Osteopathy can be very helpful to treat shoulder pain.
Shoulder pain can occur from a variety of causes and may include bursitis - and shoulder bursitis may include a variety of conditions such as impingement, rotator cuff tendinitis or bicep tendonitis as different doctors may mean different things by these. Medical Imaging such as an ultrasound scan may give a much better idea of what is going on, if you have a shoulder injury or persistent shoulder pain. (As an Osteopath I can also refer you for medical imaging.)
Shoulder pain can also result from a tear or partial tear of one of the muscles of the rotator cuff - and if from injury, such as falling on your shoulder, lifting, or injury when doing sport - would generally be covered by ACC here in NZ.
An Osteopath can lodge an new new ACC claim for you. There is no need to go to your GP for this (unless you want a prescription for anti-inflammatory, or other medication).
For rotator cuff tears I find that a combination of Osteopathy and Acupuncture can be particularly helpful. Surgery is (fortunately) only very rarely required in a very small number of (usually large and/or full thickness rorator cuff tears). In general, I find that a combination of both Osteopathy and Acupuncture treatment often bring the best results: less pain, and faster recovery time.
If you find it impossible to fully lift your arm, it is possible that a condtion called 'frozen shoulder' or adhesive capsulitis has developed. As this is a condition which, sadly, may go on for several months - then prompt and regular treatment should be began as soon as possible. Osteopathy may also include the Spencer technique which is a series of movements to articulate the frozen shoulder in all ranges, and to try to maximise the greatest movement possible (often the most limited range is in 'internal rotation' which makes getting dressed very difficult). For more about the Spencer Technique please read here. (I would generally also give exercises for doing at home, also to try to maximise the range of motion of the affected shoulder.) Very often Acupuncture can also be incredibly useful here also. A combination of both Osteopathy (also using the Spencer Technique ) and Acupuncture can give very good results - less pain - and a greater range of shoulder movements. Interestingly, acupuncture needles (to treat a frozen shoulder) are used in the leg, below the knee. This is the channel theory of acupuncture and surprisingly can give very good results, even to an area (in this case the shoulder) some distance away.
A frozen shoulder could perhaps, be protective to a rotator cuff tear (or tendinopathy) which would make sense, as in limiting the shoulder movement - the body may be attempting to allow the injured tissues more time to heal. Again, here, we know that acupuncture, among other things, improves the blood flow to both the superficial and deeper tissues - and this again makes a lot of sense in how acupuncture can improve tissue healing and hopefully shorten your recovery time.
Of course, from an Osteopathic viewpoint, there is frequently overlapp between shoulder pain, the neck and the upper back. Many muscles cross a fairly wide area (upper trapezius, levator scapulae, etc) and pain can refer between these areas. Most of the muscles of the shoulder have their nerve supply from the neck (typically C3-5 nerve roots, for most of the muscles of the rotator cuff.) An Osteopathic treatment will often treat more than just the affected area. Adjacent areas can also be important, and there be 'tight' muscle, muscle imbalance, and restricted joints in other places also (According to Osteopathic theory, restricted joints may affect the nerve supply to muscles, joints and other tissues).
Again, I may also suggest certain exercises and/or stretches for home use.
There is also a condition of a hypermobile shoulder (the shoulder may even dislocate) Hypermobility can also be part of a Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. But whatever the cause of hypermobility, strengthening exercises can often be very helpful.
christchurch osteopathy acupuncture
massage
mike inman osteopathy
karen sarabia massage
