulder pain and treat it, and they help you recover when surgery is the answer.
What is behind your shoulder pain
The shoulder moves more than any other joint, which is also why it is easy to injure.
Rotator cuff tendinitis and tears
The four rotator cuff muscles hold the ball of the shoulder in its socket. Overuse can irritate them, and a tear can cause weakness and pain when you lift your arm. Pain at night is common.
Impingement and bursitis
Tissue can get pinched under the bone at the top of the shoulder when you reach overhead, causing shoulder impingement or an inflamed bursa.
Frozen shoulder
Frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, makes the shoulder stiff and painful in every direction, and can last many months without the right exercise.
Instability, dislocation and labral tears
After a dislocated shoulder, or with a labral or SLAP tear, the joint can feel loose or catch.
Pain at night and pain reaching overhead
Many people first notice shoulder pain at night, when they cannot lie on that side, or when they cannot lift their arm to reach a shelf or wash their hair. Both are signs to get the shoulder checked rather than wait.
Sometimes the shoulder is not the source. The neck and the upper back can send pain into the shoulder, so we check them as well. Read about the neck on neck pain.
How we treat shoulder pain
Hands-on care
Manual therapy and joint mobilization for the shoulder, the upper back and the neck.
Strengthening the rotator cuff and shoulder blade
Exercises for the rotator cuff and the muscles that control the shoulder blade, so the joint moves the way it should.
Return to what you love
We build back to your swim, your golf swing or your work, with sport-specific work in the Sports Lab when it helps.
When surgery makes sense
Some tears and unstable shoulders do need surgery. If yours does, physical therapy before and after helps, and you can read what recovery looks like on post-surgical rehab. A shoulder that is also swollen with arthritis is covered under arthritis and joint pain, an elbow that hurts along with it on elbow pain, and athletes with shoulder injuries on sports injury rehab.
“Marni and Amelia were over the top recovering my shoulder from surgery. Having multiple issues, torn rotator cuff, A/C separation and disconnected bicep tendon, I have recovered over 6 weeks to almost 100%. Leaving today, I am able to play golf, swim and do push ups, activities that I was unable to perform for the last 5 years. …”
Questions about shoulder pain
Can a rotator cuff tear heal without surgery?
Some rotator cuff tears can be treated without surgery, and many shoulder problems can. It depends on the size of the tear, how it started and what you need your shoulder to do, and your exam shows which path fits.
What is a labral tear?
A labral tear is damage to the rim of cartilage around the shoulder socket. It can cause catching, a loose feeling or pain when you reach overhead.
I can’t lift my arm. What should I do?
If you can’t lift my arm, in the sense that it will not rise on its own after a fall or sudden injury, see a doctor first. If it has been getting harder to lift over weeks, a physical therapist can find the cause.
Is my pain shoulder bursitis?
Shoulder bursitis is an inflamed cushion under the bone at the top of the shoulder, often with impingement. It hurts when you reach up and out, and an exam can tell it from the other causes.
Shoulder pain care in Laguna Niguel, California
LOR Physical Therapy treats shoulder pain at our Laguna Niguel clinic, 31271 Niguel Road, Suite J, for patients across South Orange County.
Whether your insurance plan needs a referral differs from plan to plan: call the number on your insurance card to check, or call us before your first visit and we will help you find out.
Meet the people who treat you on our team page.