Arm, Shoulder, and Wrist

Everyone uses their arms and shoulders constantly.  The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body.  With increased use and mobility comes increased risk for dysfunction whether it be from overuse, injury, or a spinal related issue that refers pain into the arm or shoulder.  Many times we can relate our arm or shoulder pain to a specific incident, but when we don’t know why it’s there it can become a tricky thing to figure out.  That’s why it’s a good idea to get it checked out by a professional who can correctly diagnose such conditions and get you on the road to recovery.  If your arm or shoulder pain is a result of nerve irritation from your spine and it goes uncorrected it may continue to get worse and worse as time goes by to the point where surgery or more complicated treatments end up being necessary. 

Shoulder Pain

There can be many reasons for shoulder pain, but some of the most common include neck and upper back problems, muscle instability or “sloppy shoulder,” arthritis, past or current injury, overuse, improper movement mechanics, accidents, and the list goes on and on.  Due to the many factors that affect our shoulders knowledgeable advice and appropriate treatments should be taken seriously to correct the problems before they regress beyond the point of no return.  That means if you cannot raise your arm above your head (frozen shoulder) or reach behind your back, if it hurts when you lay on your side in bed, experience excessive clicking and popping, have pain with general movement and or lifting, or experience weakness with or without pain, it is important to be seen as soon as possible.  Our Doctors specialize in manipulation as well as muscle release and physical therapy for helping those in need.



Carpal Tunnel

Do you think you might be experiencing carpal tunnel?  Many people that have pain, numbness, tingling, and or weakness in their hand, wrist, and or fingers believe they are suffering from carpal tunnel.  The reason we so commonly call this “carpal tunnel” is because the wrist bones come together to make a tunnel like passage way through the wrist and the main nerve to the hand and fingers as well as the tendons that connect to the muscles that make the hand work and give us grip strength all share this passage way.  Carpal tunnel syndrome is often classified as an “overuse” syndrome because the people that have the problems usually have jobs or hobbies that require them to use their wrists too much or improperly and over time this overuse leads to the symptoms of carpal tunnel.  Carpal tunnel can affect white collar to blue collar type people and everyone in between.  If you are a hairdresser, carpenter, computer/mouse user, electrician, heavy equipment operator, truck driver, or a farmer you may have already experienced this at some time.  The list is long and those are just a few of the professions commonly affected by carpal tunnel.  But did you know that the hand, wrist, and finger conditions described above are not always the result of “carpal tunnel?  Also, did you know that many people undergo unnecessary surgeries for carpal tunnel when the carpal tunnel was never the cause in the first place?  The reason for this is that the symptoms of carpal tunnel are usually the result of pressure being put on the median nerve and the median nerve starts from your neck and travels all the way down your arm through the carpal tunnel and into the fingers, so pressure anywhere along the path of the nerve could be the cause of the symptoms.  The symptoms may not be related to the actual passage way through the wrist at all.  That’s why it is important to be evaluated by a knowledgeable Doctor who can get to the bottom of it all.  Our Doctors have the knowledge and experience to help you through this often tricky and complicated situation and get you on the road to recovery as quickly as possible. 



Tennis Elbow and Golfers Elbow

Tennis elbow is a general term for pain in the top of the forearm and outside of the elbow.  It is often an overuse injury like carpal tunnel.  Tennis elbow gets its name from tennis players hitting backhand shots, which puts strain on the outside of the elbow because the muscles that are required for the backhand attach there and the strain of hitting the ball is greater than the elbow can withstand and inflammation and tendonitis result.  That being said, of all the cases of tennis elbow a very small percentage come from tennis.  Any hobby or profession that requires a lot of fine forearm and wrist control can lead to tennis elbow syndromes.  If you think you might be suffering from tennis elbow it is best to get it checked out right away because the longer you put it off the more time the inflammation has to build up and the longer the inflammation has been building generally means the longer it takes to recover.  In extreme cases if left untreated it can actually lead to small bone fragments separating from the elbow.  Golfers elbow is a general term for pain in the bottom of the forearm and inside (side nearest the body) of the elbow.  Golfers elbow gets its name because swinging a golf club uses the muscles that attach to the inside of the elbow and overuse of these muscles leads to irritation and often pain where these muscles attach.  Similar to tennis elbow the majority of “golfers elbow” cases do not actually come from golf, but rather come from hobbies and professions that use the same muscles and when they become used too much the inflammation builds up and symptoms begin.  If you think you might be suffering from golfers elbow it is important to get it checked out right away because the longer it festers and goes untreated the more inflammation can build up and the longer the recovery.  Both tennis elbow and golfers elbow typically respond well with conservative treatments.  Our Doctors are trained in manipulation, soft tissue, and rehabilitation techniques to treat these conditions.




Bursitis is a condition that can occur in any of the major joints of the body.  The more common regions where people experience bursitis issues are in the hip, knee, shoulder, and elbow joints.  Typically bursitis is a result of different tissues (bones, tendons, muscles) rubbing across each other with an abnormally high amount of friction between the surfaces.  Over time repetitive rubbing leads to inflammation and pain develops.   Typically with bursitis what begins as an annoyance can lead to debilitating pain in the affected joint if left untreated for too long.  That’s why as with other overuse injuries it is best to get evaluated and begin treatment as soon as possible.  Our Doctors have been specially trained in manipulation, soft tissue, and rehabilitation techniques to treat these conditions.