Case Study- Unusual Shoulder Pain

Mitch (not his real name), had strong pain at the front of his left shoulder. He  was normally quite active, including swimming and going to the gym, however the pain was stopping him from doing anything other than gentle exercise. The shoulder had been a problem for over a year, and started after he had been doing a lot of swimming.

Mitch booked in for acupuncture at our clinic. The most common causes of shoulder problems are

• Misalignment of the pelvis- your shoulders usually follow your hips, so if one hip is too high that shoulder will usually be too high, or if the pelvis is rotated the shoulders will usually be rotated in the same way. This misalignment causes some muscles around the shoulder to be too tight and others too loose, eventually causing pain.
• Neck issues, especially misalignment of the lower vertebrae in the neck
• Tightness in certain muscles at the back, front or top of the shoulder, or the upper back

However none of these areas were too bad, so Mitch's case was unusual. We checked his neck again and found a small tight area at the bottom of the front of his neck, between the scalene and sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscles. Tightness in these muscles can compress the brachial nerve plexus and the subclavian artery, causing a condition known as Neurovascular Compression Syndrome. The pressure on the nerves and artery is what causes the pain, which can be felt in the person's neck, shoulder or arm. In some ways, it is a little like getting sciatic pain in the leg caused by pressure on a nerve in the lower back.

Once we were able to diagnose this as the cause of Mitch's shoulder pain, we provided an acupuncture treatment (using a point on his arm and one on his abdomen) to treat the compression of the relevant nerves and artery, which resolved his shoulder pain.

This case illustrates the importance of always identifying the case of the problem and treating that, instead of just addressing the symptoms.

(Disclaimer – Please be aware that each person’s body is different, so individual results may vary. If you have an appointment at our clinic, your therapist will conduct a detailed assessment of your condition, and they will be able to advise you on how successful your treatments are likely to be. A result is not promised and/or guaranteed from the act of receiving a treatment.)