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Shoulder pain

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Pain - shoulder

Shoulder pain is any pain in or around the shoulder joint.

Video Transcript

Shoulder pain - Animation

Swelling, damage, or bone changes around the rotator cuff in your shoulder can cause pain that puts a kink in the activities of your life. Let's talk about shoulder pain. The rotator cuff is a group of muscles and tendons that attach to the bones of your shoulder joint. The group allows your shoulder to move and keep it stable. The most common cause of shoulder pain is when rotator cuff tendons become inflamed or trapped in your shoulder. This is called rotator cuff tendinitis, or irritation of these tendons and inflammation of the bursa, small slippery fluid filled sacs that the tendons glide over. A rotator cuff tear, when one of the tendons is torn from overuse or injury, can also cause intense shoulder pain. Other causes of shoulder pain can include arthritis, bone spurs - bony projections, a broken shoulder bone, frozen shoulder, when the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your shoulder become stiff, and shoulder dislocation. Most of the time, you can take care of your shoulder pain at home. Try putting ice on your shoulder for 15 minutes, then leave it off for 15 minutes, three or four times a day for a few days. Make sure you wrap the ice in cloth, so it doesn't give you frostbite. Take ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling. Slowly return to your regular activities once you start feeling less pain. Sudden shoulder pain can be a sign of a heart attack. Call Emergency Services if you have sudden pressure or crushing pain in your shoulder, especially if the pain starts in your chest, jaw, or neck. If you fall on your shoulder and feel sudden intense pain, you should see a doctor because you may have torn rotator cuff or dislocated your shoulder. If you have had shoulder pain before, try using ice and ibuprofen after exercising. Learn proper exercises to stretch and strengthen your rotator cuff tendons and shoulder muscles. Also, physical therapy can help. Make an appointment and talk about your options.

Considerations

The shoulder is the most movable joint in the human body. A group of four muscles and their tendons, called the rotator cuff, give the shoulder its wide range of motion.

Swelling, damage, or bone changes around the rotator cuff can cause shoulder pain. You may have pain when lifting the arm above your head or moving it forward or behind your back.

Causes

The most common cause of shoulder pain occurs when rotator cuff tendons become trapped under the bony area in the shoulder. The tendons become inflamed or damaged. This condition is called rotator cuff tendinitis or bursitis.

Shoulder pain may also be caused by:

  • Arthritis in the shoulder joint
  • Bone spurs in the shoulder area
  • Imbalance of your shoulder muscles
  • Bursitis, which is inflammation of a fluid-filled sac (bursa) that normally protects the joint and helps it move smoothly
  • Broken shoulder bone
  • Dislocation of the shoulder
  • Shoulder separation
  • Frozen shoulder, which occurs when the muscles, tendons, and ligaments inside the shoulder become stiff, making movement difficult and painful
  • Overuse or injury of nearby tendons, such as the bicep muscles of the arms
  • Nerve injury that leads to abnormal shoulder movement
  • Tears of the rotator cuff tendons
  • Poor shoulder posture and mechanics

Sometimes, shoulder pain may be due to a problem in another area of the body, such as the neck or lungs. This is called referred pain. There is usually pain at rest and no worsening of pain when moving the shoulder.

Home Care

Here are some tips for helping shoulder pain get better:

  • Put ice on the shoulder area for 15 minutes, then leave it off for 15 minutes. Do this 3 to 4 times a day for 2 to 3 days. Wrap the ice in cloth. Do not put ice directly on the skin because this can result in frostbite.
  • Rest your shoulder for the next few days.
  • Slowly return to your regular activities. A physical therapist can help you do this safely.
  • Taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) may help reduce inflammation and pain.

Rotator cuff problems can be treated at home also.

  • If you have had shoulder pain before, use ice and ibuprofen or other pain medicines after exercising.
  • Learn exercises to stretch and strengthen your rotator cuff tendons and shoulder muscles. Your health care provider or physical therapist can recommend such exercises.
  • If you are recovering from tendinitis, continue to do range-of-motion exercises to avoid frozen shoulder.
  • Practice good posture to keep your shoulder muscles and tendons in their right positions.

When to Contact a Medical Professional

Sudden left shoulder pain can sometimes be a sign of a heart attack. Call 911 or the local emergency number if you have sudden pressure or crushing pain in your shoulder, especially if the pain runs from your chest to the left jaw, arm or neck, or occurs with shortness of breath, dizziness, or sweating.

Go to the hospital emergency room if you have just had a severe injury and your shoulder is very painful, swollen, bruised, or bleeding.

Contact your provider if you have:

  • Shoulder pain with a fever, swelling, or redness
  • Significant pain even with moving the shoulder with the arm or by someone else
  • Pain for more than 2 to 4 weeks, even after home treatment
  • Swelling of the shoulder
  • Red or blue color of the skin of the shoulder area

What to Expect at Your Office Visit

Your provider will perform a physical exam and closely look at your shoulder. You will be asked questions to help the provider understand your shoulder problem.

