Shoulder or Arm

"I get this excruciating pain when I try to lift my arm up above my head"

"It's really hard and painful now even to dress myself"

"My elbows and forearm is really painful - it gets worse after using my computer"

Shoulder pain can be sharp and stabbing, even on the simplest of movements. Often people
experience pain when getting dressed, or raising the arm up, as when pegging out the
washing. Sometimes the pain accompanies restricted movement too.

The shoulder is an extremely flexible joint, which is a huge advantage for carrying out daily
tasks, but this flexibility also makes it susceptible to injury. Common injuries result from
traumatic events (such as falling on it), overstretching, and also when the cause is
sometimes difficult to pinpoint, as is often the case with frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis).
Sometimes a frozen shoulder just seems to creep up on people, for no apparent reason.

Moving down the arm, common conditions of the elbow include "tennis elbow" and "golfer's
elbow" (also known as lateral epicondylitis and medial epicondylitis respectively). There is
often acute tenderness in and around the elbow, which is typically felt when carrying heavy
bags, typing, playing sport  etc. You don't need to play tennis or golf to develop these
conditions! Many office workers and manual workers develop these inflammatory type
conditions. Moving further down the arm, we arrive at the wrist. Perhaps the best known wrist
complaint is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS). It can often be made worse by using a keyboard
and a mouse, and has become a well-known term in among office workers. (It is also more
common among diabetics and pregnant women.)

You may be surprised that you don't have to live with these problems, and that osteopathy can
be very effective in reducing your pain.