Does your shoulder hurt reaching overhead? Do you experience sharp, pinching, stabbing pains any time you attempt to raise your arm overhead? Does this pain impact your daily activities that involve a reaching motion?

If you answered YES to any of those 3 questions, you may be dealing with a condition often termed shoulder impingement. What is shoulder impingement, you ask? Well, it is a non-technical term that suggests a compression (or pinching) of some shoulder muscle/tendon unit. This occurs when a person reaches overhead. Most often the individual will experience pain from about shoulder level until the arm is most of the way overhead. Once the arm is high enough, it is common for the pain to diminish. Though upon lowering the arm, the person will again experience pain until their arm is below shoulder level.

In earlier non-irritated stages, the pain should fully resolve with the arm back to the side. However, if allowed to persist long enough, it is possible for the pain to linger even when the arm is not in use.

The next question often asked is what is getting pinched? The unsatisfactory answer is often the exact structure is unknown. We can make an educated guess based on examination, but in the end that is all it would be. In the end the exact structure is not important…what is important is the ability to resolve the pinching before the condition worsens.

Does that mean I need to get imaging of my shoulder?

If you are eager for an injection or surgery, then sure. If not, then conservative care is the BEST 1^st Step.

How do you solve the problem?

Well, after a thorough physical examination, a muscle and joint expert will develop a plan to restore normal pain-free shoulder motion. This pain may include hands-on stretching, guided movement pattern development, specific muscle strengthening exercises and more. The exact plan should be tailor made to address how your shoulder is functioning.

Shoulder impingement or whatever name is used is a common and routinely treated shoulder complaint. The solution is often found in active exercise along with a plan to limit (not avoid) primary provoking factors in the short term.

Tired of dealing with shoulder pain reaching overhead? Click HERE to request a conversation with a muscle and joint expert to learn what can be done to solve your shoulder hurting when reaching overhead.