The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the human body. Its great mobility means that it lacks the stability of say the hip joint, which has a deep socket and very rounded ball and quite limited movement. This makes the shoulder prone to injury.
Shoulder pain can arise from prolonged overhead activity, falling onto an outstretched hand or when doing an activity that you wouldn’t normally do such as decorating, winter tree pruning or hedge trimming. The pain can be excruciating especially at night.
I like treating the shoulder joint because on the whole it responds very well. Physiotherapy can have an excellent effect on shoulders by restoring normal muscle control and balance. Getting this balance right is crucial to good shoulder function whether you are throwing a javelin or using a mouse!
Sometimes when shoulder pain doesn’t respond to physiotherapy a steroid injection can help to allow you to get your normal movement patterns back. If this doesn’t work then you may need an operation to fix the problem. There are now very good arthroscopic (key-hole) surgical procedures that can fix things like torn tendons or ligaments.
I have worked closely with the surgeons of the Reading Shoulder Surgery Unit (http://www.readingshoulderunit.com/) and the Reading Orthopaedic Centre (http://www.readingorthopaediccentre.com/) and highly recommend them.