Relieve Your Shoulder Pain with Acupuncture

Has it become difficult to brush your hair, reach for a glass on a shelf, or turn the steering wheel without shoulder pain? Acupuncture eases pain and inflammation naturally and may help improve your range of movement.

What Causes Shoulder Pain?

Repetitive movements, accidents, and years of wear and tear can inflame or damage muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments in the shoulder joint. Common causes of shoulder pain and weakness include:

• Rotator Cuff Issues. The rotator cuff is the group of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder joint, allowing complete joint movement. Rotator cuff tendinitis, which occurs when a tendon becomes inflamed, can occur if you have a job, hobby, or sport that requires overhead movements or heavy lifting. In some cases, tears may occur in the tendons. Rotator cuff tears occur most often in people over 60, according to the Mayo Clinic. Rotator cuff problems can also occur due to falls or accidents.
• Bursitis. Fluid-filled sacs called bursae help the shoulder joint move easily. Bursitis occurs when the sacs become inflamed and irritated, causing shoulder pain, swelling, and stiffness.
• Frozen Shoulder. If you have a frozen shoulder, you may find it impossible to raise your arm. A frozen shoulder occurs when the tissues surrounding the shoulder joint tighten, affecting your ability to move your shoulder. Although the shoulder gradually unfreezes on its own, the process can take a year or longer. In the meantime, you'll struggle with pain and mobility limitations.
• Arthritis. Arthritis occurs when the cartilage at the ends of the bones in the shoulder joint wears away. Cartilage cushions the bones in the joint, helping them glide smoothly every time you move your arm.
• Tight Muscles. Muscle tension due to stress or repetitive movements can cause shoulder pain. Trigger points, or knots, can also develop in the muscles around the shoulders and cause radiating pain.
• Fractures and Dislocations. Broken and dislocated bones are also common causes of shoulder pain.

How Can Acupuncture Help?

Acupuncture treatments offer many benefits for shoulder conditions ranging from frozen shoulders to arthritis to rotator cuff tendonitis. If you think you may have a fractured or dislocated bone or rotator cuff tear, see your doctor as soon as possible. Although acupuncturists can't perform surgery or treat dislocations or fractures, their treatments can help you manage pain, inflammation, and other symptoms while you recover.

Acupuncture treatments offer these benefits:

• Natural Pain Relief. Acupuncture treatments relieve pain by activating your body's natural pain control system. After your acupuncturist inserts hair-thin needles in your skin, endorphins flood your body. These hormones relieve pain and also have a positive effect on mood. Acupuncture may also reduce pain by improving your brain's reaction to pain signals. Acupuncture offers a proven way to manage shoulder pain. Patients with shoulder pain noted significantly less pain and reduced stiffness after 10 acupuncture sessions in a research study published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases in 2015.
• Improved Circulation. Acupuncture improves blood flow, making it easier for white blood cells to reach your shoulder. White blood cells fight infection and spur healing after an injury or surgery.
• Reduced Inflammation. Acupuncture reduces inflammation responsible for pain and stiffness. Treatments can decrease inflammation due to a frozen shoulder, tendinitis, bursitis, or arthritis.
• Better Muscle Tone. Acupuncture may improve muscle tone and strength. Strengthening the muscles in and around the shoulder increases support for the joint, which may reduce pain. Acupuncture treatments also loosen tight muscles, relieve spasms, and soften trigger points, or knots, in muscles. Shoulder pain patients who received trigger point acupuncture experienced significant reductions in pain intensity and improvements in shoulder function compared to those who received sham acupuncture, according to a research study published in the Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies.
• Improved Mobility. Inflammation and tight muscles make it harder to move the shoulder joint. Acupuncture treatments improve flexibility and range of motion by relieving inflammation and easing muscle tension.

Are you ready to find out if acupuncture could improve your shoulder pain? Contact our office to make your appointment with the acupuncturist.

Sources:

Mayo Clinic: Rotator Cuff Injury, 5/11/2023

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/rotator-cuff-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20350225

BMJ Journals: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases: AB0956 Acupuncture Therapy for Shoulder Pain: A Study of 30 Cases, 6/9/2015

https://ard.bmj.com/content/74/Suppl_2/1219.1

Science Direct: Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies: Randomized Trial of Trigger Point Acupuncture Treatment for Chronic Shoulder Pain: A Preliminary Study, 4/2014

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290113000526

Acupuncture Continuing Education: You Need This Treatment: Acupuncture for Shoulder Pain

https://acupuncturecontinuingeducation.com/acupuncture-for-shoulder-pain

Ortho Info: Shoulder Pain and Common Shoulder Problems

https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/shoulder-pain-and-common-shoulder-problems/