Often times it is hard to distinguish if the pain you are having is coming from your shoulder or your neck. Here are some common signs, symptoms and causes of each to help you determine if you have pain coming from your neck or your shoulder.
There are 8 nerves that come from different levels of your neck that give you the sensory and motor function of your arms, shoulders and upper torso. 5 of these 8 nerves pass through different parts of the shoulder and shoulder blade. If one of these nerves are inflamed or pinched, it may cause pain in a specific part of the shoulder and you may complain of just shoulder pain. This is also true for the nerves that go into the upper back and down into the arm. This is cervical radiculopathy.
Cervical radicular pain can have many different symptoms.
Some of the most common symptoms are:
- Aching, stabbing or burning pain
- weakness
- “heaviness” in the arm
- Radiating pain to the shoulder blade
- Pain that stays in the same area
- Symptoms may be intermittent or unrelenting even at rest
- Radiating pain when you move your neck
Why is this happening?
There are several causes of cervical radiculopathy but, here are a few of the most common.
- Foraminal stenosis – when the openings in the spine for the nerve become smaller from a bone spur, arthritis or a disc and impinge on the nerve
- Degenerative disc disease – when the discs between the bones in the spine grow older, they lose hydration and become smaller which may put pressure on the nerve
- Herniated disc – Each disc has a hard outer core and soft inner core, like a jelly donut, when the outer core gets a tear in it, the jelly leaks out and inflames or irritates the nerve.
But My Shoulder Hurts!
Shoulder pain is commonly caused by an injury. When the rotator cuff has been injured, often times other muscles surrounding the shoulder may begin to compensate for the injury and cause both shoulder and neck pain.
What to look for if the shoulder is the culprit:
- Pain that begins in the shoulder and does not radiate past the elbow
- Dull aching pain
- Pain that gets worse with movement; especially overhead, reaching behind you or lifting any weight
- Persistent pain at night
- Symptoms that get better with rest
So I’ve narrowed it down… now what?
Ice, anti-inflammatories and gentle stretching exercises will help both conditions. If you are unable to control the pain with these, then it is time to see a specialist. They may do x-rays, prescribe you medication that you cannot get over the counter such as a muscle relaxer or a steroid and, you may need an MRI in order to correctly diagnose and treat your condition.
