The Shoulder

Yep! We are talking about the joint where your arm attaches to your body not the non-verbal communication someone gives you when they are mad at you. Did you know there are 50 different muscles that attach the shoulder girdle to the torso. This makes for a complicated mechanical system. That's why it is imperative to have all the bones that make up the arm, shoulder girdle, and neck be in the right alignment or proper groove for motion. The arm can move in multiple combinations of front, back, out, in, rotating out, and rotating in. If the joint is out of alignment one area of muscles may be working harder than another area which will cause soreness. The muscles around the shoulder that you probably have heard of are the rotator-cuff muscles. The rotator cuff muscles attach the upper arm to the socket on the side of the scapula (shoulder-blade). If you can't move your arm in a certain direction then it is most likely caused by a damaged rotator-cuff muscle. If you have just done something you don't normally do, ie. painting, hammering, swimming, or any other forms of swinging your arm with something in your hand, and now you have some pain, this may be overuse. If you have fallen on your shoulder and it is not moving right or pain is there even without movement there may be some joint damage. Either situation can be helped with chiropractic. At least a proper evaluation would be in order. If the pain is so extreme 10 out of 10, then there may be a fracture. Get it checked at the ER.