{"id":216734,"date":"2022-09-11T14:26:26","date_gmt":"2022-09-11T14:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/the-most-common-shoulder-problems\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T10:23:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:23:53","slug":"the-most-common-shoulder-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/the-most-common-shoulder-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"The most common shoulder problems"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<h1><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>What are the most common shoulder problems?<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p>Book in for a <a href=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/shoulder-clinic\/\">shoulder pain assessment and treatment<\/a> where we can assess and ultrasound scan the shoulder and diagnose the most common shoulder problems or what is causing your shoulder pain.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>The most common shoulder problems: Traumatic injury<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Fractures, dislocations, ACJ separations have usually been seen in A&amp;E or already had surgery, therefore usually only require rehab. Some labrum pathology such as fall on outstretched hand may also have also been previously diagnosed.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Non-traumatic injury<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Adhesive capsulitis<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bifkGbv0R6g\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Frozen shoulder is one of the most common shoulder problems. The clinical features include a 3 to 1 female to male, 50+, loss of active and passive range of movement particularly lateral rotation. <a href=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/ultrasound-guided-injections\/\">Corticosteroid and hydro dilation plus rehab.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>ACJ arthrosis<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Diagnosed on either x-ray or ultrasound, particularly sore end of range abduction and flexion, sometimes sore in horizontal adduction. Tender to palpate over the ACJ. Start with anti-inflams, ACJ mobs and strengthening of the shoulder girdle. This possibly requires an ultrasound guided steroid injection in to the ACJ.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Instability<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>These may already have dislocated several times or describe subluxations. Test with apprehension relocation test and sulcus test, these require lots of rehab and rotator cuff strengthening, and possibly a surgical review.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Labral pathology<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Rarely seen and diagnosed in isolation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.physio-pedia.com\/O%27Briens_Test\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">O\u2019Brien\u2019s test<\/a> and external rotation, abduction and supination. These require an MR arthrogram.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Rotator cuff pathology<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 2\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>This includes tears, tendinopathy, calcific tendinitis, bursitis and subacromial impingement:<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Calcific tendinitis<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Two types: very acute or impingement type presentation <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/21638-calcific-tendonitis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">calcific tendinitis<\/a>.<br \/>\nThe very acute severe shoulder patient will often have already been to A&amp;E as they have gross loss of shoulder movement and extreme \/ severe pain.<\/p>\n<p>No other testing will be possible. They may have been told it\u2019s a frozen shoulder, however if this is young male then it is unlikely. These are usually undergoing the acute resorptive phase which is very well seen on ultrasound. This acute calcific tendonitis requires an ultrasound guided steroid injection for pain relief.<\/p>\n<p>The impingement type feel that they have something blocking a particular movement such as abduction or external rotation and have to click \/ flick their shoulder to be able to move.<\/p>\n<p>Cuff strength will be good with positive impingement tests. This is well seen as a stable calcific deposit in the rotator cuff tendon (supraspinatus and or infraspinatus) on US. This type of calcific tendonitis requires an ultrasound guided barbotage \/ lavage process with steroid injection \/ and or shockwave.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Rotator cuff tear<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Rotator cuff pain is the most common shoulder problems presenting with weakness and possible impingement tests positive. Partial thickness or full thickness tears. Partial thickness tears are seen in the young.<\/p>\n<p>These should be conservatively managed with rotator cuff strengthening and you can also manage with a steroid injection into the bursa or PRP into the tear. Full thickness tear is usually in older population and can be managed by the rotator cuff and shoulder strengthening and ultrasound guided subacromial bursa steroid injection.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-217123\" src=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-249-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"One the most common shoulder problems is rotator cuff pathology\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-249-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-249-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-249-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-249-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-249-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 3\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<h4><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Partial thickness tear<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Bursitis<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No tests will diagnose this. This is seen quite well on ultrasound as a hypoechoic film within the peri-bursal fat and these are treated with a an ultrasound guided steroid injection into the bursa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 4\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<h3><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Rotator cuff tendinopathy<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Rotator cuff weakness and possible impingement tests positive. As with all tendons they should be treated with load management and strengthening exercises.<\/p>\n<p>A course of shockwave therapy should also be considered and if the pain is still not settling an ultrasound guided injection with steroid or PRP into the tendon and the bursa could be trialled.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-217124\" src=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-245-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"The most common shoulder problems\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-245-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-245-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-245-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-245-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Wandsworth-Physio-245-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Shoulder ultrasound scan to establish shoulder pain are available in Wandsworth at our clinic on Old York Road.<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Ultrasound guided injections for shoulder pain<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Steroid injections for frozen shoulder<\/li>\n<li>Steroid injection shoulder bursitis<\/li>\n<li>Steroid injection for calcific tendinitis<\/li>\n<li>Steroid injection for ACJ arthritis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eLjoXw07TN0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re suffering from shoulder pain and want a diagnosis and <a href=\"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/service\/ultrasound-guided-injection\/\">ultrasound guided steroid injection<\/a> call 0203 322 9455.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are the most common shoulder problems? Book in for a shoulder pain assessment and treatment where we can assess and ultrasound scan the shoulder and diagnose the most common shoulder problems or what is causing your shoulder pain. The most common shoulder problems: Traumatic injury Fractures, dislocations, ACJ separations have usually been seen in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":216735,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[364,452,433,365,462,366,367,361,362],"class_list":["post-216734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shoulder-clinic","tag-are-you-getting-shoulder-pain","tag-bursitis","tag-frozen-shoulder","tag-rotator-cuff","tag-shoulder-bursitis","tag-shoulder-pain","tag-steroid-injection","tag-ultrasound-guided-injections","tag-ultrasound-scan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandsworthphysiotherapy.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}