Blood or imaging tests, such as x-rays, ultrasound, or MRI, may be ordered to help diagnose the problem.

Your provider may recommend treatment for shoulder pain, including:

  • Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
  • Injection of an anti-inflammatory medicine called corticosteroid
  • Physical therapy
  • Surgery if all other treatments do not work

If you have a rotator cuff problem, your provider will likely suggest self-care measures and exercises.

Review Date: 9/2/2025

Reviewed By

C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, San Francisco, CA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

References

Gill TJ. Shoulder diagnosis and decision-making. In: Miller MD, Thompson SR, eds. DeLee, Drez, & Miller's Orthopaedic Sports Medicine: Principles and Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 37.

Martin SD, Thornhill TS. Shoulder pain. In: Firestein GS, McInnes IB, Koretzky GA, Mikuls TR, Neogi T, O'Dell JR, eds. Firestein & Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology. 12th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2025:chap 46.

Disclaimer

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language.

© 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

All content on this site including text, images, graphics, audio, video, data, metadata, and compilations is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view the content for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use requires prior written consent from Ebix. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, publish, reverse-engineer, adapt, modify, store beyond ordinary browser caching, index, mine, scrape, or create derivative works from this content. You may not use automated tools to access or extract content, including to create embeddings, vectors, datasets, or indexes for retrieval systems. Use of any content for training, fine-tuning, calibrating, testing, evaluating, or improving AI systems of any kind is prohibited without express written consent. This includes large language models, machine learning models, neural networks, generative systems, retrieval-augmented systems, and any software that ingests content to produce outputs. Any unauthorized use of the content including AI-related use is a violation of our rights and may result in legal action, damages, and statutory penalties to the fullest extent permitted by law. Ebix reserves the right to enforce its rights through legal, technological, and contractual measures.

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Shoulder joint dislocation

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Rotator cuff problems

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Shoulder pain

Shoulder pain

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Rotator cuff muscles - Illustration Thumbnail

Rotator cuff muscles

There are four muscle tendons that connect to the shoulder that make up the rotator cuff. Together these four tendons stabilize the upper arm bone to the shoulder socket and allow the wide range of motion in the shoulder.

Illustration

Bursitis of the shoulder - Illustration Thumbnail

Bursitis of the shoulder

Bursae are fluid-filled cavities located at tissue sites where tendons or muscles pass over bony prominences near joints. Their function is to facilitate movement and reduce friction between moving parts. When a bursa becomes infected, traumatized, or injured it is referred to as bursitis.

Illustration

Heart attack symptoms - Illustration Thumbnail

Heart attack symptoms

Symptoms of a possible heart attack include chest pain and pain that radiates down the shoulder and arm. Some people (older adults, people with diabetes, and women) may have little or no chest pain. Or, they may experience unusual symptoms (shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness). Women are more likely than men to have symptoms of nausea, vomiting, back or jaw pain, and shortness of breath with chest pain.

Illustration

Shoulder joint dislocation

Shoulder joint dislocation

Animation

Rotator cuff problems

Rotator cuff problems

Animation

Shoulder pain

Shoulder pain

Animation

Rotator cuff muscles - Illustration Thumbnail

Rotator cuff muscles

There are four muscle tendons that connect to the shoulder that make up the rotator cuff. Together these four tendons stabilize the upper arm bone to the shoulder socket and allow the wide range of motion in the shoulder.

Illustration

Bursitis of the shoulder - Illustration Thumbnail

Bursitis of the shoulder

Bursae are fluid-filled cavities located at tissue sites where tendons or muscles pass over bony prominences near joints. Their function is to facilitate movement and reduce friction between moving parts. When a bursa becomes infected, traumatized, or injured it is referred to as bursitis.

Illustration

Heart attack symptoms - Illustration Thumbnail

Heart attack symptoms

Symptoms of a possible heart attack include chest pain and pain that radiates down the shoulder and arm. Some people (older adults, people with diabetes, and women) may have little or no chest pain. Or, they may experience unusual symptoms (shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness). Women are more likely than men to have symptoms of nausea, vomiting, back or jaw pain, and shortness of breath with chest pain.

Illustration

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language.

© 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

All content on this site including text, images, graphics, audio, video, data, metadata, and compilations is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You may view the content for personal, noncommercial use. Any other use requires prior written consent from Ebix. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, transmit, display, publish, reverse-engineer, adapt, modify, store beyond ordinary browser caching, index, mine, scrape, or create derivative works from this content. You may not use automated tools to access or extract content, including to create embeddings, vectors, datasets, or indexes for retrieval systems. Use of any content for training, fine-tuning, calibrating, testing, evaluating, or improving AI systems of any kind is prohibited without express written consent. This includes large language models, machine learning models, neural networks, generative systems, retrieval-augmented systems, and any software that ingests content to produce outputs. Any unauthorized use of the content including AI-related use is a violation of our rights and may result in legal action, damages, and statutory penalties to the fullest extent permitted by law. Ebix reserves the right to enforce its rights through legal, technological, and contractual measures.
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